WHITE 



som. A more searching look discovers that what appeared like 

 rounded petals are really the showy white leaves of the involucre 

 which surround the small, closely clustered, greenish flowers. 



The bright red berries which appear in late summer make 

 brilliant patches in the woods and swamps. Occasionally the 

 plant is found flowering also at this season, its white stars show- 

 ing to peculiar advantage among the little clusters of coral-like 

 fruit. It is closely allied to the well-known flowering-dogwood, 

 which is so ornamental a tree in early spring. 



In the Scotch Highlands it is called the " plant of gluttony," 

 on account of its supposed power of increasing the appetite. It 

 is said to form part of the winter food of the Esquimaux. 



BUCKBEAN. 



IPI. xix 



Menyanthes trifoliata. Gentian Family. 



Scape, About one foot high. Leaves. Long stemmed; divided into 

 three oblong leaflets. Flowers. White or reddish ; clustered along the 

 scape. Calyx. Five-parted. Corolla. Five-cleft; short funnel-form; 

 white; bearded on the upper surface. Stamens. Five. Pistil. One, with 

 a two-lobed stigma. 



If luck favors us, in May or early June, we are tempted deep 

 into the long grass of some treacherous swamp by the beautiful 

 white flowers of the buckbean. These grow about one foot 

 above the ground,* the white beards which fringe their upper sur- 

 faces giving them a peculiarly delicate and feathery appearance. 



WILD CALLA. WATER ARUM. 



[PL XX 



Calla palustris. Arum Family. 



Leaves. Long - stemmed ; heart-shaped. Apparent Flower. Large; 

 white. Actual Flowers. Small ; greenish ; packed about the oblong spadix. 



Although only eight or ten inches high, this plant is pecul- 

 iarly striking as it rises from the rich soil of the swamp, or from 

 the shallow borders of the stream. The broad smooth leaves at 

 once remind one of its relationship to the so-called " calla-lily " 



39 



