PLANTS GROWING IN RICH OR ROCKY SOIL. 143 



FALSE LILY=OF=THE=VALLEY. TWO=LEAVED 



SOLOMON'S 5EAL. 



Unifblhiiii Canadeiise. 



TIME OF BLOOM 



F/cnvers : small ; clustered in a terminal spike. Perianth : four-parted. 

 Stajne)is : four. Pistil : one ; stigma two-lobed. Fruit : a round, red berry. 

 Leaves : similar to those of the true lily-of-the-valley ; long, pointed, heart- 

 shaped at base. Stem : short ; five inches high ; bearing two leaves. 



The name of this little plant is most misleading, as its leaves 

 alone suggest any resemblance to the lily-of-the-valley. The 

 flowers arc more like those of a small false Solomon's seal. It 

 is found abundantly on the edges of mossy, deep woods and 

 around the bases of old trees. In the late summer its spikes 

 of red berries are extremely pretty. 



INDIAN CUCUMBER=ROOT. 



Medeola Virginiana. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Lily-of-the-valley. Greenish yellow. Scentless. Rather general. Jnite. 



Flowers : small ; clustered on short reflexed pedicels at the summit of the 

 stem. Perianth : of six reflexed segments. Stamens : six, of deep, rich brown. 

 Pistil : one with three recurved, long, brown stigmas- Leaves: in two sets of 

 whorls ; the lower set of seven to nine ovate-lanceolate, netted-veined leaves ; 

 the upper set of three to four smaller leaves. Stem: erect; and covered, as 

 the leaves, with a cottony fuzz, apparently quite loose. Kootstock : thick; 

 somewhat suggesting in taste and appearance a cucumber. 



When Columbus discovered America and the Indians, he 

 must also have discovered the cucumber-root. They are alike 

 characteristic of the soil of North America. Like the primitive 

 people it loves so well, the plant is a model of erectness and 

 symmetry of form. It has also the Indian's love of seclusion 

 and the silence of the forest. 



Owing to its being possessed of medicinal properties, the ge- 

 neric name Medeola is after the sorceress Medea. She it was 

 who mixed the portion for the sleepless dragon that guarded 

 the golden fleece ; and enabled Jason to carry it off, as well as 



