HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



or beds in moist, rich woods. The pretty flowers close at 

 night and open mornings. On warm, sunny days the perianth 

 segments curve backward. (See illustration, p. 155.) 



Yellow Clintonia 



Clintbnia. borealis. — Family, Lily. Color, cream or greenish 

 yellow. Leaves, 2, 3, or 4, sheathing the base of the flower-stem, 

 oval or oblong, pointed, parallel-veined, hairy. A pretty plant, 

 with leaves like lily of the valley, and stem 6 to 15 inches high, 

 bearing on its summit an umbel of 3 to 6 open, spreading, bell- 

 shaped flowers, each on a slender stalk, which points upward in 

 fruit. Alternating with the sepals, fastened to their base, are 

 the 6 conspicuous stamens. The fruit is a blue berry, nearly 

 round. Middle of May into June. 



An interesting, uncommon-looking plant, whose delicate 

 flowers strongly contrast with its ample leaves. 



Small Solomon's Seal 



Polygonktum biflorum Family, Lily. Color, greenish yellow. 



Leaves, alternate, broad, ovate, narrow at base, acute at apex, 

 nearly sessile, parallel - veined ; 2 to 4 inches long, pale green, 

 softly hairy along the veins beneath. Flowers, cylindrical, bell- 

 shaped, perianth 6-divided at the summit. They hang under the 

 stem, mostly in pairs, sometimes in threes, small as compared 

 with the protecting, overhanging leaves. May to July. 



An interesting spring flower, growing from a jointed root- 

 stock, which is scarred or scaled where the former upright 

 growths have fallen off. The flower-bearing stem (2 or 3 

 feet high) curves gracefully, and, in fall, displays round, 

 bluish-black berries. In dry woods, on hillsides, in thickets, 

 New England to Florida. 



Great Solomon's Seal 



P. commutktum. — Color, greenish yellow. A smooth plant, 1 

 to 8 feet high, the stem rather slender, bearing leaves and flowers 

 above, naked below. Peduncles, 2 to 8-flowered, jointed below 

 the flowers, all from a creeping, broad rootstock. Flowers, 

 elongated, bell-shaped, in pairs, hanging from the stem below 

 the leaves, producing blue-black berries in September. Leaves, 

 clasping or sessile, many-nerved, broad, acute or rounded at apex. 

 May to July. 



In moist woods or on river-banks, Rhode Island to Georgia. 

 Not so common as the preceding species. 



156 



