WHITE 



ONE-FLOWERED PYROLA. 



Moneses grandijiora. Heath Family. 



Scape. — Two to four inches high. Leaves. — Rounded; thin; veiny; 

 toothed; from the roots. Flower. — White or rose-colored; solitary; half 

 an inch broad. Calyx. — Five-parted. Corolla. — Of five rounded widely 

 spreading petals. Staviens. — Ten. Pistil. — One; protruding; with a large 

 five-rayed stigma. 



This lovely little plant is found in flower in the deep pine 

 woods of June or July. It has all the grace and delicacy of its 

 kinsman, the shin-leaf and pipsissewa, but, if possible, is even 

 more daintily captivating. The generic name is from two 

 Greek words signifying single and delight, in reference to the 

 "beauty w^hich is a joy" of the solitary flower, and betraying 

 the always pleasing fact that the scientist who christened it was 

 fully alive to its peculiar charm. 



vV^ SHIN-LEAF. 



Pyrola ellipttca. Fleath Family. 



Scape. — Upright ; scaly ; terminating in a many-flowered raceme. Leaves 

 -^From the root ; thin and dull; somewhat oval Floiuers. — White; nod- 

 ding. Calyx. — Five-parted. Corolla. — Of five rounded, concave petals. 

 Statnejis. — Ten. Pistil. — One, with a long curved style. 



In the distance these pretty flowers suggest the lilies-of- 

 the-valley. They are found in the woods of June and July, 

 often in close company with the pipsissewa. The ugly common 

 name of shin -leaf arose from an early custom of applying the 

 leaves of this genus to bruises or sores ; the English peasantry 

 being in the habit of calling any kind of ])laster a " shin-plaster " 

 without regard to the part of the body to which it might be 

 applied. The old herbalist, Salmon, says that the name Pyrola 

 was given to the genus by the Romans on account of the fancied 

 resemblance of its leaves and flowers to those of a pear-tree. 

 The English also call the plant " wintergreen," which name we 

 usually reserve for Gaultheria pj'ociimbens. 



P. I'otundi folia is a species with thick, shining, rounded leaves. 

 It is the tallest of the genus, its scape standing, at times, one foot 



56 



