White and Greenish 



short-lived sepals ; 6 to 9 rounded, flat petals ; stamens as 

 many as petals or (usually) twice as many ; i pistil, with a 

 thick stigma. Stem : i to i } ft. high, from a long, running 

 rootstock. Leaves : Of flowerless stems (from separate root- 

 stock), solitary, on along petiole from base, nearly i ft. across, 

 rounded, centrally peltate, umbrella fashion, 5 to 7 lobed, the 

 lobes 2-cIeft, dark above, light green below. Leaves of 

 flowering stem i to 3, usually a pair, similar to others, but 

 smaller. Fruit: A fleshy, yellowish, egg-shaped, many- 

 seeded fruit about 2 in. long. (Illustration facing p. 208.) 



Preferred Habitat Rich, moist woods. 



Flowering Season May. 



Distribution Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, westward to Minne- 

 sota and Texas. 



In giving this plant its abridged scientific name, Linnaeus 

 seemed to see in its leaves a resemblance to a duck's foot (Ana- 

 podophyllum) ; but equally imaginative American children call 

 them green umbrellas, and declare they unfurl only during April 

 showers. In July, a sweetly mawkish, many-seeded fruit, resem- 

 bling a yellow egg-tomato, delights the uncritical palates of little 

 people, who should be warned, however, against putting any other 

 part of this poisonous, drastic plant in their mouths. Physicians 

 best know its uses. Dr. Asa Gray's statement about the harmless 

 fruit "eaten by pigs and boys" aroused William Hamilton Gib- 

 son, who had happy memories of his own youthful gorges on any- 

 thing edible that grew. "Think of it, boys ! " he wrote ; "and 

 think of what else he says of it : ' Ovary ovoid, stigma sessile, un- 

 dulate, seeds covering the lateral placenta each enclosed in an aril.' 

 Now it may be safe for pigs and billygoats to tackle such a com- 

 pound as that, but we boys all like to know what we are eating, and 

 1 cannot but feel that the public health officials of every township 

 should require this formula of Dr. Gray's to be printed on every one 

 of these big loaded pills, if that is what they are really made of." 



Bloodroot; Indian Paint; Red Puccoon 



(Sanguinaria Canadensis) Poppy family 



Flowers Pure white, rarely pinkish, golden centred, i to i % in. 

 across, solitary, at end of a smooth naked scape 6 to 14 

 in. tall. Calyx of 2 short-lived sepals ; corolla of 8 to 12 

 oblong petals, early falling ; stamens numerous ; i short 

 pistil composed of 2 carpels. Leaves: Rounded, deeply and 

 palmately lobed, the 5 to 9 lobes often cleft. Rooistoch: 

 Thick, several inches long, with fibrous roots, and filled with 

 orange-red juice. (Illustration facing p. 208.) 



185 



