VERATRUM. CLY. MELANTHACEA. 557, 
ments unguiculate, with 2 glands at base, the claws bearing the sta- 
- mens; ovary often abortive ; capsule exserted, subovoid, summit tri- 
. fid and tipped with the 3 persistent styles; seeds margined.—St, 
erect, puberulent above. Lvs. alternate, narrow. Panicle terminal. . 
1, M. Virernicum. (Leimanthium. Willd. Veratrum. Ait. Helonias.) 
Tvs. linear-lanceolate ; panicle pyramidal; segments of the perianth sub- 
orbicular, hastate or auriculate at base—Native of wet meadows and margins . 
of swamps, N. Y. to Flor. Stem 3—4f high, leafy. Leaves about a foot long, 
and an inch wide, sessile ona contracted and subclasping base. Flowers green- 
ish-yellow, becoming brown, on short pedicels, arranged in simple, alternate 
racemes, and together constituting a pyramidal panicle 10—15’ in length. 
Lower flowers generally sterile. July, Aug. 
2. M. nysripum. Walt. (Leimanthium. Roem. ¢ Sch.) 
Iws. long-linear-lanceolate, upper ones few and short; panicle long, of 
simple racemes, pedicels filiform, much longer than the flowers; segments of the 
perianth narrowly unguiculate, roundish-rhomboidal; glands connivent; claws 
channeled, stameniferous below the middle-—Woods, Penn. to Ga.! Stem 2— 
4f high, somewhat leafy. Leaves varying from lanceolate-linear to lanceolate, 
the lowest contracted to the base or subpetiolate, shorter than the stem. Periapth 
very open, yellowish-green, segments acuminate, the long claws adhering to 
and involving the filaments. June, July. — 
B. robustior. Gray. Lower ls. lanceolate-oval; lower branches paniculate, 
compound. 
3. VERATRUM. 
Lat. vere, atrum, truly black; alluding to the dark color of the flowers or root. 
Flowers by abortion &% 2; segments of the perianth united at 
__ base, petaloid, spreading, sessile and without glands; sta. 6, shorter 
than the perianth and inserted on its base ; ovaries 3, united at base, 
_ often abortive; styles short; capsule 3-lobed, 3-partible, 00-seeded. 
—Lws. alternate, broad and plicate, or narrow and grass-like. Fls. 
paniculate. 
1. Y. viripe. (V.album. Michz.) Poke. White Hellebore. 
Lws. broad-oval, acuminate ; panicle compound, racemose ; bracts oblong- 
lanceolate, bracteoles longer than the downy pedicels.—Can. to Ga.—A large- 
leaved, coarse-looking plant, of our meadows and swamps. Root large, fleshy, 
with numerous long fibres. Stem 2—4f high, striate and pubescent. Leaves 
strongly veined and plaited, the lowest near a foot long and half as wide, 
sheathing at the base. Flowers numerous, green, in many axillary (or bracted) 
racemes, which together form a very large, pyramidal, terminal panicle. July. 
The root is emetic and stimulant, but poisonous, and should be used with cau- 
tion.- When powdered it causes violent sneezing. 
2. V. Woopu. Robbins. (Nov. sp.) Indiana Veratrum. 
Lws. mostly radical, lanceolate and linear-lanceolate, glabrous, veined and 
plicate, acute, tapering to a long, winged, sheathing petiole; st. or scape terete, 
tall, erect, with remote, lance-linear bracts; panicle simple, slender, pyramidal, - 
many-flowered; fis, gf’ §, subsessile; segments of perianth oblanceolate, dark 
brownish-purple within.—Woods, Linton, Green Co., Ia.! Root fasciculate. 
Leaves 10—16’ long (including the 4—8’ petiole), 2—4/ wide. Bracts 1—3’/ 
long. Scape 3—6f high, paniculate } its length. Flowers 3! diam., nearly 
black, with red stamens, upper and lower sterile. Ovary oblong, crowned with 
3 spreading styles half its length. Seeds compressed, winged with the broad, 
loose, membranous testa. July. 
3. VY. ANGUSTIFOLIUM..Pursh. Grass-leaved Veratrum. 
Lvs. narrowly linear, flat, very long, lowest obtuse, upper ones diminish- 
ing to subulate bracts; /ls. in a slender panicle of racemes, those of the termi- 
nal raceme (except a few of the highest) perfect and fertile, those of the lateral 
racemes mostly sterile ; segments narrowly lanceolate, subulate, acuminate —A 
