382 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



thers joining in pairs, each pair overtopped by i of the 3 lobes 

 of the stigma. Ovary, 6-celled. 



Flowers all near the root, on short peduncles. Upright, 

 branched herbs, 8 to 15 inches high. The root has medicinal 

 stimulant properties. 



63. Wild Ginger. Asarabacca 



Asarum Canadense. — Family, Birthwort. Color, dull brown, 

 purplish. Leaves, 2, on long petioles, from creeping root- 

 stocks, kidney-shaped, 4 to 5 inches broad, thin and translu- 

 cent. Time, early May. 



Corolla, wanting. Calyx, bell -shaped, spreading, with 3 

 short, pointed lobes lying flat, open. Stamens, 10. Style, 6- 

 lobed at summit, with 6 spreading stigmas. Fruit, a fleshy, 

 roundish capsule, bursting irregularly and scattering many 

 seeds. Leaf-stalks, 5 to 12 inches long. 



The flower grows low down near the root, from between the 

 leaves, on a short peduncle. Its dull color enables it to hide it- 

 self with ease under the broad pair of leaves which rise above 

 it. Unless one should recognize the leaf, it would be difficult 

 to discover this plant. Its rootstock has a pungent, aromatic, 

 ginger-like taste. It has pretensions to being among our earliest 

 spring flowers, being mentioned by Mr. Gibson as among the pos- 

 sible March bloomers. 



64. ^Vood- nettle 



Laportea Canadensis. — Family, Nettle. Color, green. 

 Leaves, 5 or 6 inches long, ovate, pointed, long-petioled, 

 with one 2-cleft stipule, feather-veined. Time, July to Sep- 

 tember. 18 inches to 4 feet tall. 



A plant with stinging hairs, 2 or 3 feet high. Corolla, none. 

 The stamens and pistils are in different flowers. Calyx, of 4 

 sepals, I or more of which are smaller than the other 2. 



