LILY FAMILY. Liliacese. 



The pendulous position of the flowers of this genus, is 

 in a great measure protective ; the wind and weather can 

 not injure or uselessly scatter the pollen. The flowers, 

 moreover, have short styles and long anthers, and are 

 unquestionably cross-fertilized by the larger bees ; the 

 bumblebees Bombus vagans, and Bombus pennsylvanicus 

 are common visitors, together with innumerable small 

 insects. 



The oblong-ovate, light green leaves 

 Solomon s Seal 



Polygonatum smooth or finely hairy and paler beneath, 

 biflorum arranged alternately either side of the 



Pale green slender, smooth stem ; the cylindrical and 

 April-June tassellike perfect flowers (each having six 

 stamens) depend in clusters of two, rarely three, below 

 them. An extremely pretty and graceful plant when 

 under cultivation. The fruit, at first a green berry with 

 a whitish bloom, at last becomes blue-black and resembles 

 a small Concord grape ; it imparts an additionally decora- 

 tive appearance to the plant. 1-3 feet high. Common 

 in thickets beside woodlands, and on hillsides. Me., 

 south, and west to E. Kan., Neb., and Tex. 



The plant is taller and smooth, without 

 Solomon's Seal ^ ne ^ ne narrmess - Leaves ovate, pointed, 

 Polygonatum and partly clasping the plant-stem, 3-8 

 commutatum inches long, and many-ribbed. Flowers 

 Pale Green in c i us t er s of from two to eight. Stem 

 y stout and round. 2-8 feet high. Meadows 



and river banks. Me., south to Va., and 

 west to the Rocky Mts. 



A southern plant of the mountain woods 



and pine-barren swamps, found at an al- 

 o!"* r1 titude of 5000 feet in Virginia. The rather 



puberula stocky angular stem slightly fine-hairy. 



(Uvularia pube- Leaves ovate, pointed, rough-edged, and a 

 rula Michaux) br i ghfc shining green on both sides. Flow- 

 Corn=yellow , .,, . 



May-June ers P ale corn vellow > bell-shaped, with six 



perianth divisions, the styles separated 

 nearly to the base, and not longer than the anthers. 8-15 

 inches high. N. J. to S. C. This plant does not properly 

 belong to the genus Uvularia; its perianth is without 

 ridges within. (See O. sessilifolia.) 

 36 



