BUCK-BEAN FAMILY. Menyanthaceae. 
branches, and though not conspicuous are delicate and 
pretty. The pods are from two to seven inches long. This 
is widely scattered in fields and open woods, occurring in a 
variety of forms, and common in the East. 
BUCK-BEAN FAMILY. Menyanthaceae. 
A small family, widely distributed; perennial herbs, with 
creeping rootstocks, growing in water or marshes; the 
leaves smooth, alternate, or from the root; the flowers 
perfect, regular, in clusters; the calyx five-lobed; the 
corolla more or less funnel-form with five lobes or teeth; 
the stamens five, on the corolla and alternate with its 
lobes; the ovary superior, or partly so, with one cell; the 
fruit usually an oval capsule, with a few flattish, smooth 
seeds. 
This is the only kind, a handsome plant, 
Buck-bean : : 4 
Mey enthes eight or ten inches tall, with a stout, 
trifolidta _ yellowish-green stem and rich green 
White leaves, with long, sheathing leaf-stalks 
Spring, summer 4nd three leaflets, with toothless or some-- 
Northwest 
what scalloped edges. The flowers are 
about half an inch long, with a white corolla, tinged with 
pink or lilac, the spreading lobes covered with white hairs, 
with black and yellow, swinging anthers and a green pistil, 
with a two-lipped stigma. There are from ten to twenty 
flowers in each cluster and the effect is charming, suggest- 
ing a bunch of little fringed lilies. This grows in northern 
bogs across the continent and also in Europe and Asia. 
It used to be found around San Francisco, but is now 
extinct. . 
MORNING-GLORY FAMILY. Convolvulaceae. 
A large family, most abundant in the tropics; ours are 
herbs, usually with twining or trailing stems; the leaves 
alternate, or mere scales, without stipules; the flowers 
perfect, with five sepals; the corolla with united petals, 
more or less funnel-form and more or less five-lobed, 
folded lengthwise and twisted in the bud; the stamens five, 
on the base of the corolla; the ovary superior, with from 
one to three styles; the fruit usually a capsule, with from 
one to four large seeds. 
380 


