WILD FLOWERS WHITE AND GREENISH 



and lower portion soon perish, and the vine then depends 

 upon its numerous, minute suckers to absorb its nourish- 

 ment from the host to which it is attached. It is a 

 slender, high climbing, leafless, thread-like vine, vary- 

 ing in colour from yellow to orange, and producing 

 numerous, dense clusters of tiny, dull white flowers. 

 The little corolla is broadly bell-shaped with five 

 rounded, spreading lobes containing five fringed 

 scales, above which are inserted the five stamens. 

 The minute calyx is greenish white. This Dodder 

 is found chiefly in moist, shaded soil in low thickets 

 and near streams. 



BLACK, OR COMMON NIGHTSHADE 



Solanum nigrum. Potato Family. 



A low, native, annual species growing one or two 

 feet high in rich, shaded grounds from July to Octo- 

 ber. It is usually smooth, much-branched, and 

 spreading. The thin, pointed-oval leaf is wavy-toothed, 

 and is either narrowed or rounded at the base. The 

 small, white flowers are similar in structure to those 

 of the purple-flowered species, and the fruit is round, 

 juicy and black. There is some question as to the 

 extent of the poisonous qualities which have been 

 attributed to this plant and its fruit. It is employed in 

 medicine, and in the Isles of France and Bourbon as 

 well as in the Hawaiian Islands, the leaves are said 

 to be extensively used as food, being boiled like spin- 

 ach. In the Dakotas, according to Professor Hansen, 

 this plant is known as the Stubbleberry, and the fruit 



295 



