56 WHUK lO (rREEX 



ALUM-ROOT 



Hcuclwra oi'ali folia. Saxifrati^e Family 



Stems: six to eighteen inches high, leafless. Leaves: ovate, cordate, 

 crenate. Flowers: greenish-cream, small, in temiinal panicles, spike-like, 

 cylindrical, two to four inches long ; calvx campanulate ; petals filiform 

 or none. Fruit: seeds hispid. 



This plant is usually found in very dry stony places, among 

 the rocks or on gravelly slopes. It is remarkable for its tall 

 stiff stalks, which are leafless and end in a dense spike of 

 closely-set creamy flowers. The leaves are green and reddish, 

 round, and with wavy margins. It is a peculiar but not an 

 attractive plant. 



MARSH GRASS OF PARNASSUS 



l\iniassia iiioiitaiii'iisis. Saxifrage Family 



Stems: bearing one clasping ovate leaf. Leaves: ovate, petioled, obtuse 

 at the apex, cordate at the base. Flowers: elliptic, few-veined ; petals five ; 

 stamens numerous, in clusters at the base of each petal. 



Why "Grass," and why "of Parnassus".? Assuredly the 

 tra\cller w ill be surprised when he finds what kind of flower 

 bears this exceedingly tmsuitable name, for the Grass of 

 Parnassus is like a delicate white buttercup, the veins in its 

 petals being strongly marked, and mmierous stamens growing 

 at the base of every blade. Each stalk is clasi:>ed b)' a single 

 little round leaf, and a mass of smoolli glossy foliage grows 

 close to the groimd. These basal lea\es are much curled up, 

 and in low-l)iiig marshes and other wet places you will find 

 them in profusion during the month of jul\-. lV'r]-ia])s it was 

 the velvety petals of the (irass of I'arnassus that caused 

 limcrson to ask : 



" W'hv Nature l()\es the number five, 

 .Anil \\\\\ the stai'-form she I'epeats ? " 



