WHITE 



GROUND CHERRY. 



Physalis Virginiana. Nightshade Family. 



A strong-scented, low, much-branched and spreading herb. Leaves. 

 Somewhat oblong or heart-shaped, wavy-toothed. Flowers. Greenish or 

 yellowish-white, solitary on nodding flower-stalks. Calyx. Five-cleft ; en- 

 larging and much inflated in fruit, loosely enclosing the berry. Corolla. 

 Between wheel-shaped and funnel-form. Stamens. Five, erect, with yel- 

 low anthers. Pistil. One. Fruit. A green or yellow edible berry which 

 is loosely enveloped in the much-inflated calyx. 



We find the ground cherry in light sandy soil, and are more 

 apt to notice the loosely enveloped berry of the late year than 

 the rather inconspicuous flowers which appear in summer. 



TURTLE-HEAD. 



Chelone glabra. Figwort Family. 



One to seven feet high. Stem. Smooth, upright, branching. Leaves. 

 Opposite, lance-shaped, toothed. Flowers. White or pinkish, growing 

 in a spike or close cluster. Calyx. Of five sepals. Corolla. Two-lipped, 

 the upper lip broad and arched, notched at the apex, lower lip three-lobed at 

 the apex, woolly bearded in the throat. Stamens. Four perfect ones, with 

 woolly filaments and very woolly, heart-shaped anthers, and one small sterile 

 one. Pistil. One. 



It seems to have been my fate to find the flowers which the 

 botany relegates to " dry, sandy soil " flourishing luxuriantly in 

 marshes ; and to encounter the flowers which by rights belong 

 to " wet woods " flaunting themselves in sunny meadows. .This 

 cannot be attributed to the natural depravity of inanimate ob- 

 jects, for what is more full of life than the flowers ? and no one 

 would believe in their depravity except perhaps the amateur- 

 botanist who is endeavoring to master the different species of 

 golden-rods and asters. Therefore it is pleasant to record that 

 I do not remember ever having met a turtle-head, which is as- 

 signed by the botany to "wet places," which had not gotten 

 as close to a stream or a marsh or a moist ditch as it well could 

 without actually wetting its feet. The flowers of this plant are 

 more odd and striking than pretty. Their appearance is such 

 that their common name seems fairly appropriate. I have heard 

 unbotanical people call them " white closed gentians." 



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