POPPY FAMILY. 



PAPAVERACE^. 

 Bloodroot. Sanguma/ria Canadensis. 



Found in April on sunny slopes and meadow-borders. 



The leaf and iiower rise from the root on short stems, from 3 to 6 

 inches high. 



The large leaf (from 4 to 6 inches wide when fully grown) is 

 rounding in shape, with a heart-shaped base, and irregularly cut into 

 5 or 7 lobes ; the ribs are strong, the texture is close and fine — rather 

 thick, — and the surface is smooth. The color is a cool green, silvery 

 underneath, the short stem and the ribs being reddish. The single leaf 

 grows from the root on a thick juicy stem. 



The flower petals, usually 8, but sometimes 12 in number, spread 

 in a square shape ; they are long, narrow, and tapering at both ends (4 

 being slightly broader than the other 4), fine in texture, and of a 

 brilliant white; the stamens are many, orange-yellow or golden, and 

 the single large pale yellow pistil is grooved through the middle ; the 

 2-parted pale greenish calyx falls as the blossom expands. The flower- 

 stem is smooth, round, large, and pale green tinged with red. 



The Bloodroot makes a wise provision against the inclement 

 season in which it blooms, and comes up from the ground wrapped 

 closely in its circular leaf-cloak, pushing its bud through the top to 

 open in the- sunlight. The leaf slowly unrolls itself and stands, large 

 and broad, close to the ground, — in general effect it is suggestive of a 

 grape leaf. The root is charged with a dark orange-red acrid juice 

 which gives the plant its folk-name. To this plentiful rich color, no 

 doubt, the brilliant quality of the white blossom is due. 



42 



