LILIACEAE. 65 



flowers greenish or yellowish-white, rather large, polygamous, on 

 short stout pedicels; perianth-segments 6, glandless or nearly so, 

 adnate to the base of the ovary; stamens opposite the perianth- 

 segments and free from them, short, mostly curved; ovary ovoid, 

 3-celled, the cavities several-ovuled. 



Flowers green; lower branches of the panicle drooping. V. viride. 



Flowers white; branches of the panicle not drooping. V. calif ornicum. 



Veratrum viride Ait. Green Hellebore. Stems stout, 100-150 cm. tall; 

 leaves ovate, or the upper lanceolate, pubescent beneath, 20-30 cm. long; 

 panicle open, 30-60 cm. long, the lower branches more or less drooping, usually 

 simple; perianth green, pubescent outside, the segments obovate, obtuse, 

 about 8 mm. long; principal bracts foliaceous, like the upper leaves. Deep 

 woods, in wet places. 



Veratrum californicum Durand. White Hellebore. Very similar to V. 

 viride, but flowers white, and the branches of the panicle not drooping, usually 

 again branched; principal bracts not foliaceous, small. Common in moist 

 meadows. 



88. VAGNERA. FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL. 



Herbs with slender or short and thick rootstocks; stem simple, 

 scaly below, leafy above; leaves alternate, short-petioled or 

 sessile, ovate, lanceolate or oblong; inflorescence a terminal 

 raceme or panicle; flowers white or greenish, small; perianth of 

 6 separate spreading equal segments; stamens 6, on the base of 

 the perianth-segments; ovary 3-celled, sessile, subglobose; ovules 

 2 in each cavity. 



Flowers small, numerous, in a dense panicle. V. amplexicaulis. 

 Flowers larger, few, in a raceme. 



Leaves flat and spreading. V. sessilifolia. 



Leaves folded, ascending. V. stellata. 



Vagnera amplexicaulis (Nutt.) Greene. Rootstocks stout; stems 50-100 

 cm. tall, usually puberulent; leaves oblong or ovate, acuminate, puberulent, 

 6-12 cm. long, sessile, clasping the stem somewhat; panicle pyramidal or 

 narrow, 3-10 cm. long; pedicels very short; perianth spreading, the segments 

 oblong, 2 mm. long, as long as the ovary; filaments subulate, longer than the 

 perianth; style about as long as the ovary. In rich woods, in the mountains. 



Vagnera amplexicaulis brachystyla (Henderson) Piper. Style only half 

 as long as the ovary. Kamiack Butte. 



Vagnera sessilifolia (Baker) Greene. Rootstocks slender; stems 30-60 

 cm. tall, smooth; leaves broadly lanceolate, acuminate, flat, sessile, pubescent 

 beneath, 10-15 cm. long; raceme open, 2-5 cm. long, 5-10-flowered; pedicels 

 4-12 mm. long; perianth-segments spreading, lanceolate, 4 mm. long; stamens 

 shorter than the styles. Common in moist copses. 



Vagnera stellata (L.) Morong. Very similar to V. sessilifolia but usually 

 smaller; leaves oblong-lanceolate, half-clasping, strongly ascending and 

 loosely folded; raceme more crowded, the pedicels 2-4 mm. long. Blue 

 Mountains, Homer; rare in our limits. 



