LILIACEAE 



LILY FAMILY 



GREAT SOLOMON'S SEAL 



Polygonatum commutatnm (R. & S.) Dietr. 



The many joints of the rootstocks in this genus account for 

 the name, from two Greek words meaning many, and knee. 



The Great Solomon's Seal is found in rich woods and along 

 the shaded banks of streams from New 

 Hampshire to Manitoba and south to 

 Georgia and Arizona. It is perennial 

 by a thick underground stem which 

 plainly shows the scars of each year's 

 aerial shoots. The smooth and graceful- 

 ly curved, upright stem 

 is 1-8 feet high. Leaves 

 are perfectly smooth and 

 somewhat darker green 

 above than below. 



The flowers are 2-10 

 in an umbel, or rarely 

 I. The tubular perianth 

 is greenish white and 

 6-lobed at the end. The 

 6 stamens, having an- 

 thers arrow shaped at the base, are attached at the base of the 

 perianth and grown fast to it for half their length or more. The 

 pistil consists of a 3-celled ovary, a slender style and a slightly 

 3-lobed stigma. The fruits are dark blue berries, very handsome 

 in summer. 



The Small Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum biflorum (Wnit.) Ell., 

 IS more common than the Great. It grows 8-36 inches high and is 

 zigzag near the top. The leaves are pale and somewhat hairy beneath 

 but smooth above. The 1-3 flowers on each peduncle and the berries 

 are a little smaller than in the Great Solomon's Seal, but are other- 

 wise similar. 



The Rose into tho Tulip's ear 



Munnured : "The Lilj' is a sight ; 



Don't you lu'licve she pouders, dear 

 To make hprs!>lf so saintly white? 



She takes some trouble, it is plain. 



Her reputatiou to sustain." 



Tell-tale — Olivku IIkkford 



59 



