WHITE 



It was so associated with civilization as to be called the " white 

 man's plant " by the Indians. 



Its purple-flowered relative, D. Tatula, is an emigrant from 

 the tropics. This genus possesses narcotic-poisonous properties. 



WILD BALSAM-APPLE. 



Echinocystis lobata. Gourd Family. 



Stem. Climbing, nearly smooth, with three-forked tendrils. Leaves. 

 Deeply and sharply rive-lobed. Flowers. Numerous, small, greenish-white, 

 unisexual ; the staminate ones growing in long racemes, the pistillate ones in 

 small clusters or solitary. Fruit. Fleshy, oval, green, about two inches 

 long, clothed with weak prickles. 



This is an ornamental climber which is found bearing its 

 flowers and fruit at the same time. It grows in rich soil along 

 rivers in parts of New England, Pennsylvania, and westward ; 

 and is often cultivated in gardens, making an effective arbor- 

 vine. The generic name is from two Greek words which signify 

 hedgehog and bladder, in reference to the prickly fruit. 



WHITE ASTERS. 



Aster. Composite Family (p. 13). 



Flower-heads. Composed of white ray-flowers with a centre of yellow 

 disk-flowers. 



While we have far fewer species of white than of blue or 

 purple asters, some of these few are so abundant in individuals 

 as to hold their own fairly well against their bright-hued rivals. 



The slender zig-zag stems, thin, coarsely toothed, heart- 

 shaped leaves, and white, loosely clustered flower-heads of A. 

 corymbosus, are noticeable along the shaded roadsides and in the 

 open woods of August. 



Bordering the dry fields at this same season are the spreading 

 wand-like branches, thickly covered with the tiny flower-heads as 

 with snowflakes, of A. ericoides. 



A. umbellatus is the tall white aster of the swamps and moist 

 thickets. It sometimes reaches a height of seven feet, and can 

 be identified by its long tapering leaves and large, flat flower- 

 clusters. 



105 



