BLUE COHOSH 



cluster of yellowish purple flowers, one-half to three-fourths 

 of an inch across. 



Calyx. — Of six sepals, with three or four small bracts 

 at the base. 



Corolla. — Of six small, thick, hooded petals. 



Stamens. — Six; anthers oblong. 



Pistil. — One; style short; stigma minute. 



Fruit. — Large, globose seeds resembling berries, blue 

 with a bloom, borne on stout stalks a quarter of an inch 

 long. 



The first appearance of the Blue Cohosh is some- 

 what forbidding, for the whole plant comes up a dark 

 purplish green covered with a whitish bloom and so 

 unlike any of its neighbors that the first impression of 

 it is that it must be poisonous. When it gets well 

 above ground, however, it loses its unpleasant aspect 

 and becomes a pretty plant. The color of the flower 

 is dull, one may call it greenish yellow or yellowish 

 purple, but the fruit is a bright-blue berry, on a short, 

 thick fruit-stalk. The fruit resembles a drupe but 

 really is a naked seed with the outer coat fleshy. 

 Originally there are two seeds in the developing ovary. 

 As these grow they burst their covering, which soon 

 withers away, and they continue their growth as naked 

 seeds. Usually one gets the better of his brother and 

 finishes the race alone, plump, round, and blue. 



91 



