LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY FAMILY. 435 
9. MEDEOLA L.,. Sp. Pl. 339. 1753. 
A slender erect unbranched herb, loosely provided with deciduous wool. Rootstock 
thick, white, tuber-like, with somewhat the odor and taste of cucumbers, the slender fibrous 
roots numerous. Leayes of flowering plants in 2 whorls; lower whorl of 5-9 oblong-lance- 
olate or obovate leaves; upper whorl of 3-5 ovate or oval leaves, subtending, like an invo- 
lucre, the sessile umbel of small greenish yellow declined flowers. Perianth of 6 separate 
equal oblong recurved segments. Stamens 6, hypogynous; filaments slender, smooth, 
longer than the oblong extrorse anthers, the sacs laterally dehiscent. Ovary 3-celled; ovules 
several in each cavity; styles 3, recurved, stigmatic along the inner side. Berry globose, 
pulpy. [Name from J/edea, a sorceress, referring to the supposed healing properties. ] 
A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 
1. Medeola Virginiana I,, Indian Cucumber-root. (Fig. 1042.) 
Medeola Virginiana I,. Sp. Pl. 339. 1753. 
Rootstock fleshy, 1/-3’ long. Stem 1° 
2'4° tall, bearing the lower whorl of leaves 
above the middle, or in flowerless plants at 
the summit; leaves of the lower whorl ses- 
sile, 244/-5/ long, 1’-2’ wide, acuminate at the 
apex, narrowed at the base, 3-5-nerved and 
reticulate-veined; leaves of the upper whorl 
1/-2/ long, '4’—1’ wide, short-petioled or ses- 
sile; umbel 2-9-flowered; pedicels filiform, 
1’ long or less, declined in flower, erect or 
ascending in fruit; perianth-segments 3//-5/’ 
long, obtuse; berry dark purple, 4’/’-7’” in 
diameter. 
In moist woods and thickets, Nova Scotia to 
Ontario and Minnesota, south to Florida and 
Tennessee. Ascends to 2800 ft. in Virginia. 
May-June. 
10. TRILLIUM L. Sytb JB Bei8); WG 
Glabrous erect unbranched herbs, with short scarred rootstocks and 3 leaves whorled at 
the summit of the stem, subtending the sessile or peduncled solitary bractless flower. Soli- 
tary long-petioled leaves are sometimes borne on the rootstock. Perianth of 2 distinct 
series of segments, the outer 3 (sepals) green, persistent, the inner 3 (petals) white, pink, 
purple or sometimes greenish, deciduous or withering. Stamens 6, hypogynous; filaments 
short; anthers linear, mostly introrse. Ovary sessile, 3-6-angled or lobed, 3-celled; ovules 
several or numerous in each cavity; styles 3, stigmatic along the inner side. Berry globose 
or ovoid, many-seeded. Seeds horizontal. [Latin, in allusion to the 3-parted flowers and 
the 3 leaves. ] 
About 20 species, natives of North America and Asia. Besides the following, some 7 others 
occur in the southern and western parts of North America. The species are known as 7hree-leaved 
Nightshade and Birthroot. Phyllody, 7. e., the reversion of petals or sepals to leaves, is occasional 
in the genus, and the floral parts are sometimes in 4’s instead of 3’s. 
Flower sessile. 
Leaves sessile; sepals not reflexed. Declan SE SSZLEn 
Leaves petioled; sepals reflexed. 2. T. recurvatum. 
Flower peduncled. 
Leaves oval or ovate, obtuse or obtusish, 1'-2' long. 3. T. nivale. 
Leaves broadly ovate or rhombic, acuminate, 2'~7' long. 
Leaves sessile, or narrowed at the base and short-petioled. 
Petals obovate or oblanceolate, 1}4’-2'4' long. 4. T. grandifiorum. 
Petals ovate or lanceolate, '4’-1'%' long. 
Peduncle 14%'-4' long, erect or declined; petals spreading. 5. T. erectum. 
Peduncle 14%’ long or less, recurved beneath the leaves; petals recurved. 
: 6. T. cernuum. 
Leaves distinctly petioled, obtuse or rounded at the base. 7. T. undulalum. 
