FALSE SOLOMONS SEAL 



Smilacina stellata ( L. i Desf. 



May Anioiiir the lilies, Avliich it outwardly resembles very 



Sandy woods little, is the false Solomon's seal. In this plant the 

 llowers are built according to tlie prescribed lily i)lan 

 of six — three sepals and three petals, which combine to make six petal- 

 like parts. There are six stamens; and the end of the pistil is three parted. 

 The scx^d has throe cavities. The leaves are simple, taperin<r. clasjiin.ir the 

 stejn, and tliey have loiiu' veins parallelini; each other the length of 

 the leaf. 



False Solomon's seal has no! c of the appearanee of the true Solo- 

 mon's seal. Althou_iih both are li'ies. th(>y are in diU'erent iicnora. and 

 the. Smilacinas are llowers with terininal spike.- of -mall white llowers 

 with protruding stamens. 



False Soli»nu>n's seal is a j)lant of the saiul country, of the sandy 

 woods wliere the bittersweet twiii(>s and the hiaek oaks grow, llovo on a 

 sloping bank the colony of false Solomon's seal plants stand almost erect 

 and stilV in thr spring sunshiiii' and produce tbiur small clusters of white 

 llowers al)undantly through the woods. In the shelter of tho.se arching 

 stems n white-tbroated sparrow nuiy jiipe l)eneath the stalks and take 

 a bath in the sand. I'larly insects come to sij) nectar at the slightly 

 fragrant llowers. and the entire enactment of spring in the black oak 

 woods takes phice now in t-arly May around the fal.se Solomon's seal 

 col on V. 



74 



