
142. PLANTS GROWING IN RICH OR ROCKY SOIL, 
beautiful red berries of this plant, which in August can be 
found hanging from thread-like peduncles, and following grace- 
fully the curves of the stalk. In the avoiding of angles, the 
plant has as truly the artistic instinct as though it had been 
bred in a French school of design. It resembles somewhat the | 
Solomon’s seal, of which it is a connection. 
SOLOFION’S SEAL. 
Polygonatum biflorum., 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Lily-of-the-valley. Dingy yellow. Scentless. New England southward. May, june. 
Flowers ; growing singly, or in pairs on slender pedicels that droop from the 
axil of each leaf. Perzanth : bell-shaped; six-toothed. Stamens: six. Pistil: 
one. Fruit :a small, globular, blue berry. Leaves: alternate ; broadly ovate ; 
almost sessile ; growing on the upper side of the stem; covered with soft hairs 
and whitish underneath. Svem: curving gracefully; glabrous. ootstock: 
jointed ; scarred. 
There is no doubt but that the round scars left on the root- 
stock of the Solomon’s seal by the dead stalks of the preced- 
“ing year, do resemble the impressions made by seals upon wax ; 
but wherein these seals resemble those used by Solomon must 
ever remain a mystery to those that have not had some private 
information on the subject. 
FALSE SOLOMON’S SEAL. WILD SPIKENARD. 
Vagnera racemosa, 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Lily-of-the-valley. Greenish white. Slightly fragrant. Mostly May. 
north. 
Flowers: tiny; growing ina compound panicle. Peréanth : of six divisions. 
Stamens; six. Pistil: one. Fruit: a crimson berry speckled with purple. 
Leaves: alternate ; oblong; pointed at both ends; parallel-veined; fluted on 
the edges; slightly hairy. Stem : ascending two to three feet high. 
If the common name of the above plant is a mystery to us, 
this one is no less so; as its manner of growth and fruit are so 
very different from those of the Solomon’s seal. In fact, the 
latter is the more striking plant of the two and has an elusive, 
sweet perfume. A warm friendship, however, exists between 
them and they are often found growing closely together on the 
rocky hillsides, or in the cool, deep woods. 

