SQUAWROOT 



Conofholis americana (Linnaeus films) Wallroth 



Squawroot is a curious plant, suggesting in its appearance, because 

 of the absence of green coloring, a fungus rather than a flowering 

 plant. The thick and firm but fleshy stems of ten grow in dense clumps, 

 the flowers nestling in the axils of bracts and forming a dense spike. 

 The whole plant is pale yellow or brownish, and gradually withers 

 to a deep brown, the stems persisting until late summer, when the 

 seed pods are matured. It grows in rich woods, often about the bases 

 of trees, the flowers opening as early as April. 



Squawroot ranges from Florida and Alabama northward to Maine, 

 Ontario, and Michigan. Another closely related species is native in 

 the Southwestern States and in Mexico. 



The specimen sketched grew near Washington, District of Co- 

 lumbia. 



PLATE 2.14 



