Minnesota Plant Life. - 



on the leaves, which gives to them a silvery lustre upon both 

 sides in the silverberry and silver buffalo-berry, but upon the 

 under side alone in the Canada buffalo-berry. In this latter 

 species a few scurfy shield-shaped hairs develop on the upper 

 sides of the leaves. The silverberry has alternate, oblong 

 leaves, while buffalo-berries have opposite oblong leaves. The 

 flowers are bell-shaped, without corolla. The stamens are four 

 or eight in number, borne on the inner surface of the perianth. 

 The silverberry, which is a most attractive and beautiful shrub, 

 is silver-colored, not only with respect to the leaves, but over 

 the young twigs as well. The fruit is oval in shape, silvery in 

 color, with a grooved stone. It ripens in August and is edible. 

 The two varieties of buffalo-berries have the same general 

 appearance as the silverberry, but are distinguished by their 

 opposite leaves. In the Canada buffalo-berry the leaves are 

 green on the upper side, silvery below, and the twigs are not 

 thorny. In the silver buffalo-berry the leaves are bright silver- 

 colored on both sides and the twigs are generally thorny. The 

 fruit of the Canada buffalo-berry is harmless, but flat and taste- 

 less, and is either of a red or yellow color. The fruit of the 

 silver buffalo-berry is of a delicious flavor and is used by house- 

 wives in the Red river valley in the manufacture of jellies and 

 preserves. 



Loosestrifes. The loosestrife family includes some insignifi- 

 cant herbs with opposite leaves and small axillary flowers, soli- 

 tary in the Rotala, aggregated in axillary clusters in the swamp 

 loosestrife, solitary again in the true loosestrife. The Amma- 

 nias and water-purslanes strongly resemble the water-starworts 

 in their superficial characters, but may be distinguished by their 

 flowers. They are, like the water-starworts, small aquatic or 

 mud-dwelling herbs, with opposite leaves and axillary flowers. 

 The water-purslane, indeed, has often been mistaken for the 

 water-starwort or water-fennel. In the water-purslanes and 

 Ammanias the calyx is bell-shaped with four notches at the 

 margin, but in the water-starwort there is no perianth what- 

 ever. The fruit of the water-purslane is a globular capsule with 

 two chambers, but that of the water-starwort is flattened and 

 deeply grooved on the flattened surfaces, dividing it into two 

 distinct portions. The Ammanias are larger herbs than the 



