398 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



high) curves gracefully, and in fall displays round, bluish-black 

 berries. 



Range, from New England to Florida and West Virginia. 



96, Wild Spikenard. False Solomon's-seal 



Smilac)na or Vagnera racemosa.— Family, Lily-of-the- 

 valley. Color, white. Leaves, 3 to 6 inches long, alternate, 

 clasping, or the lower petioled, broad, slender-pointed at apex, 

 parallel-veined, with minutely hairy margins. Time, May to 

 July. 



Division of /<?;7<7«///, 6. Stamens, 6. A familiar plant, blos- 

 soming about the last of May, in cool woods and on hillsides, 

 often in moist ground. The single ascending stem, produc- 

 ing rather large leaves, rises straight or zigzag to a height 

 of 2 to 3 feet, and bears on its tip a compound panicle of fine, 

 white, pedicelled blossoms, slightly fragrant. In fall these 

 flowers give rise to a lovely bunch of pale - crimson, purple- 

 dotted berries. 



Nova Scotia to Georgia. 



97. Star-flowered Solomon's-seal 



A smaller species, i foot high, growing under similar condi- 

 tions, is V. stellata. The flowers, likewise in a terminal simple 

 raceme, are larger than the last, and fewer, each with a distinct 

 pedicel. Most of the leaves clasp the stem, without petioles. 

 Flowers appear about the middle of May, and the berries in 

 September are a purplish black, or green with black stripes. 

 Both of these plants grow from a creeping rootstock, like the 

 true Solomon's - seal, and they are among our interesting 

 friends of the woods. 



New England to Virginia and Kentucky. Often found grow- 

 ing with the preceding. 



98. Three-leaved Solomon's-seal 



V. trifolia rises from a slender rootstock, a stem 6 to 18 



