Yellovr and Orange 



large, oval to oblong, 2 to 5 (usually 3), sheathing at the base. 



Fruit : Ova! blue berries on upright pedicels. 

 Preferred Habitat— \A.6\i.\, rich, cool woods and thickets. 

 Floweritig Season — May — June. 

 Distribution — From the Carolinas and Wisconsin far northward. 



To name canals, bridges, city thoroughfares, booming factory 

 towns after De Witt Clinton seems to many appropriate enough; 

 but why a shy little woodland flower .? As fitly might a wee 

 white violet carry down the name of Theodore Roosevelt to pos- 

 terity ! "Gray should not have named the flower from the 

 Governor of New York," complains Thoreau. "What is he to 

 the lovers of flowers in Massachusetts } If named after a man, it 

 must be a man of flowers." So completely has Clinton, the prac- 

 tical man of affairs, obliterated Clinton, the naturalist, from the 

 popular mind, that, were it not for this plant keeping his memory 

 green, we should be in danger of forgetting the weary, overworked 

 governor, fleeing from care to the woods and fields ; pursuing in 

 the open air the study which above all others delighted and re- 

 freshed him; revealing in every leisure momenta too-often for- 

 gotten side of his many-sided greatness. 



Indian Cucumber-root 



(Medeola Virginiana) Lily-of-the-valley family 



^/i^a/w-i-— Greenish yellow, on fine, curving footstalks, in a loose 

 cluster above a circle of leaves. Perianth of 6 wide-spread 

 divisions about >4 in. long; 6 reddish-brown stamens; 3 long 

 reddish-brown styles, stigmatic on inner side. Stem: 1 to 

 iVz ft. high, unbranched, cottony when young. Leaves: Of 

 flowering plants, in 2 whorls ; lower whorl of s to 9 large, 

 thin, oblong, taper-pointed leaves above the middle of stem; 

 upper whorl of 3 to 5 small, oval, pointed leaves i to 2 in. 

 long, immediately under flowers. Flowerless plants with a 

 whorl at summit. Fruit : Round, dark-purple berries. 



Preferred Habitat— y[o'\S\. woods and thickets. 



Flowering Season — M a y — J u n e . 



Distribution— ViOM-A Scotia and Minnesota, southward nearly to the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



Again we see the leaves of a plant coming to the aid of other- 

 wise inconspicuous flowers to render them more attractive. By 

 placing themselves in a circle just below these little spidery blos- 

 soms of weak and uncertain coloring, some of the Indian cucum- 

 ber's leaves certainly make them at least noticeable, if not showy. 

 It would be short-sighted philanthropy on the leaves' part to help 



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