LARGE-FLOWERED BARREHWORT 



ing a pawpaw; in color dark-purple, mottled with blue and 

 covered with a glaucous bloom. Within is a layer of thin, dry 

 flesh about a whitish pulpy mass in which great numbers of black 

 seeds are embedded; the taste is insipid. 



The long, slender, pliable shoots are used in Japan as we use 

 willow, for the manufacture of baskets, trays, and even hats. No 

 enemies have as yet appeared in this country, either insects or 

 fungi. 



LARGE-FLOWERED BARRENWORT 



Epiwicdium macrdnthum. 



The ancient name dating from Dioscorides; given, perhaps, because 

 the plant grew in Media. 



Stems. — Both erect and creeping underground. 



Leaves. — Thrice ternate; leaflets cordate-ovate, unequal at the base, 

 sharply toothed; petioles with conspicuous hairs. 



Flowers. — Odd-looking, long-spurred, starry; in terminal panicles. 



Sepals. — Eight, in two sets; outer set sometimes bright-red, remaining 

 after the larger and showier parts of the flower have fallen; inner sepals 

 ovate-lanceolate, violet. Petals four, in the form of spurs, an inch long, 

 white; nectar-bearing. 



Stamens. — Four. 



Ovary. — One-valved; style single; capsule opening by a valve on the 

 back; several-seeded. 



The genus Epimedium contains a number of perennial herbs 

 which are characterized as among the daintiest and most inter- 

 esting plants that can be grown in the hardy border. 



The Great-Flowered Barren wort is reported "as distinct, com- 

 plicated, and fascinating as many of the rare, tender, and costly 

 orchids." What adds to the interest is that the sepals take on 

 petaloid forms and colors, the petals become spurs for the pro- 

 duction of nectar, and the whole is brilliantly colored. The plant 

 is native to Japan and has been in cultivation long enough to de- 

 velop several garden varieties. 



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