.^be Stocs of tbe Stem -27 



and flowers. The leaves grow on the upper side of 

 the stem, the little white bell-blossoms droop in the 

 arch beneath them. This plant is the " Solomon's 

 Seal." Later in the season these flowers have given 

 place to blueberries containing seeds. Digging up 

 this plant you will find that the slender stem is but 

 a branch from a thick underground stem, from six 

 to ten inches long ; this lies horizontally, having at 

 one end a bud preparing for a leaf and flower stem 

 for next year. The underground stem is marj^ed at 

 regular intervals by a round, smooth scar, indicating 

 where a stem died down to the undergound portion 

 the previous year. Each year the new bud develops 

 fresh roots, as it sends up a fresh stem. A length, as 

 above given, having been made, each year a joint 

 and scar die off at one end of the underground root, 

 while the new bud forms at the other, decreasing at 

 one end about as fast as it increases at the opposite 

 extremity. The scars on the Solomon's Seal under- 

 ground stem mark each year of plant life ; they keep 

 the record of its growth. 



Another spring wild-flower that has an odd stem 

 is the Trillium. It looks like a lily, red, yellow or 

 white, and it receives its name from the three-fold 

 division of its parts. If you dig up the short, thick 

 underground stem, you will see that it grows in 

 rings, as if one ring were laid upon another. From 



