WHITE 



POKEWEED. GARGET. PIGEON-BERRY. 



Phytolacca decandra. Pokeweed Family. 



Stems. In length from six to ten feet high; purple-pink or bright red, 

 stout. Leaves. Large, alternate, veiny. Flowers. White or pinkish, the 

 green ovaries conspicuous, growing in racemes. Calyx. Of five rounded 

 or petal-like sepals, pinkish without. Corolla. None. Stamens. Ten. 

 Pistil. One, with ten styles. Fruit. A dark purplish berry. 



There is a vigor about this native plant which is very pleas- 

 ing. In July it is possible that we barely notice the white flow- 

 ers and large leaves; but when in September the tall purple 

 stems rear themselves above their neighbors in the roadside 

 thicket, the leaves look as though stained with wine, and the 

 long clusters of rich dark berries hang heavily from the branches, 

 we cannot but admire its independent beauty. The berries serve 

 as food for the birds. A tincture of them at one time acquired 

 some reputation as a remedy for rheumatism. In Pennsylvania 

 they have been used with whiskey to make a so-called "port- 

 wine." From their dark juice arose the name of "red-ink 

 plant," which is common in some places. The large roots are 

 poisonous, but the acrid young shoots are rendered harmless by 

 boiling, and are eaten like asparagus, being quite as good, I have 

 been told by country people. 



Despite the difference in the spelling of the names, it has 

 been suggested that the plant was called after President Polk. 

 This is most improbable, as it was common throughout the 

 country long before his birth, and its twigs are said to have been 

 plucked and worn by his followers during his campaign for the 

 Presidency. 



WHITE FRINGED ORCHIS. 



Ilabenaria blephariglottis. Orchis Family (p. 17). 



About one foot high. Leaves. Oblong or lance-shaped, the upper pass- 

 ing into pointed bracts. Flowers. Pure white, with a slender spur and 

 fringed lip ; growing in an oblong spike. 



This seems to me the most exquisite of our native orchids. 

 The fringed lips give the snowy, delicate flowers a feathery ap- 

 pearance as they gleam from the shadowy woods of midsummer, 



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