396 



Minnesota Plant Life. 



the end of a short nodding stem. The snrface of the fruit is 

 spiny and it does not open to release the seeds. This form of 

 wild cucumber is not very common in Minnesota, l)ut occurs 

 throughout the southern part of the state. 



The wild cucumber, or balsam-apple, like the star-cucumber 

 is a climbing herbaceous vine with rather deeply lobed leaves, 

 shaped somewhat like those of the hard maple. The flowers 

 are se])arated, both kinds occurring on the same plant. The 

 staminate flowers are numerous in conspicuous slender racemes, 

 but the pistillate flowers are generally solitary, and each one 

 ripens an egg-shaped green fruit covered with weak spines and 

 containing from two to four 

 seeds, that are released by the 

 opening of the fruit at the end. 

 The number of seeds in the fruit, 

 the opening of the fruit, and its 

 ordinarily solitary character, will 



generally serve to distinguish ;^/' 

 this plant from the star-cu- 

 cumber. 



Bluebells. The bluebell fam- 

 , ily includes four bluebells, one 

 little herb known as the Venus' 

 looking-glass, and six species of 

 lolielia. all of wdiich, except the 

 V e n u s' looking-glass and the 

 water lobelia, are rather common 

 in Minnesota. The bluebell, or 

 harebell, is an abundant plant in 

 rocky places and m e a d o w s 



throughout the state. Its beautiful, blue. bell-sha])ed tlowers 

 are Ijorne in a slender raceme, with sexeral \ery narrow bract- 

 leaves at the bases of their stems. The root-leaves of the plant 

 are in most instances rounded, or heart-shaped, but sometimes 

 all of the leaves are slender. .\ \ariety of this plant, with soli- 

 tary erect flowers crowning the stems, occurs in the northeast- 

 ern part of the state. The marsh-bellflowcr has very slender 

 stems, with narrow alternate leaves, and the ll<,)wers, often 

 almost white, are smaller and ])aler than those of the harebell. 

 The sha])e of the flower is more open. The lall. or woofl-bell- 



FiG. 192. Blue lobelia, .\fter Hritton 

 and Brown. 



