LILY FAMILY 



THE LEAVES: lance-oblong or lance-ovate; acute or taper- 

 ing to a point at the apex; nearly sessile; narrowed or 

 sometimes obtuse at the base; with short hairs and pale 

 beneath, hairless above. 



THE FLOWERS: one to four, mostly two, on hairless stems, 

 drooping in the axils of the leaves; perianth tubular, six- 

 lobed at the top; six stamens set on the tube. 



THE FRUIT: a globular berry, black or blue. 



This plant is well described by its common names. 

 Because its long, knotted, creeping root stalks are scarred 

 with the stem marks of previous years, it is called Solo- 

 mon's Seal, and because its leaves are arranged up the 

 slender stem like the rungs of a ladder it is called Jacob's 

 Ladder or Ladder- to-Heaven. But the popular names do 

 not describe the pendulous white flowers that hang in 

 clusters under the leaves, nor the later-appearing blue- 

 black berries that, when mature, resemble Concord grapes. 



LILIACE^E LILY FAMILY 



Aletris farinosa, L. 



Mealy- white tinged Colic-root, Star Grass, 



with pink Unicorn-root, Blazing-star, 



Ague-root, Spanish Bayonet, 

 May- July Star-root, (Local name) . 



Husk-root, 



Aletris: Greek for a female slave who grinds corn, in allusion 



to the apparent mealiness of the blossoms. 

 Farinosa: Latin name for coarse meal. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons. 



THE PLANT: erect, one and one half feet tall, hairless; the 

 flower stem unbranched, with several small, inconspicu- 

 ous leaves. 



