(50) 



iris and the blackberry lily. For the canna family reference 

 is made to the plantations at the Garden fountain at the ap- 

 proach to the museum building and to the conservatories, and 

 for orchids to the conservatories. 



Crossing the brook now by the path paralleling the drive- 

 way, we come to the beginning of the sequence of the large 

 series of plants with net-veined leaves and With two seed- 

 leaves (dicotyledons). This series begins with the lizard's- 

 tail family, represented here in the brook by the lizard's-tail 

 (Saururus) , a common plant of our brooks and river borders 

 in the eastern United States. To the nettle family one bed 

 is at present given, located near the group of magnolia trees, 

 where may be found, among other kinds : the slender nettle, 

 of North America ; the stinging nettle, native in Europe and 

 Asia, but introduced into this country; and the wood nettle, 

 also a North American plant; all of these secrete an oil 

 through the hairs covering the stem and leaves, this oil being 

 irritating to the skin, especially in the stinging nettle. In 

 the immediate neighborhood and to the right is the birthwort 

 family, represented by several species of wild ginger (Asa- 

 rum) , among them the common one of this region, the short- 

 lobed wild ginger, the root of which is of medicinal value; 

 another is Shuttleworth's wild ginger, of the southeastern 

 United States. To the buckwheat family there are at pres- 

 ent devoted three beds, forming a group to the left of the 

 nettle family. The docks (Rumex) are shown in many 

 forms, as are the knotweeds (Polygonum) ; the most showy 

 of these are the Japanese and Sakhalin knotweeds, the latter 

 a plant of considerable economic importance, being used as a 

 fodder plant, and is a native of the Sakhalin Island; to this 

 family also belong rhubarb, or pie-plant, and buckwheat. 

 Next to this and near the brook is the goosefoot family, with 

 several species, one of which, the lamb's-quarters (Cheno- 

 podium), is native of Europe and Asia, but found as a com- 

 mon weed in waste places and along roadsides in this coun- 

 try ; its young shoots are sometimes used as a vegetable. Closely 

 related to this, and just south of it, is the amaranth family, 



