120 WILD FLOWER FAMILIES 
‘cence on the under side of the leaves, while the 
other is called the Smooth Solomon’s Seal on 
account of the absence of such pubescence. The 
flowers of the two kinds are quite similar, being 
rather small greenish or greenish white blossoms 
which commonly hang in pairs from drooping 
stalks. To us these blossoms seem neither par- 
ticularly beautiful in' color nor attractive in odor, 
but many insects, especially small bees, visit 
them freely and carry the pollen from blossom to 
blossom. The common name of these plants is 
due to the curiously thickened rootstock which 
has interesting scars upon its surface that 
doubtless suggested its name. The plant comes 
into bloom about the middle of the spring season 
and continues in blossom for some time. 
CucuMBErR-Root. The Indian Cucumber-root 
is a curious plant which one would hesitate to 
put in the same family with the Lily-of-the-Valley. 
In its habit of growth it is very different from 
the garden flower, the erect plant cornmonly 
reaching a height of two or more feet and having 
its parallel-veined leaves arranged in whorls 
around the central stalk. Above the upper whorl 
of leaves the flowers are borne in a curious umbel, 
being held nearly erect upon slender pedicels. 
The plant is found in blossom in early summer 
in moist woods and ranges from Nova Scotia west 
to Minnesota and south to Tennessee and Florida. 
