WET MEADOWS AND LOW GROUNDS 171 



or short-petioled ; the lower broad at apex, obtuse, tapering 

 into narrow petioles. Time, May to July. 



Stamens and ptsii/s on different plants. Sepals, 6, persistent 

 after withering. Six stamens with white anthers. The fertile 

 flowers contain only the rudiments of stamens. Styles, 3, long, 

 club-shaped, stigmatic along one side. Capsule oblong, about 

 ■J inch long, 3-lobed, and 3-valved. 



A long stem, 4 feet high or less, rises from a tuberous root- 

 stock, bearing a bractless raceme several inches long, of small, 

 feathery, white staminate flowers. The raceme of pistillate flow- 

 ers on a shorter stem is stiff and erect. 



Massachusetts to Florida, and westward. 



61. Bunch-flower 



Meldnihium Virginicum. — Family, 'Bunch -Aovicx. Color, 

 cream or yellowish green Leaves, root-leaves sheathing, long 

 — often I foot — and narrow, grass-like, the upper becoming 

 small. Time, July, 'August- 



The flowers are crowded or bunched at the end of a tall, 

 unbranched stem, 4 or 5 feet high. They form a large pani- 

 cle, of which the lower flowers are staminate, the upper pistil- 

 late. The 6 sepals are quite separate, raised on claws and 

 spreading. After blossoming they become brownish. The 

 stamens are joined to the sepals. Three styles and stigmas. 



Found in marshes and wet woods, from Rhode Island to Flor- 

 ida and Texas. 



62. White Hellebore. Indian-poke 



Iferatrum viride. — Family, Bunch-flower. Color, yellowish 

 green. Leaves, parallel-ribbed, broad, pointed, plaited, run- 

 ning down and clasping the stem with sheathing bases. Time, 

 May to July. 



Perianth of 6 sepals, narrowed at base. Stamens, 6, the 

 filaments curved. Tall, 2 to 8 feet, and coarse, with very poi- 



