408 MELANTHACEAE. 
1. Veratrum viride Ait. American White Hellebore. Indian Poke. 
(Fig. 984. ) 
Veratrum viride Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 422. 1789. 
Rootstock erect, 2/-3’ long, 1/-2’ thick, with 
numerous fibrous-fleshy roots. Stem stout, 2°-8° 
tall, very leafy; leaves -acute, the lower broadly 
oval or elliptic, 6-12’ long, 3/-6’ wide, short-peti- 
oled or sessile, sheathing, the upper successively 
narrower, those of the inflorescence small; panicle 
8’-2° long, densely many-flowered, its lower 
branches spreading or somewhat drooping; pedi- 
cels 1//-3’ long, mostly shorter than the bracts; 
flowers yellowish green, 8’’-12’’ broad; perianth- 
segments oblong or oblanceolate, ciliate-serrulate, 
twice as long as the stamens; ovary glabrous; cap- 
H sule 10//-12’’ long, 4/’-6’’ thick, many-seeded; 
seed 4/”-5/’ long. 
In swamps and wet woods, Quebec to Alaska, south 
to Georgia, Tennessee, Minnesota and British Colum- 
ea Ascends to 4000 ft. in the Adirondacks. May- 
2. Veratrum Woddii Robbins. Wood's 
False Hellebore. (Fig. 985.) 
Veratrum Woodit Robbins in Wood, Classbook, 
Ed. 41, 557. 1855. 
Rootstock short, erect. Stem slender, 2°-5° 
tall; leaves mostly basal, oblong or oblanceolate, 
often 1° long, 2/-4’ wide, narrowed into 
sheathing petioles about as long as the blade; 
upper leaves small and linear-lanceolate; panicle 
open, 1°-2° long, its branches ascending; pedi- 
cels shorter than the perianth,about as long as the 
bracts; flowers 6’’-8’’ broad, purple; perianth- 
segments oblanceolate, obtuse, nearly or quite 
glabrous, entire, little longer than the stamens; 
ovary pubescent when young, becoming gla- 
brous; capsule 6’’-8’” long, few-seeded. 
In dry woods and on hills, southern Indiana to 
Missouri. June-July. 
11. UVULARIA L. Sp. Pl. 304. 1753. 
Erect forked herbs, perennial by rootstocks. Stem leafy above, scale-bearing below, the 
leaves alternate, sessile or perfoliate. Flowers large, solitary at the ends of the branches or 
rarely 2 together, peduncled, drooping. Perianth bell-shaped or narrower; segments dis- 
tinct, deciduous, each bearing a nectary at the base. Stamens 6, free, or adnate to the very 
bases of the perianth-segments; filaments filiform; anthers linear, the sacs longitudinally 
dehiscent. Ovary 3-lobed, 3-celled, short-stalked or sessile; styles united to about the mid- 
dle, stigmatic along the inner side above; ovules several in each cell. Capsule ovoid or ob- 
ovoid, 3-angled or 3-winged, loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds globose, 1-3 in each cavity. 
[Name Latin, from wva/a, a palate, in allusion to the hanging flowers. ] 
Five or six species, natives of eastern North America. 
Capsule obtusely 3-angled, truncate or rounded; leaves perfoliate. 
Glabrous, glaucous; perianth-segments papillose within. 1. U. perfoliata. 
Leaves pubescent beneath; perianth-segments smooth. 2. U. grandifiora. 
Capsule acutely 3-angled or 3-winged, acute at each end; leaves sessile. 
Leaves thin, slightly rough-margined, narrowed at both ends. 3. U. sesstlifolia. 
Leaves firm, manifestly rough-margined, sometimes subcordate. 4. U. puberula. 
