YELLOW 



Another and even earlier species of the crowfoot is R.fascicu- 

 laris. This is especially plentiful along the hillsides. Its roots 

 are a cluster of thick fleshy fibres. 



', * 



BELLWORT. 



[PI. LVI 



' - Oakesia sessilifolia. Lily Family. 



Stem. — Acutely angled ; rather low. Leaves. — Set close to or clasping 

 the stem ; pale; lance-oblong. Flo7ver. — Yellowish or straw-color. Peri- 

 anth. — Narrowly bell-shaped ; divided into six distinct sepals. Stamens 

 — Six. Pistil, — One, with a deeply three-cleft style. 



In spring this little plant is very abundant in the woods. 

 It bears one or two small lily-like blossoms which droop modest- 

 ly beneath the curving stems. 



With the same common name and near of kin is Uvularia 

 perfoliata, with leaves which seem pierced by the stem, but 

 otherwise of a strikingly similar aspect. 



LEATHER-WOOD. MOOSE-WOOD. 



Dirca palustris. Mezereum Family. 



A shrub two to six feet high. Leaves. — Oval or obovate. Flowers. — 

 Light yellow, appearing before the leaves, small. Calyx. — Corolla-like, 

 yellow, funnel-shaped, with wavy or obscurely four-toothed border. Corolla. 

 — None. Stainens. — Eight, long and slender, protruding. Pistil. — One, 

 with a long, thread-like style. Fruit. — Oval, reddish, about one-half inch 

 long. 



In April, while making our careful way through some wet 

 thicket, we notice a leafless shrub with bunches of insignificant 

 yellow blossoms and a bark so tough that we find it almost 

 impossible to break off a branch. This is the '' leather-wood " 

 used for thongs by the Indians. It is known also as ''moose- 

 wood." The leaves appear later and finally the reddish oval 

 fruit. 



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