NAT. OUDE R. 



Coronaria. 



CONVALLARIA POLYGONATUM. SOLOMON'S SEAL. 



Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia. 

 Gen. Char. Corolla, six-cleft. Berry, spotted, three-celled. 

 Spe. Char. Leaves, alternate, stem-clasping Stem, ancipital. 

 Peduncles, axillary, generally one-flowered. 



The 7Voi is perennial, horizontal, white, fibrous, beset with 

 knobs, and marked with circular depressions, resembling the im- 

 pressions of a seal ; hence the name Solomon's Seal ; the stalk is 

 inclined, angular, smooth, and rises about a foot in height ; the 

 leaves are oval, pointed, ribbed, smooth, above of a deep green 

 color, underneath glaucous, and at the base embrace the stem ; the 

 flowers are long, bell-shaped, white, or tinged with red, divided at 

 the extremity into six short segments, and hang from the same 

 side of the stalk, upon slender j^eduncles ; the filaments are six, 

 tapering, short, and inserted in the corolla; xho, anthers are oblong 

 and erect ; the style is filiform, longer than the stamens, and 

 crowned with a blunt, triangular stigma ; the germen is round, 

 and when ripe becomes a black berry, divided into three cells, 

 each containing a single round seed. It grows in the rocky and 

 woody parts of nearly all the States. It is also found growing in 

 considerable abundance in some parts of England. It flowers in 

 May and June. 



In many parts of New Jersey, especially on the Highlands 



and mountainous regions, the Solomon's Seal is found in great 



quantities. I have at various times visited the interior sections of 

 Vol n.— 120 



