LILY-OF-THK-VALLEY FAMILY. 

 g. MEDEOLA L. Sp. PI. 339. 









A slender erect unbranched herb, loosely provided with decidnoo* 

 thick, white, tuber-like, with somewhat the odor and taste of cucumber, the ft!e*k 

 roots numerous. Leaves of flowering plants in 2 whorU; lower whorl of s^ oUor b 

 olate or obovate leaves; upper whorl of 3-5 ovate or ov.l leave*, .ubtending. UkT.. |^ 

 lucre, the sessile umbel of small greenish yellow declined flowers. iVnanth of 6 rmr 

 equal oblong recurved segments. Stamens 6. 1, .. fiUment. .lender ml 



longer than the oblong extrorse anthers, the sacs laterally dehiscent. Ovary -, 

 several m each cavity; styles 3. recurved, stigmatic along the .nncr .tdr Merry tlobo* 

 pulpy. [Name from Medea, a sorceress, referring to the supposed healing propertied) 



A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 



j,, 4 a.) 



i. Medeola Virginiana L. Indian 



fedeola I'irginiana L. Sp. PI. 339. 17,^. 



Rootstock fleshy, 1.'-$' long. Stem i- 



^ tall, bearing the lower whorl of leaves 

 above the middle, or in flowerlcss plants at 



ic summit; leaves of the lower whorl ses- 

 sile, 2)^ '-5' long, r'-2' wide, acuminate at the 

 ipex, narrowed at the base, 3~5-nerved and 



eticulate-veined; leaves of the upper whorl 

 i / -2 / long, Yz'-i' wide, short-petioled or ses- 

 sile; umbel 2-9-flowered; pedicels filiform, 

 r' long or less, declined in flower, erect or 

 :ending in fruit; perianth-segments $"-$" 

 long, obtuse; berry dark purple, 4 // -7 // in 



iameter. 



In moist woods and thickets. Nova Scotia to 

 tario and Minnesota, south to Florida and 



Tennessee. Ascends to 2800 ft. in Virginia 



May-June. 



I0 . TRILLIUM L. Sp. PI. 339. . 



Glabrous erect unbrauched herbs, with short scarred rootstocks and 3 leave* wborled at 

 the summit of the stem, subtending the sessile or peduncled solitary bractles* flower. Soli- 

 tary long-petioled leaves are sometimes borne on the rootstock. Perianth of 3 distinct 

 series of segments, the outer 3 (sepals) green, persistent, the inner 3 < petal*) white, pink, 

 purple or sometimes greenish, deciduous or withering. Stamens 6, hypogynous; f> laments 

 sh'ort; anthers linear, mostly introrse. Ovary sessile, 3-6-angled or lobed, 3 celled; ovule* 

 several or numerous in each cavity; styles 3, stigmatic along the inner side. Berry globo** 

 or ovoid, many-seeded. Seeds horizontal. [Latin, in allusion to the 3-parted (lowers and 

 the 3 leaves.] 



About 20 species, natives of North America and Asia 1; 



occur in the southern and western parts of North Aiiu-rira Tin- species are known a* T 

 Xix/itshade and Birthroot. Phyllody, /. f. . tlu- n- vi -r-i. .n . -f petals or sepals to Invc*, is ocBMioaal 

 in the genus, and the floral parts are sometimes in 4's inst< 



Flower sessile. 



Leaves sessile; sepals not reflexed. 

 Leaves petioled; sepals reflexed. 

 Flower peduncled. 



Leaves oval or ovate, obtuse or obtusish, I'-z 

 Leaves broadly ovate or rhombic, acuminate, I 

 Leaves sessile, or narrowed at the ba-<- ami -h 

 Petals obovate or oblanceolati-. i ' ' aH' long. 

 Petals ovate or lanceolate, ' ' i ' ' long. 





5 T " 



Peduncle i ', '-4' long, erect or declined; pt-tals spread- /w*r 



' long or less, recurved beneath the leave*; peta 



Peduncle 



Leaves distinctly petioled, obtuse or rounded at the baae. 





