THE BARBERRY FAMILY. 1S9 



that are smaller near the base of the infloreseiice. Leajhts : obovate or broadly 

 cordate, twice or thrice lobed; whitish underneath; thin; smooth. St^m : one to 

 three feet high; siieathed at the base; erect; smooth. Rootstock : thickened. 



On many of the highest peaks of the Cumberland motmtains and fre- 

 quently in North Carolina ranging ac altitudes between 4,000 and 5,000 feet 

 above the sea level, this plant becomes in fruit more noticeable than at any 

 other period of its existence, at lower planes. It is then extremely beautiful. 

 All about, it is known by the native people whose belief it is, that it 

 does good to all young creatures, the faith, no doubt, transmitted to 

 them by the Indians who dosed with it their pappooses. In the autumn, 

 therefore, they gather its rhizomes and prepare a decoction, held in reserve 

 throughout the year. 



UMBRELLA=LEAF. 



Diphylleia cyiiibsa. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Barberry. White. Scentless. I'irginia and Georgia. May, June. 



Flmvers : growing in a terminal, many-flowered cyme. Calyx: with six, early 

 falling sepals. Corolla: with six, oblong flat petals. S/ametis : six. Berries: 

 blue; oblong; growing uprightly on their slender pedicels. Leaves: two with 

 long petioles that are alternate on the stem and one very long petioled basal one 

 which is peltate near the centre; large; rounded; deeply two-cleft with many 

 sharply pointed, unequal lobes ; dentate; thin, glabrous. Stem: erect ; one foot 

 to eighteen inches high; glabrous or nearly so. 



One impression that this plant is prone to give is that it throws out too 

 much leaf and too little flower. Again the papery foliage reminds us 

 vaguely of the May apple, although we are saved from confusing the two 

 as its flowers grow in a very different way, being clustered and rising higher 

 than the leaves. Each year as the stem dies down to the rootstock it 

 leaves on it a scar, a habit with which we are familiar in Solomon's seal, 

 and which prevents any mystery concerning the plant's age. Through 

 mountainous woods and along streams where the umbrella-leaf grows its 

 appearance is much too bold and striking to be easily overlooked. 



WILD MANDRAKE. MAY APPLE. WILD LEHON. 



PodophylliDJi pcltaiiiDi. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Barberry. White. Scentless. Texas, Louisiana ami Florida, April, May. 



7i07-tli~ivard. 



FloTvers : large, solitary, nodding from a short stout peduncle between the forks 

 of the leaves. Calyx: with six, early falling sepals. Corolla: with six or nine 

 rounded, obovate petals. Slame/is : usually twice the number of the petals. 

 Pistil: one. Fruit: a large, fleshy berry, filled with seeds and appearing similar 

 to a small lemon ; sweet, edible. Leaves .-'the basal ones long petioled, peltate at the 



