MELANTHACEAE oJv 



1. V. vi ride, Aiton. Leaves broad-oval, acuminate, sheath-clasp- 

 ing ; panicle pyramidal, with conspicuous foliaceous bracts at the 

 base of the branches. 

 GREEN-VERATRUM. White Hellebore. Indian Poke. 



Stem 2 to 4 feet high, pubescent. Leaves 5 to 10 inches long and 3 to 5 inches 

 wide, almost acute at base, the upper ones narrower and lanceolate. Panicte 8 

 to 12 inches long ; branches 1 to 3 or 4 inches long, compound; pedicels]^ of an 

 inch in length. Capsule about an inch long. 

 Hob. Swamps, and borders of damp thickets : frequent. Fl. May. Fr. July. 



Obs. The nerves, in the broad elliptic leaves, remind one of the 

 meridian lines in a mapx>f the globe. The root is said to possess 

 active properties. 



448. AMIAWTHIU]*!, A. Gray. 



[Gr. Amiantos, pure, & anthos, flower; the perianth being without gland, or spot.] 

 Flowers perfect : perianth spreading, the lobes sessile, oval, with- 

 out glands. Filaments rather longer than the lobes ; anthers white, 

 becoming 1-celled and peltate. Styles filiform. Fruit nearly as in 

 Melanthium; seeds ovoid-oblong, not margined, but with a loose 

 coat. Smooth perennials : stem scape-like, few-leaved ; leaves chiefly 

 radical, linear, keeled ; flowers greenish- white, in a dense terminal 

 raceme. 



1. A. liiiiscactoxicuili, A. Gray. Leaves broadly linear, 

 elongated ; raceme simple ; carpels turgid, abruptly pointed ; seeds 

 with a fleshy red coat. 



Helonias erythrosperma. MX. $ Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 234. 

 FLY-POISON AMIANTHIUM. 



Radical leaves 12 to 18 inches long, those on the scape shorter and more grass- 

 like. Scape \% to 2 feet high, obtusely angular; raceme 2 or 3 to 6, and some- 

 times 9, inches long; pedicels % an -inch to an inch in length, with lance-ovate 

 bracts at base. Capsule reddish-brown ; seeds few, rather large, inclosed in a pulpy 

 coat which is purple at maturity. 

 Hob. Swamps, in the slaty hills : rare. FL June. Fr. Aug. 



Obs. Mr. ELLIOTT says, the bulbous root is used, at the South, 

 for destroying flies. " The bulbs are triturated and mixed with 

 molasses, or honey, and the preparation is spread upon plates. The 

 flies are soon attracted, and the poison takes effect while they 

 are sipping it." But, it seems they will revive, in the course of 24 

 hours, if not swept into a fire or otherwise destroyed. 



449. CHAMAEMR'HIM, Willd. 



[Gr. Chamai, on the ground, and Leirion, a lily; the application not obvious.] 

 Flowers dioicously polygamous: perianth-lobes spatulate linear, with- 

 ering-persistent. Anthers roundish-oval, yellow. Pistillate flowers 

 with rudiments of stamens ; styles linear-clavate, stigmatic along the 

 inner side. Capsule obovoid-oblong, not lobed, loculici dally 3- 

 valved from the apex ; seeds numerous, linear-oblong, winged at 

 each end. Smooth perennial : rhizoma thickish and truncate ; stem 

 scape-like and leafy ; flowers in a simple virgate spiked raceme, 

 the staminate yellowish, the pistillate greenish-white. 



