THE CROWFOOT FAMILY. 1S3 



four oblong, petal-like sepals. Corolla: none. Slamois and pistils : very numer- 

 ous. Filajnents : glabrous. Fruit: a cluster of achencs witli long, i)ersistent 

 feathery styles. Leaves: trifoliohite, the leaflets broadly ovate and deeply 

 toothed and lobed. A climbing vine. 



Often it is tluit the commoneiit plants are far more beaiuifu! than the rari- 

 ties which we seek and favourably look upon simply because they are rare. 

 From beginning to end the existence of the virgin's bower is replete with 

 charm. Not only in remote haunts, but everywhere we see it running along 

 rail fences, or covering low stone walls and shrubbery with masses of 

 creamy tinted flowers, exhaling in great waves their faint fragrance, or toss- 

 ing about the fantastic tails of its seeds. For centuries the people have 

 known the vine. It has been loudly lauded and 'much written about. It is 

 the generous, luxurious child of the family. In England, however, without 

 discrimination, the various species are popularly called, virgin's bower. 



What some writers regard as a form of this species and which is known 

 as C. Virgin'ana Catesbyana, is distinguished by its pubescent leaves. 



FALSE BUGBANE. 



T7'a iitvettcria Ca roli'n cfisi's. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Croiv/oot. White. Scentiess. Florida to Pc7insylvania. Juufyjuty. 



Flowers: growing abundantly in loose, corymb-like panicles. Sepals: three to 

 five, falling very early. Petals : none. Stamens: numerous ; filaments slender. 

 Leaves: large; palmately-lobed, they being deep and sharply dentate; thin, with a 

 slight pubescence; those of base, long petioled ; those of the upper stem sessile or 

 subsessile. Ste/n: two to three feet high ; stout ; nearly smooth; branched. 



It may be that this perennial herb is called false bugbane because at one 

 time it was associated with the genus Cimicifuga, whose members have a 

 reputed efficacy for expelling plant vermin, and are popularly known as bug- 

 banes. The plant now represents, however, a monotypic genus which, as 

 well as in America, occurs in Eastern Asia. In the mountainous parts of 

 North Carolina it is found at altitudes of considerable height. 



LOW SPEARWORT. 



Tvii n lin cuius p us ill us. 



Fhnvers : very small; growing singly from the axils, or in loose terminal cor- 

 ymbs. Sepals : five. Petals: one toYive, equalling the calyx in length. Stamens: 

 few, one to ten. Leaves: simple; alternate; with long, smooth petioles which 

 are sheath-like at their bases; long oval or ovate ; entire; the upper leaves lance- 

 olate and almost entire, short petioled or sessile, A branching annual, si.\ lo 

 twelve inches high; leafv; smooth. 



