WILD GINGER 



Pistil. — With a six-ccllcd ovary, and surmounted with 

 six thick, radiating stigmas. 



Fruit. — Fleshy, globular capsule; seeds large. 



Pollinated by small flies. Stigma matures before the 

 anthers. 



In rich, moist woods one often comes upon beds of 

 shining, velvety, kidney-shaped leaves that carpet the 

 forest floor with a covering of rare and unusual beauty. 

 If it is April an investigation will disclose that in the 

 main these leaves are standing up in pairs and between 

 them, close to the ground, so hidden under dry leaves 

 that one must fairly dig it out, is a small, dark flower- 

 bell on a short stem, its parts so grown together that 

 the blossom seems almost solid. As a rule, the one 

 thing a plant flaunts before all the world is a flower, 

 but Wild Ginger reverses this, hides its blossom and 

 instead of seeking sunlight puts it in the shade, almost 

 in the dark. The probable explanation is that the 

 flies that fertilize it live in semidarkness. 



All parts of the plant have a decided ginger taste. 



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