32 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 
I. VERATRUM, Tourn. 
Simple-stemmed perennials. Roots fibrous, from the thick- 
ened base of the stem, poisonous, emetic. Leaves 3-ranked, 
plaited, and veiny. Flowers panicled, greenish, or brownish. 
Sepals 6, spreading, nearly free from the ovary. Stamens 
shorter than the perianth, and inserted on its base. Ovary of 
3 carpels united at base. Fruit a few-seeded capsule, splitting 
into 3 parts. 
1. V. viride, Ait. Wuitr HerLtiesorr, InpIAN Poke. Stem 
stout, 2-7 ft. high, very leafy. Flowers very numerous, in a panicle, 
composed of spike-like racemes. Sepals yellowish-green. Wet 
meadows and brooksides. (e(4 @».e4- 
2. V. Woodii, Robbins. Stem slender, 2—5 ft. high, not very leafy. 
Flowers in a long, narrow panicle. Sepals greenish-purple or almost 
black. Woods and dry hillsides. 
Il. CHAMAZLIRIUM, Willd. 
Rootstock short and thick, bitter. Stem simple, erect, leafy, 
smooth. Lower leaves spatulate to obovate, the stem-leaves 
narrower. Flowers small, white, in a spike-like raceme, 
dicecious. Perianth of 6 linear-spatulate segments. Stamens 
6, filaments longer than the perianth. Ovary 3-celled, styles 
3. Fruit an ovoid, 3-angled, many-seeded capsule.* 
1. C. carolinianum, Willd. Unicorn-root, Drevit’s Bit. Stem 
furrowed, staminate plants 1-2 ft. high, pistillate taller, often 3 ft. 
or more. Lower leaves obovate, clustered, the upper small and 
bract-like. Staminate racemes slender and drooping, the pistillate 
erect. Flowers short-pediceled. Capsule 3-valved, seeds linear- 
oblong, winged at the ends. On low ground.* 
Il. AMIANTHIUM, Gray. 
Stem simple, glabrous, erect from a bulbous base. Leaves 
long and slender. Flowers white, in a simple terminal raceme, 
perfect. Perianth of 6 segments which are sessile and gland- 
less. Stamens 6, inserted in the base of the perianth. Ovary 
3-lobed, 3-celled, fruit a dehiscent, 3-lobed capsule, the lobes 
becoming awl-shaped by the persistent style bases; cells few- 
seeded.* 
