292 LILIACEAE (lily FAMILY) 



slightly heart-shaped at base ; flowers solitary or in pairs ; perianth (18 mm. 

 long) soon spreading, twice the length of the stamens, greenish; stigmas 8. — 

 Rich woods, Ont. and w. N. Y. to 0., Tenn., and Ga. 



27. STREPTOPUS Michx. Twisted-stalk 



Perianth recurved-spreading from a bell-shaped base, decidnous ; the divi- 

 sions lanceolate, acute, the 3 inner keeled. Anthers arrow-shaped, exlrorse, 

 fixed near the base to the short flattened filaments, tapering above to a slender 

 entire or 2-cleft point. Berry red, roundish-ovoid, many-seeded. — Herbs, with 

 rather stout stems from a short or creeping rootstock, ordinarily forking and 

 divergent branches, ovate and taper-pointed rounded-clasping membranaceous 

 leaves, and small (extra-) axillary flowers, either solitary or in pairs, on slender 

 thread-like peduncles, which are abruptly bent or contorted near the middle 

 (whence the name, from o-rpeTrros, twisted, and ttoi^s. foot or stalk). 



1. S. amplexifolius (L.) DC. Stem 3-9 dm. high, glabrous; leaves very 

 smooth, glaucous underneath, strongly clasping; flower greenish-white (about 

 1 cm. long) ; perianth-segments v:ide-spreading or recurved from near the middle ; 

 anthers many tim^s exceeding the filaments, tapering to a slender entire point ; 

 stigma entire, truncate; fruit ellipsoid or globose, 1-2 cm. long, scarlet. — Cold 

 moist woods, Greenl. to Alaska, s. to N. E., Pa., O., Minn., and in the mts. to 

 N. C. and N. Mex. (Eurasia.) 



2. S. rbseus Michx. Lower (2-6 dm. high); rootstock short and thick; 

 leaves green both sides, finely ciliate ; the branches sparingly beset with short 

 bristly hairs; flower rose-purple (8-12 mm. long), more than half the length of 

 the slightly bent peduncle, the perianth-segments loith only the tips recurved in 

 age; anthers ovate, 2-horned, about equaling the filaments; stigma o-cleft ; 

 fruit subglobose, 1 cm. in diameter, cherry-red. — Cold damp woods, Nfd. to the 

 mts. of Ga., w. to ^Visc. and Man. May, June. 



3. S. 16ngipes Fernald, Similar; rootstock slender and wide-creeping; 

 stem ciliate-hispid above, 3-4 dm. high ; leaves ciliate, sessile, pale beneath ; 

 perianth campanulate, reddish; anthers and stigmas as in no. 2. — Woods, Mar- 

 quette Co., Mich. 



28. POLYGON ATUM [Tourn.] Hill. Solomon's Seal 



Perianth cylindrical, 6-lobed at the summit ; the 6 stamens inserted on or 

 above the middle of the tube, included ; anthers introrse. Ovary 3-celled, 

 with 2-6 ovules in each cell ; style slender, deciduous by a joint ; stigma obtuse 

 or capitate, obscurely 3-lobed. Berry globular, black or blue ; the cells 1-2- 

 seeded. — Perennial herbs, with simple stems from creeping knotted rootstocks, 

 naked below, above bearing nearl}^ sessile or half-clasping nerved leaves, and 

 axillary nodding greenish flowers; pedicels jointed near the flower. (Name 

 from TToXtJ-, many, and ybw, knee, alluding to the numerous joints of the root- 

 stock. ) 



1. P. biflbrum (Walt.) Ell. (Small S.) Glabrous, except the ovate-oblong 

 or lance-oblong nearly sessile leaves, which are commonly minutely pubescent 

 as well as pale or glaucous underneath; stem slender (3-0 dm. high) ; peduncles 

 1-3- hut mostly 2-floivered ; perianth 10-12 ram. long ; filaments papillose-rough- 

 ened, inserted toward the summit of the perianth. (? P. horeolc Greene ; P. 

 cuneatum Greene; Salomonia hiflora Farwell.) — Wooded hillsides, N. B. to 

 Fla., w. to Ont.. e. Kan., and Tex. 



2. P. commutatum (K, «Sb S.) Dietr, (Gukat S.) Glabrous throughout; 

 stem stout (0.6-2 ni, high), terete; leaves ovate, partly clasping (12-18 cm. 

 long), or the upper oblong and nearly sessile, many-nerved ; peduncles several 

 (■2-H)-flowpred, jointed below the flower; flowers 12-2(1 mm. long; filaments 

 smooth and naked, or nearly so, inserted on the middle of the tube. (P. 

 gigantenm Dietr. ; ? P. virginicum Greene ; Salomonia commutata Farwell.) — 

 Meadows and river-banks, w. N. H. and R. I. to Ga. and w. to the Rocky Mts 

 June. 



