UNICORN-PLANT 



753 



yielding an abundance of small-sized fruit. It is the kind most 

 grown for pickling in the United States. 



M. proboscidea, Glox., a violet-flowered species, has fruit of 

 larger size and with longer horns. It is a native of Louisiana. 



AFRICAN VALERIAN 

 Fedia Cornucopia, Gaertn. Valerianacece. 



French, Valeriane d'Alger. German, Algerischer Baldrian. Flemish, Speenkruid. 

 Dutch, Speerkruid. 



Native of Algeria. Annual. Stems erect, branching, smooth, 

 I ft. to 1 6 in. high ; leaves almost all radical, oval-oblong, entire, 

 bluntly toothed, and a rather dark, shining green ; flowers pink in 

 terminal clusters ; seeds 

 yellow or grayish, oblong, 

 thick, convex on one side, 

 and marked on the other 

 with a deep longitudinal 

 furrow. Their germina- 

 ting power lasts for four 

 years. The seed may be 

 sown in the open ground, 

 from April to August, in 

 drills 10 to 12 in. apart. 

 When thinned out and 

 plentifully watered in 

 hot weather, the plants 

 quickly form rosettes of 

 leaves, which are fit for use in about two months after sowing. 

 The plant is somewhat sensitive to cold, and is not so suitable 

 for sowing in autumn as the Corn-salad. It is often grown for 

 ornament. The leaves are eaten as salad. 



African Valerian (-J natural size). 



French, Macre. 



WATER-CHESTNUT 



Trapa natans, L. Haloragacece. 



German, Wasser-Nuss. Flemish and Dutch, "Waternoot. Spanish, 

 Nueis. 



Native of S. Europe. Annual. An aquatic plant with a long 

 stem which reaches to the surface of the water. Submerged leaves 

 opposite ; floating leaves alternate and arranged in a rosette at the 

 top of the stem ; blade of the leaf diamond-shaped, broader than 

 long ; flowers white, axillary ; fruit large, dark gray, bearing four 

 very stout spines arranged cross-wise, two of them being much 

 longer than the others. The germinating power of the fruit does 



