164 HOW TO KNOW WILD FRUITS 



two to six. It is normally three-celled, with 

 two seeds in each cell. August, September. 



Leaves. — The simple alternate leaves are seven 

 to nine ribbed and are netted veined. They are 

 usually round-ovate. The apex is acute, some- 

 times bristle-pointed, and the base is heart- 

 shaped or obtuse. The leaves are entire. A 

 pair of tendrils proceed from the leaf stem. 

 The under surface is lighter than the upper. 



Floivers. — The dioecious greenish flowers grow 

 in from twenty- to forty-flowered clusters. They 

 are ill-scented, like " a dead rat in the wall," as 

 Thoreau describes it. They are fertilized by 

 insects, especially carrion-loving ones. 



The main stem is neither woody nor thorny. 

 By means of the numerous tendrils it climbs 

 over any and every support it may encounter. 

 The spherical clusters of bluish black fruits are 

 very attractive about the middle of August. 

 They are a frequent sight amidst the roadside 

 flower tangles, and flourish along streams and 

 in moist places. They range east from Minne- 

 sota, Missouri, and Texas to the Atlantic. 



