WHITE 



CARRION-FLOWER. CAT-BRIER. 



Sniilax herbacea. Lily Family. 



Stem. Climbing, three to fifteen feet high. Leaves. Ovate, or rounded 

 heart-shaped, or abruptly cut off at base, shining. -Flowers. Greenish or 

 yellowish, small, clustered, unisexual. Perianth. Six-parted. Stamens. 

 six. Pistil. One, with three spreading stigmas. (Stamens and pistils oc- 

 curring on different plants. ) Fruit. A bluish-black berry. 



One whiff of the foul breath of the carrion flower suffices for 

 its identification. Thoreau likens its odor to that of "a dead 

 rat in the wall." It seems unfortunate that this strikingly 

 handsome plant which clambers so ornamentally over the luxuri- 

 ant thickets which border our lanes and streams, should be so 

 handicapped each June. Happily with the disappearance of the 

 blossoms, it takes its place as one of the most attractive of our 

 climbers. 



The common green-brier, S. rotundifolia, is a near relation 

 which is easily distinguished by its prickly stem. 



The dark berries and deeply tinted leaves of this genus add 

 greatly to the glorious autumnal display along our roadsides and 

 in the woods and meadows. 



LARGER WHITE TRILLIUM. 



Trillium grandifloritm. Lily Family. 



Stem. Stout, from a tuber-like rootstock. Leaves. Ovate, three in a 

 whorl, a short distance below the flower. Flower. Single, terminal, large, 

 white, turning pink or marked with green. Calyx. Of three green, spread- 

 ing sepals. Corolla. Of three long pointed petals. Stamens. Six. Pts- 

 ///._One, with three spreading stigmas. Fruit. A large ovate, somewhat 

 angled, red berry. 



This very beautiful and decorative flower must be sought far 

 from the highway in the cool rich woods of April and May. 

 Mr. Ellwanger speaks of the " chaste pure triangles of the white 

 wood-lily," and says that it often attains a height of nearly two 

 feet. 



T. cernuum has no English title. Its smaller white or pink- 

 ish blossom is borne on a stalk which is so much curved as to 

 sometimes quite conceal the flower beneath the leaves. It may 

 be sought in the moist places in the woods. 



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