WHITE AND GREENISH WILD FLOWERS 



away, leaving the numerous, longer, fine, hairlike, and 

 white, yellow-tipped stamens expanded into small airy 

 balls, each with its single pistil bearing a prominent, 

 two lobed stigma. The flowers are borne on short 

 stems which grow out from the main stem at right angles 

 and with a deliberate gesture that gives the blos- 

 soms and the later appearing fruit a decidedly poised 

 appearance. The clustered flowers open with almost 

 one accord along the end of the long, pale green stalk. 

 Their odour is coarse and unpleasant. The leaves 

 are large, open, and of rather fine and soft texture with 

 the veins showing effectively. They are dark green in 

 colour and are more or less deeply cut into three distinct 

 and acute lobes. They are arranged in threes and are 

 compounded again, sometimes twice or three times. 

 The margins are sharply notched and irregular. The 

 green, leafy stem is small, round, grooved, and slender, 

 and the leaflets are attached with or without short stems. 

 The flower stem unites with the stalk at the junction 

 of the leaf stems. The plant has a single, erect stalk 

 branching near the top, and is a perennial. The 

 most striking feature of the Cohosh appears during 

 September in the form of short, plump, bean-like 

 berries, pure white in colour and marked with a con- 

 spicuous, deep purple spot. The entire end of the 

 flower stem, which bears the fruit, is bright scarlet in 

 colour at this time. It is noticeably thick, and the 

 entire effect is stiff and waxy. The berries are said 

 to have some poisonous qualities. In Massachusetts, 

 these berries are known as "Dolls'-eyes." The White 



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