White and Greenish 



head or tongue, although in stormy weather, when the movement 

 of the stamens is incomplete, self-pollination may occasionally 

 occur, according to Muller. 



Two-leaved Toothwort; Crinkle-root 



{Dentaria djphylla) Mustard family 



Flowers — White, about }4 in. across, in a terminal loose cluster, 

 the formation of each similar to that of bulbous cress. Stem : 

 8 to I 5 in. high. Rootstock: Long, crinkled, toothed, fleshy, 

 crisp, edible. Leaves: 2, opposite or nearly so, on the stem, 

 compounded of 3 ovate and toothed leaflets ; also larger, 

 broader leaves on larger petioles from the rootstock. Fruit: 

 Flat, lance-shaped pods, i in. long or over, tipped with the 

 slender style. 



Per/erred Habitat — Rich leaf mould in woods, sometimes in thickets 

 and meadows. 



Fhnvering Season — May. 



Distribution — Nova Scotia to the Carolinas, west to the Mississippi. 



Clusters of these pretty, white, cross-shaped flowers, found 

 near the bloodroot, claytonia, anemones, and a host of other deli- 

 cate spring blossoms, enter into a short but fierce competition 

 with them for the visits of the small yljufre 11 a and Halictits bees 

 then flying to collect nectar and pollen for a generation still un- 

 born. In tunnels underground, or in soft, partially decayed wood, 

 each busy little mother places the pellets of pollen and nectar paste, 

 then when her eggs have been laid on the food supply in separate 

 nurseries and sealed up, she dies from exhaustion, leaving her 

 grub progeny to eat its way through the larva into the chrysalis 

 state, and finally into that of a winged bee that flies away to 

 liberty. These are the little bees so constantly seen about willow 

 catkins. 



Country children, on their way to school through the woods, 

 often dig up the curious, long crisp root of the toothwort, which 

 tastes much like the water-cress, to eat with their sandwiches at 

 the noon recess. Then, as they examine the little pointed pro- 

 jections on the rootstock, they see why the plant received its 

 name. 



• •••••■•••« 



Another toothwort found throughout a similar range, the Cut- 

 leaved species, or Pepper-root (D. lacitiiata), has its equally edible 

 rootstock scarcely toothed, but rather constricted in places, giving 

 its little tubers the appearance of beads strung into a necklace. Its 

 white or pale purplish-pink cross-shaped flowers, loosely clustered 

 at the end of an unbranched stem, rise by preference above moist 



190 



