Veratrum. CLV. MELANTHACEiE; 557 



ments unguiculate, with 2 glands at base, the claws bearing the sta- 

 mens ; ovary often abortive ; capsule exserted, subovoid, summit tri- 

 fid and tipped with the 3 persistent styles ; seeds margined. — St. 

 erect, puberulcnt above. Lvs. alternate, narrow. Panicle terminal. 



1. M. ViRGiNicuM. (Leimanthium. Willd. Veratrum. Ait. Helonias.) 

 Lvs. linear-lanceolate ; panicle pyramidal ; segments of the perianth sub- 

 orbicular, hastate or auriculate at base. — Native of wet meadows and margins 

 of swamps, N. Y. to Flor. Stem 3 — 4f high, leafy. Leaves about afoot long, 

 and an inch wide, sessile on a contracted and subclasping base. Flowers green- 

 ish-yellow, becoming brown, on short pedicels, arranged in simple, alternate 

 racemes, and together constituting a pyramidal panicle 10 — 15' in length. 

 Lower flowers generally sterile. July, Aug. 



2. M. HYBRiDUM. Walt. (Leimanthium. Roem.. tf- Sch.) 



Lvs. long-linear-lanceolate, upper ones few and short; panicle long, of 

 simple racemes, pedicels filiform, much longer than the flowers; segments^ the 

 perianth narrowly unguiculate, roundish-rhomboidal ; glands connivent ; claws 

 channeled, stameniferous below the middle. — Woods, Penn. to Ga. ! Stem 2 — 

 4f high, somewhat leafy. Leaves varying from lanceolate-linear to lanceolate, 

 the lowest contracted to the base or .subpetiolate, shorter than the stem. Perianth 

 very open, yellowish-green, segments acuminate, the long claws adhering to 

 and involving the filaments. June, July. 



/?. robustior. Gray. Lower lvs. lanceolate-oval; Imoer branches paniculate, 

 compound. 



3. VERATRUM. 

 Lat. vere, atrum, truly black ; alluding to the dark color of the flowers or root. 



Flowers by abortion c? $ 9 ; segments of the perianth united at 

 base, petaloid, spreading, sessile and without glands ; sta. 6, shorter 

 than the perianth and inserted on its base ; ovaries 3, united at base, 

 often abortive ; styles short ; capsule 3-lobed, 3-partible, 00-seeded. 

 — Lvs. alternate, broad ami plicate, or narrow and grass-like. Fls. 

 paniculate. 



1. V. viRiDE. (V. album. Michx.) Poke. White Hellebore. 



Lvs. broad-oval, acuminate ; panicle compound, racemose ; brads oblong- 

 lanceolate, bracteoles longer than the downy pedicels. — Can. to Ga. — A large- 

 leaved, coarse-looking plant, of oui" meadows and .swamps. Root large, fleshy, 

 with numerous long fibres. Stem 2 — 4f high, striate and pubescent. Leaves 

 strongly veined and plaited, the lowest near a foot long and half as wide, 

 sheathing at the base. Flowers numerous, green, in many axillary (or bracted) 

 racemes, which together form a very large, pyramidal, terminal panicle. July. 

 The root is emetic and stimulant, but poisonous, and should be used with cau- 

 tion. When powdered it causes violent sneezing. 



2. V. WooDii. Robbins. (Nov. sp.) Indiana Veratrum. 



Lvs. mostly radical, lanceolate and linear-lanceolate, glabrous, veined and 

 plicate, acute, tapering to a long, winged, sheathing petiole ; st. or scape terete, 

 tall, erect, with remote, lance-linear bracts ; panicle simple, slender, pyramidal, 

 many-flowered ; Jls, (^ ^ , subsessile ; segtnents of perianth oblanceolate, dark 

 brownish-purple within. — Woods, Linton, Green Co., la. ! Root fasciculate. 

 Leaves 10 — 16' long (including the 4 — 8' petiole), 2 — 4' wide. Bracts 1 — 3' 

 long. Scape 3 — 6f high, paniculate j its length. Flowers J' diam., nearly 

 black, with red stamens, upper and lower sterile. Ovary oblong, crowned with 

 3 .spreading styles half its length. Seeds compressed, winged with the broad, 

 loose, membranous testa. July. 



3. V. ANGUsTiFOLiuM. Pursh. Grass-lcavcd Veratrum. 



Lvs. narrowly linear, flat, very long, lowest obtuse, upper ones diminish- 

 ing to subulate bracts ; Jls. in a slender panicle of racemes, those of the termi- 

 nal raceme (except a few of the highest) perfect and fertile, those of the lateral 

 racemes mostly sterile ; segments narrowly lanceolate, subulate, acuminate. — A 



