White and Greenish i 



short-lived sepals ; 6 to 9 rounded, flat petals ; stamens as ■ 



many as petals or (usually) twice as many ; i pistil, with a 



thick stigma. Stem: i to i^ ft. high, from a long, running ; 



rootstock. Leaves : Of flowerless stems (from separate root- ' 



stock), solitary, on a long petiole from base, nearly i ft. across, 



rounded, centrally peltate, umbrella fashion, s to 7 lobed, the 



lobes 2-cleft, da'rk above, light green below. Leaves of i 



flowering stem i to 3, usually a pair, similar to others, but ^ 



smaller. Fruit: A fleshy, yellowish, egg-shaped, many- .: 



seeded fruit about 2 in. long. : 



Preferred Habitat — Rich, moist woods. 



F/mvering Season — May. ; 



Z>/x/r/^////^;7— Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, westward to Minne- 1 



sota and Texas. ' 



In giving this plant its abridged scientific name, Linnaeus | 

 seemed to see in its leaves a resemblance to a duck's foot {/liia- ' 

 podophyllum) ; but equally imaginative American children call 

 them green umbrellas, and declare they unfurl only during April 

 showers. In July, a sweetly mawkish, many-seeded fruit, resem- 

 bling a yellow egg-tomato, delights the uncritical palates of little i 

 people, who should be warned, however, against putting any other \ 

 part of this poisonous, drastic plant in their mouths. Physicians i 

 best know its uses. Dr. Asa Gray's statement about the harmless 



fruit "eaten by pigs and boys" aroused William Hamilton Gib- ' 



son, who had happy memories of his own youthful gorges on any- I 



thing edible that grew. "Think of it, boys ! " he wrote ; "and I 



think of what else he says of it : ' Ovarv ovoid, stigma sessile, un- ' 



dulate, seeds covering the lateral placenta each enclosed in an aril.' ] 



Now it may be safe for pigs and. billygoats to tackle such a com- ' 



pound as that, but we boys all like to krfow what we are eating, and ' 



I cannot but feel that the public health officials of every township j 



should require this formula of Dr. Gray's to be printed on every one j 



of these big loaded pills, if that is what they are really made of." i 



\ 



Bloodroot; Indian Paint; Red Puccoon \ (H j 



{Sanguinaria Canadensis) Poppy family ' 



Flo7vers—?\ive white, rarely pinkish, golden centred, \ Xo \y2 in. j 



across, solitary, at end of a smooth naked scape 6 to 14 \ 



in. tall. Calyx of 2 short-lived sepals ; corolla of 8 to 12 j 



oblong petals, early falling ; stamens numerous ; i short I 



pistil composed of 2 carpels. Z.d'^7t'£'5; Rounded, deeply and '• 



palmately lobed, the 5 to 9 lobes often cleft. Rootstock: \ 



Thick, several inches long, with fibrous roots, and filled with : 



orange-red juice. J 



185 ] 



