A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 259 



796. Beard-tongue. Pentstemon Pentstemon. Not unlike the 

 preceding, but not hairy throughout. Leaves narrowed to a 

 stalk-Hke base, 3-6 in. long. Stalks of the flower cluster 

 sticky-hairy. Corolla purple, about ^ in. long. In thickets. 

 Penn. to Florida. Kentucky and Louisiana. Often cultivated 

 and sometimes escaping. June. Fig. 796. 



797. Beard-tongue. Pentstemon Digitalis. (P. laevigatiis 

 var. Digitalis.) Not unlike No. 796, but the flowers a little 

 larger, and white or pinkish. In fields and thickets. Maine and 

 N. Y. to Virginia, and westward, but often merely an escape 

 from gardens. June. 



798. Leaves wholly basal. 



Leaves compound ; leaflets 3 Buckbean no. 799 



Leaves not compound 



Leaves broad, kidney-shaped Wild Ginger no. 800 



Leaves narrow, tapering to a stalk-like base Primrose no. 801 



799. Buckbean. Menyanthes trifoliata. (Menyanthaeeae.) A 

 smooth bog perennial with wholly basal, compound, long 

 stalked leaves, with three toothless leaflets that are broad to- 

 wards the tip, and narrowed to a stalk-like base. Flowers in 

 a loose open cluster, its stalk arising from the ground, not 

 terminal. Corolla short funnel-shaped, its 5 rather pointed 

 lobes bearded, white or purplish. Fruit a dry pod. Greenland 

 to Long Island, N. Y., Penn., and westward. Fig. 799. See 

 No. 950. 



800. Wild Ginger. Asarum canadense. {Aristolochiaceae.) A 

 stemless, hairy, aromatic perennial often covering consider- 

 able areas. Leaves roundish, or kidney-shaped, often with a 

 sharp point, 4-7 in. wide, wholly basal, and relatively long 

 stalked, toothless. Flower solitary, from between the leaf 

 stalks, and much shorter stalked than the leaves. Petals none, 

 but the united sepals with their 3-lobed, brown-purple tips 

 are petal-like. In rich woods. New Brunswick to No. Caro- 

 lina, and westward. May. Fig. 800. A closely related species, 

 A. reflcxum, has shorter and blunter sepal -tips that are re- 

 curved. It is found in similar situations from Conn, and New 



