FIG. 131. Clammv-weed. After Britton and Brown. 



276 Minnesota Plant Life. 



to the ground. The pet- 

 als, eight to twelve in 

 number, inclose the nu- 

 merous stamens. At the 

 center the rudimentary 

 fruit appears as an ob- 

 long, narrow, one-cham- 

 bered pod, made up of 

 two carpels and ripening 

 into a .capsule with nu- 

 merous seeds. The later 

 leaves of the year grow 

 much larger than those 

 formed at the time of 

 flowering and by their ac- 

 tivity create considerable 

 reserve food material 

 which is packed away in 



the underground part ready for use by the buds of the next 

 season. 



Dutchman's-breeches. The Dutchman's-breeches or squirrel- 

 corn, of which two species occur 

 in Minnesota, are delicate and in- 

 teresting plants of the woodland, 

 where they grow on shaded 

 banks. The leaves are com- 

 pounded repeatedly on the plan 

 of three and the slender flowering 

 stem bears several nodding flow- 

 ers flattened laterally in a peculiar 

 manner. The shape of the flower 

 gives occasion for the common 

 name. Below the ground, in the 

 Dutchman's-breeches, a number 

 of bulbous scales may be discov- 

 ered. When fresh they are speck- 

 led with red dots. In the squir- 

 rel-corn, the flowers of which are 

 not so bifurcated as those of the 





FIG. 132. Blood-root. After Britton and 

 Brown. 



