MITCHELL A PARTRIDG E-BERRY. 1 69 



in the throat of the corolla. Style filiform ; stigmas 4. Friiit baccate, 

 bright red, composed of the united ovaries of both flowers, each of which 

 contains 4 small horny, 1-seeded nutlets. It is edible but insipid. 



A small creeping, evergreen herb. Stems slender, *, to 12 inches long, 

 branching and rooting at the joints and becoming matted upon the sur- 

 face of the ground. Leaves one-half inch long, opposite, roundish, dark 

 green and shining, generally marked with a central longitudinal Une of a 

 lighter color, of a coriaceous texture. Flowers of two kinds, one with 

 stamens exsei'ted and style included, the other with style exserted and 

 stamens included ; these different kinds of flowers occur in different j^lants. 

 The flowers are white, about one-half inch long, and though generally Avith 

 theu' parts in fours, not unfrequently have them in fives, or even in sixes ; 

 they are produced in June. The whole plant turns black in drying. 



Habitat. — In moist woods, about the roots of trees, often forming a 

 vivid green matting, variegated in autumn by the bright red berries, the 

 latter often persisting till sj)ring. Everywhere common. 



Jr*art Used. — The herb — not official. 



Constituents. — Unknown. 



Preparations. — It is administered in infusion or decoction. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — The medical properties of this plant are 

 altogether problematical. It is said to be astringent, diuretic, and partu- 

 rient. Squaws are said to use a decoction of it for some weeks previous 

 to their parturition, in order to render their delivery safe and easy ; white 

 women sometimes use slipj)ery elm for the same purpose, and probably 

 with about the same amount of benefit. 



COMPOSIT/E. 



Character of the Order. — Flowers, relatively small, collected in a dense 

 head upon a common receptacle and surrounded by an involucre of bracts, 

 the whole resembling a single flower, and termed by the older botanists 

 compound. The separate flowers : calyx-tube coherent with the ovary, its 

 limb, termed papjms, composed of bristles, plumose hairs, scales, or even 

 minute leaflets, though sometimes absent entix'ely or reduced to a mere 

 margin. Corolla usually composed of 5 united petals, either ligulate or 

 tubular. Stamens 5, rarely fewer, their anthers linear and united into a 

 tube, sometimes Avith an aj^pendage at the top or at the base. Ovary 1- 

 celled, 1-ovuled ; style in tlie fertile flowers 2-cleft, the lobes often fur- 

 nished with hairs for collecting pollen, the stigmatic surfaces in the form of 

 elevated lines along the inner margins. Fruit an achenium crowned with 

 the paj^pus. 



A very large order of herbs, rarely shiiibs or trees, comprising about 

 one-tenth of the flowering plants of the world. The flowers occur in many 

 different forms. When all of them are perfect the head is said to be 



