90 



A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



258. Water Carpet. Chrysosplenium americanum. (Saxi- 

 fragaceae.) A low prostrate smooth herb with mostly op- 

 posite, nearly round leaves about ^ in. in diameter, nearly 

 stalkless, and obscurely wavy-margined. Flowers green, 

 scarcely %o ii^- across, usually solitary, at the leaf-bases. 

 Often growing in dense mats in cool wet shaded places. Nova 

 Scotia to Ga., and westward. April. Fig. 258. (For other 

 plants of this family see Nos. 497, 509, 510, 512 and 522.) 



259. Lizard's-tail. Saururus cernuus. (Satiruraceae.) A 

 swamp plant, but often in open wet meadows, 1-3 ft. tall, 

 not much branched. Leaves alternate, 3-6 in. long, 2-3 in. 

 wide, deeply heart-shaped at the base, sharp-pointed at the 

 tip, without teeth, stalked. Flowers greenish-white, in a 

 slender finger-shaped cluster from among the leaves. R. I. 

 to Florida and westward. July. 



260. Mild Water-pepper. Pcrsicaria hydro pipcroidcs. {Poly- 

 gonum hyi^opiperoidcs.) (Polygonaceac.) A perennial herb 

 of moist or wet places, 1-3 ft. tall, with alternate narrow 

 leaves 2-6 in. long, pointed at both ends, very short-stalked, 

 and finely hairy on the margins. At each leaf base there is a 

 short fringed sheath. Flowers in slender, finger-shaped clus- 

 ters, pinkish-purple. Petals none. New Brunswick to Florida 

 and Mexico, and westward. July. Fig. 260. There are many 

 related species, mostly weeds. (See Nos. 204, 205, 246, 

 247, 261-263, 270, 294.) 



