378 



Minnesota Plant Life. 



from the hood where it was resting and takes such a position 

 that its end will be dragged across the back of a bee that sub- 

 sequently visits the flower. In this way bees going from flower 

 to flower commonly carry pollen from one plant to stigmas 

 of another. 



Mint extracts, as is well known, are of considerable excel- 

 lence for a variety of purposes. They are used in perfumery 

 and confectionery, and in some medical preparations. Many 

 of them are gathered as household remedies. 



Ground-cherries. The nightshade or tobacco family includes 

 about fifteen Minnesota varieties, of which only eight are native. 

 Here are the ground-cherries, plants known also as ground 

 tomatoes, and recognized by the much inflated bladdery calyx, 

 which incloses the little tomato-like berry. The name ground- 

 cherry is given because, in the common species, the berry is 

 about the size of an ordinary cherry. Several different kinds 

 occur in Minnesota. The various sorts may be known by the 

 presence or absence of underground stems, by the smoothness 

 or hairiness of the leaves, and also by the shapes of the leaves, 

 by the color and sizes of the flowers, and by the shape of the 

 calyx in fruit. The most common species in Minnesota are the 

 clammy, the leaves of which are clammy and viscid to the touch ; 

 the Virginia, with smooth leaves, sometimes more or less hairy ; 

 the prairie ; the long-leafed, and the Philadelphia ground-cherry, 

 all of which have underground rootstocks. Besides, there occur 

 the low, and the cut-leafed, in the first of which the leaves are 

 ovate and entire, while in the second the margins are strongly 

 notched. In neither of these plants is there any underground 

 rootstock and the plants are therefore annual, springing up each 

 year from the seed. 



Nightshades. Besides the ground-cherries there are three 

 varieties of nightshade herbs with flowers resembling those 

 of the potato and arranged in cymes. The black or deadly 

 nightshade is an annual, smooth, unpleasant-smelling herb, with 

 entire or slightly notched ovate leaves, and black, spherical, 

 smooth berries, without a bloom, hanging on nodding stems. 

 The cut-leafed nightshade, which in its fruits resembles the or- 

 dinary variety, may be known by the pinnately-lobed leaves and 

 the greenish-black or green colored fruits. The prickly night- 



