WHITE 



twigs, and use them for whitening their teeth. It is said that 

 the Creoles also owe the dazzling beauty of their teeth to this 

 same practice. 



BELLWORT. 



Oakesia sessilifolia. Lily Family. 



Stem. Acutely angled, rather low. Leaves. Set close to or clasping 

 the stem, pale, lance-oblong. Flower. Yellowish-white or straw-color. 

 Perianth. Narrowly bell-shaped, divided into six distinct sepals. Stamens. 

 Six. Pistil. One, with a deeply three-cleft style. 



In spring this little plant is very abundant in the woods. It 

 bears one or two small lily-like blossoms which droop modestly 

 beneath the curving stems. 



With the same common name and near of kin is Uimlaria 

 perfoliata, with leaves which seem pierced by the stem, but 

 otherwise of a strikingly similar aspect. 



HAWTHORN. WHITE-THORN. 



Cratagus coccinea. Rose Family. 



A shrub or small tree, with spreading branches, and stout thorns or 

 spines. Leaves. On slender leaf -stalks, thin, rounded, toothed, sometimes 

 lobed. Flowers. White or sometimes reddish, rather large, clustered, with 

 a somewhat disagreeable odor. Calyx. Urn-shaped, five-cleft. Corolla. 

 Of five broad, rounded petals. Stamens. Five to ten, or many. Pistil. 

 One, with one to five styles. Fruit. Coral-red, berry-like. 



The flowers of the white-thorn appear in spring, at the same 

 time with those of the dogwoods. Its scarlet fruit gleams from 

 the thicket in September. 



WHITE BANEBERRY. 



Actcea alba. Crowfoot Family. 



Stem. About two feet high. Leaves. Twice or thrice-compound, leaf- 

 lets incised and sharply toothed. Flowers. Small, white, in a thick, ob- 

 long, terminal raceme. Calyx. Of four to five tiny sepals which fall as the 

 flower expands. Corolla. Of four to ten small flat petals with slender 

 claws. Stamens. Numerous, with slender white filaments. Pistil. One, 

 with a depressed, two-lobed stigma. Fruit. An oval white berry, with a 

 dark spot, on a thick red stalk, 



The feathery clusters of the white baneberry may be gathered 

 when we go to the woods for the columbine, the wild ginger, 





r 

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