THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 55 



the last mentioned name referrinj,'^ to the three-lobcd leaves 

 of the hepatica. Pyrola uliginosa is the "bog vvintergreen" 

 and P. minor, in addition to the inevitable "shin-leaf" is 

 "wood lily", though not at all lilylike. The term "lesser 

 wintergreen" is prrihabK- onK- a book name made from the 

 specific name. 



Pyrola Americana, or P. rotiindifolia as it was formerly 

 called, is our best known species and naturally has the most 

 common names. "False wintergreen", "shin-leaf", and 

 "rough-leaved wintergreen" are most frequently heard. 

 "Dollar leaf" refers to the rounded leaves and probably "cof- 

 fee-leaf" also. The names "wild lettuce", "Indian lettuce", 

 and"liverwort lettuce", seem to indicate the use of the plants 

 as food though they may refer to the shape or appearnce of 

 the leaves. "Canker lettuce" hints at medicinal properties 

 which "consumption weed" emphasizes. The plant, however, 

 has no value in the cure of consumption though used, like 

 nearly every other wild plant in New England, at one time 

 or another, as a medicine for that afflction which only rest, 

 nourishing food and association with wild plants in the mass 

 can alleviate or cure. This plant is known as "copalm" but for 

 what reason is unknown. The term is often applied to the 

 sweet gum of the Southern States and may possibly have 

 some connection with "balm" or perhaps may be simply a 

 mispronunciation of "copal." Moncses iini flora, though no 

 longer included in the genus Pyrola, is still the "one- flower- 

 ed pyrola." "Snow-drop," another name for the plant has 

 no significance. 



It is very probable that Pyrola Americana derives its 

 reputation as a medicinal plant from being confused with the 

 plant once knorni as Pyrola iimbellata but which is more 

 familiar to us as Chimaphila umbcllata. This latter plant 

 really has medicinal qualities as its name "rheumatism-weed" 



