388 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL. HERBARIUM. 



Calif., Colo., N. J., and Lab. (ChamaepericUmenum canadense Aschers. & Graebn.) — 

 Stem 5 to 20 cm. high, unbranched, bearing a whorl of 4 to 6 leaves at the top; leaves 

 ovate or obovate, 3 to 6 cm. long, acute, entire; flowers in a single cluster, small, 

 greenish, the bracts large and conspicuous; fruit a dense head of small, bright red 

 drupes. 



A very handsome plant in either flower or fruit. The flower head is likely to be 

 taken for a single flower, but close examination of the center of the "flower" will 

 show that it is composed of numberous small flowers. The flowering dogwood {Cornus 

 canadensis L.) of the eastern States is a closely related tree. 



63. PYROLACEAE. Pyrola Family. 



Perennial herbs with rootstocks; leaves mostly basal, evergreen, entire or toothed; 

 flowers in racemes or corymbs; sepals 5 or 4; petals 5 or 4, waxy; stamens twice as 

 many as the petals; fruit a capsule, containing numerous minute seeds. 



Flower one on each stem 2. MONESES. 



Flowers few or numerous . 

 Flowers mostly in corymbs; leaves oblanceolate, scattered along the stem; fila- 



mentshairy 1. CHIMAPHILA. 



Flowers in racemes; leaves broadly ovate to rounded or kidney-shaped, crowded 

 at or near the base of the stem; filaments glabrous 3. PYROLA. 



1. CHIMAPHILA Pursh. 



1. CMmaphila umbellata occidentalis (Rydb.) Blake. Pipsissewa. Frequent 

 at low and middle altitudes, in deep woods. Alaska to Calif., N. ^lex., and Mont. 

 (C occidentalis Rydb.) — Plants loosely branched, 10 to 30 cm. high, glabrous, almost 

 shrubby; leaves nearly sessile, mostly whorled, 4 to 6 cm. long, obtuse or acute, dark 

 green, very thick and leathery, sharply toothed; petals waxy, purplish or pink, 5 to 

 7 mm. long. 



The dried leaves were smoked by the Blackfoot Indians like tobacco. The flowers 

 are attractive, but they are open only a short time. The leaves persist through the 

 winter. 



2. MONESES Salisb. 



1. Moneses uniflora (L.) A. Gray. Wood-nymph. Occasional at middle alti- 

 tudes in deep woods on mossy banks. Alaska to Oreg., N. Mex., Pa., and Greenl.; 

 also in Eur. and Asia. — Stems simple, 5 to 12 cm. high; leaves mostly crowded at 

 the base of the stem, opposite or in whorls of 3, short-petioled, rounded, 8 to 15 mm. 

 long, finely toothed; flower nodding, saucer-shaped; petals 8 to 10 mm. long, waxy 

 white; anthers yellow. 



A very beautiful little plant, of infrequent occurrence but often forming colonies 

 a meter broad. 



3. PYROLA L. Pyrola. 



Plants perennial, herbaceous, the leaves mostly basal, evergreen; flowers nodding; 

 fruit a 5-lobed capsule. — The name wintergreen is sometimes applied to these plants, 

 but it is inappropriate, since the plants are not closely related to the true wintergreen. 



Style very short, almost wanting ' 1. P. minor. 



Style long (2 to 5 mm.). 



Leaves blotched with white on the uj)per surface 2. P. picta. 



Leaves not blotched. 

 Flowers pink or purplish; leaves mostly 3.5 to 6 cm. long. 

 Leaves minutely toothed by the protruding ends of the veins, often pointed. 



3. P. bracteata. 



Leaves merely with low rounded teeth or entire, the ends of the veins not 



protruding, the leaves rounded at the apex 4. P. asarifolia. 



