FLOWER-OF-MAY 



and curve of the leafy stem constitute the chief charm 

 of the plant. Each tiny flower of the cluster has six 

 white sepals, six stamens, and a pistil. In midsummer 

 a cluster of speckled, pale-red, aromatic berries crowns 

 the stem and invites the birds. 



The two common names. False Solomon's-Seal and 

 Wild Spikenard, which the plant has acquired have 

 little significance and no beauty. Furthermore, there 

 is an objection to characterizing anything which is as 

 true and beautiful as this plant as false. Smilicina 

 has no especial significance; the name is a diminutive 

 of Smilax, but it is pleasant to the ear and comes easily 

 on the tongue, and there seems no reason why it may 

 not be accepted as the common name. ^ 



Three-leaved Solomon's-Seal, Vapi^za trifdlia, rises 

 from a slender rootstock a stem six to sixteen inches 

 high, bearing generally three oblong, parallel-veined 

 leaves, sessile, and sheathing at base. Flowers borne 

 in a short raceme w^ith recurved, six-parted perianth, six 

 stamens, one ovary and style. Berries dark red. Found 

 in wet, boggy woods from Maine to Pennsylvania, 

 west to Michigan. 



FLOWER-OF-MAY. WILD LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY 



Maidnthemum Canadense. Smilicina Canadensis. Unijdlium 



Canadense 



Maidnthemum, from Mains, May, and anthemum, 

 flower. 



Perennial. Open woods and thickets. Newfoundland 

 to the Northwest Territory, south to North Carolina, 

 west to Iowa and South Dakota. Frequent in northern 

 Ohio. May. 



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