MISCELLANEOUS 



ALUM-ROOT. 



Htuchera Americana. Saxifrage Family. 



Stems. Two to three feet high ; glandular; more or less hairy. Leaves. 

 Heart-shaped ; with short, rounded lobes ; wavy-toothed, mostly from the 

 root. Flowers. Greenish or purplish ; in long narrow clusters. Calyx. 

 Bell-shaped; broad; five-cleft. Corolla. Of five small petals. Stamens. 

 Five. Pistil. One, with two slender styles. 



In May the slender clusters of the alum-root are found in the 

 rocky woods. 



LILY-LEAVED LIPARIS. 



Liparis liliifolia. Orchis Family. 



Scape. Low; from a solid bulb. Leaves. Two; ovate; smooth. Flow- 

 ers. Purplish or greenish ; with thread-like reflexed petals and a large brown- 

 purplish lip an inch and a half long ; growing in a raceme. 



In the moist, rich woods of June we may look for these flow- 

 ers. The generic name is derived from two Greek words which 

 signify fat or shining, in reference to "the smooth or unctuous 

 leaves." (Gray.) 



BEECHDROPS. CANCER-ROOT. 



Epiphegus Virginiana. Broom-rape Family. 



Stems. Slender; fleshy; branching; with small scales; purplish, yel- 

 lowish, or brownish. Leaves. None. Flowers. Purplish, yellowish, or 

 brownish ; spiked or racemed ; small ; of two kinds, the upper sterile, the 

 lower fertile. 



These curious-looking plants abound in the shade of beech- 

 trees, drawing nourishment from their roots. The upper open 

 flowers are sterile ; the lower ones, which never expand, accom- 

 plish the continuance of their kind. 



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