PLANTS GROWING IN LIGHT SOIL. 223 



AMERICAN SPIKENARD. 



Aralia racembsa. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Ginseng. Greenish -white. Roots fragrant. Vermont to Minnesota^ July- 



southward to Georgia. 



Flowers ; imperfect ; growing in drooping, compound umbels in a long pani- 

 cle ; similar to those already described of the genus Aralia. Leaves : very 

 large ; compound ; with heart-shaped pointed leaflets ; downy; toothed. Stem : 

 very leafy ; branched. Roots .- branched ; aromatic ; fragrant. 



Few could pass by the long red or purple clusters of berry- 

 like fruit which the spikenard bears without turning aside to 

 admire them. Just before being quite ripe they are particu- 

 larly brilliant and beautiful in colouring. 



WILD GERANIUM. WILD CRANESBILL. (Plate CXV.) 



Geranium maculdtitm. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Geranium. Purplish pink or lavender. Scentless. General. April-July, 



Flowers: growing in pairs, or more numerously on long peduncles. Calyx : 

 of five pointed sepals. Corolla : of five rounded petals. Stamens : ten, five 

 of which are longer than the others with glands at their bases. Pistil : one ; 

 styles, five. Fruit: maturing into as many capsules. Leaves: palmately three, 

 five, or seven divided ; each division notched into lobes at the end ; the older 

 leaves blotched, or spotted with white. Stem : branching ; hairy. 



When so strong and vigourous a plant as the wild cranesbill 

 clothes itself in delicate purple or lavender, we naturally think 

 it has a taste for the artistic. The detail of its gown has also 

 been most carefully planned, as is shown by its beautiful vena- 

 tion. Undoubtedly it is doing its best to keep up with its fa- 

 voured relatives of the gardens. Its common name, cranesbill, 

 and Greek name, geranium, are from the resemblance of the 

 partly-matured seed vessels to the long beak of a crane. When 

 ripe they burst open elastically and scatter the seeds. The 

 plant spreads itself bountifully over the fields and roadsides as 

 well as rests quietly in the open woods. 



