INDIAN PIPE. CORPSE-PLANT. 



Monotropa uniflora. Heath Family. 



A low fleshy herb from three to eight inches high, without green foliage, of 

 a wax-like appearance, with colorless bracts in the pla.ce of leaves, flower. 

 White or pinkish, single, terminal, nodding. Calyx. Of two to four 

 bract-like scales. Corolla. Of four or five wedge-shaped petals. Stamens. 

 Eight or ten, with yellow anthers. Pistil. One, with a disk-like, four or 

 five-rayed stigma. 



The effect of a cluster of these nodding, wax-like flowers in 

 the deep woods of summer is singularly fairy-like. They spring 

 from a ball of matted rootlets, and are parasitic, drawing their 

 nourishment from decaying vegetable matter. In fruit the plant 

 erects itself and loses its striking resemblance to a pipe. Its 

 clammy touch, and its disposition to decompose and turn black 

 when handled, has earned it the name of corpse-plant. It was 

 used by the Indians as an eye-lotion, and is still believed by some 

 to possess healing properties. 



FIELD CHICKWEED. 



Cerastium arvense. Pink Family. 



Four to eight inches high. Stems. Slender. Leaves. Linear or nar- 

 rowly lance-shaped, flowers. White, large, in terminal clusters. Calyx. 

 Usually of five sepals. Corolla. Usually of five two-lobed petals which 

 are more than twice the length of the calyx. Stamens. Twice as many, or 

 fewer than the petals. Pistil. -One, with as many styles as there are sepals. 



This is one of the most noticeable of the chickweeds. Its 

 starry flowers are found in dry or rocky places, blossoming from 

 May till July. 



The common chickweed, which besets damp places every- 

 where, is Stellaria media ; this is much used as food for song- 

 . birds. 



The long-leaved stitchwort, S. longifolia, is a species which 

 is common in grassy places, especially northward. It has linear 

 leaves, unlike those of S. media, which are ovate or oblong. 



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