56 WHITK TO GREEN 



ALUM-ROOT 



Heuchcra oi'alifolia. Saxifrage 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 ; calyx campanulate ; petals tilifomi 

 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 



Parnassia )fiontane)isis. 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 

 traveller will be surprised when he finds what kind of flower 

 bears this exceedingly unsuitable name, for the Grass of 

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

 petals being strongly marked, and numerous stamens growing 

 at the base of every blade. Each stalk is clasped by a single 

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

 close to the ground. These basal leaves are much curled up, 

 and in low-lying marshes and other wet places you will find 

 them in profusion during the month of July. Perhaps it was 

 the velvety petals of the Grass of Parnassus that caused 

 Emerson to ask : 



" Why Nature loves the number five. 

 And why the star-form she repeats .? " 



