WHITE 



CLIMBING FALSE BUCKWHEAT. 



Polygomun scandens. Buckwheat Family. 



Stem. — Smooth ; twining, and climbing over bushes ; eight to twelve feet 

 high. Leaves. — Heart or arrow shaped; pointed; alternate. Flowers. — 

 Greenish or pinkish ; in racemes. Calyx. — Five-parted ; with colored mar- 

 gins. Corolla. — None. Stametis. — Usually eight. Pistil. — One, with 

 three styles. Seed-vessel. — Green ; three-angled ; winged ; conspicuous in 

 autumn. 



In early summer this plant, which clambers so perseveringly 

 over the moist thickets which line our country lanes, is compara- 

 tively inconspicuous. The racemes of small greenish flowers are 

 not likely to attract one's attention, and it is late summer or 

 autumn before the thick clusters of greenish fruit, composed of 

 the winged seed-vessels, arrest one's notice. At this time the 

 vine is very beautiful and striking, and one wonders that it could 

 have escaped detection in the earlier year. 



BONESET. THOROUGHWORT. 



Eupatoriiun perfoliatum . Composite Family, 



[PI. XLIV 



Stein. — Stout and hairy; two to four feet high. Leaves. — Opposite; 

 widely spreading; lance-shaped; united at the base around the stem. 

 Flozver- heads. — Dull white; small; composed entirely of tubular blossoms 

 borne in large clusters. 



To one whose childhood was passed in the country some 

 fifty years ago the name or sight of this plant is fraught with 

 unpleasant memories. The attic or wood-shed was hung with 

 bunches of the dried herb, which served as so many grewsome 

 warnings against wet feet, or any over-exposure which might 

 result in cold or malaria. A certain Nemesis, in the shape of a 

 nauseous draught which was poured down the throat under the 

 name of '' boneset tea," attended such a catastrophe. The Ind- 

 ians first discovered its virtues, and named the plant ague-weed. 

 Possibly this is one of the few herbs whose efficacy has not been 

 overrated. Dr. Millspaugh says: "It is prominently adapted 



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