402 FLO WERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



I inch long, with wavy and turned-back edges. The flower- 

 stalk is short and nodditig to one side. 



102. Painted Trillium or Wake-robin 



T. erythrocdrpiim or unduld,tum is the most striking of the 

 genus. Flower, peduncled, with 3 narrow sepals. Its long, 

 white, wavy petals are colored a deep rich crimson in the 

 middle, or lined with purple, and the upper part of the stem is 

 brown. Fruit, a 3-angled red berry, 3-celled, with several 

 seeds in a cell. Leaves, tapering almost to a thick, broad 

 petiole;, with 3 prominent ribs, running from base to the sharp- 

 pointed apex. 



Nova Scotia to Georgia. 



The parts of these plants, being all in threes, give them their 

 name, " trillium." Roots, poisonous. 



103. Yellow Adder's-tongue 



Erythronium Americanum. — Family, Lily. Color, light 

 yellow. Leaves, 2, long, narrow, usually mottled with whitish 

 or purplish spots, sometimes wholly green, contracted below 

 into petioles which surround the stem. Time, March to May. 



Perianth divisions, 6, separate, narrow, bell-shaped, longer 

 than the 6 stamens. Flowers, single, on long peduncles. Stem, 

 I foot or less high. 



A low, smooth plant, often growing in masses or beds in moist, 

 rich woods. The pretty flowers close at night and open morn- 

 ings. On warm, sunny days the perianth segments curve back- 

 ward. 



104. White Adder's-tongue 



E. dlbidum, a similar species, bears a pretty, white, blue, or 

 purple lily-like flower, with its perianth divisions curled far 

 backward, blossoming early in spring. Style, long and pro- 

 jecting, bearing 3 stigmas. A pair of opposite leaves, spotted 



