QUEEN ANNE'S LACE; THE PAPAW TREE, AND SELF-HEAL 



545 



have six rather thick petals, arranged in two rows, the 

 outer set being the larger. A globular mass in the cen- 

 ter is made up of numerous stamens. The pistils are 

 few in number, and when they mature and ripen they 

 come to be a large, pulpy fruit, having the form of the 

 one we see in Figure 5. These range from six to four- 

 teen centimeters in length : and while a palish green at 

 first, and slightly speckled, they gradually turn a deep 

 brown or almost black. At this stage they are ripe and 

 possess a soft, sweet, custard-like pulp, which many peo- 

 ple appear to relish in the early fall. Papaws are found 

 growing only along the banks of streams and rivers, 

 often surrounded by the aquatic plants and shrubs found 

 in such places. Some of the trees may attain a height 

 of from twelve to fourteen feet, while others are stunted 

 and shrub-like. One of its peculiarities is to give olT 

 rather a disagreeable odor when the smooth, pale grey 

 bark is bruised in any manner. The flat seeds of the 

 fruit are not numerous and are arranged horizontally. 



Papaws are found growing in many localities through- 

 out the eastern parts of the United States, and of recent 

 years they have received no little attention on account 

 of the demand for the ripe fruit in the autumn. The 



FRUIT OI- THE I'APAW 



Fig. 5. — Papaw trees grow luxuriantly along the Potomac River, on the 

 Maryland and District sides, above Washington. The insect shown resting 

 on the fruit is a common cicada, popularly known as the "locust," which 

 is erroneous, as the American locust is a very large grasshopper. 



A MUCH DESPISED WEED 



Fig. 6. — The plant and its flowers here shown is a specimen of Pninctta 

 vulgaris, popularly known as .Self-heal, Heal-all, or Carpenter-weed, with 

 some dozen or more other names in the vernacular. It is a plant with a 

 history, and occurs over large areas of country in North America, Europe, 

 and Asia. The example here shown was collected in the District of 

 Columbia, and Gray states that a variety of it. P. taciniata, is "said to be 

 introduced near Washington, D. C." where, it may now be added, it is very 

 aljundant. 



leaves become very large and long by August, while the 

 flowers may appear as early as the last days of March. 

 It receives its generic name from Asiminier of the French 

 c(jloiiists. and this from the Indian name assiinin; its 

 specific name, triloba, from the flower structure described 

 aliove. 



We have a large family of wild flowers in this coun- 

 try known as the Lahiatae or Mint Family, so called on 

 account of the labiate form of the corolla. Small gland? 

 are scattered over the leaves containing a volatile oil of 

 a warm, aromatic pungency, for which mints and their 

 allies are well known. Many familiar plants are con- 

 tained in the group, such as Bugle-weed, Germander, 

 Ppnl1^■ro^•al. P.lne riirk, SK'ulI-i-ap. Cat Mint. Horehound, 



