ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. 619 



common. Acorus Calamus, (L.) Sweet flag. The leaves of this common swamp plant are in frequent 

 use among the Indians in the construction of mats. 



Lemnace^. — Lemna trisulca, (L.) Pools. St. Peter's. 



TYPHACEiG. — Typha latifolia, (L.) Cat-tail. Ponds, and lakes. The down of the full-blown seed is 

 used by Indian mothers as padding for the clothes of young infants, to protect them from the cold. Spar- 

 ganium Americanum, (Nutt.) Muddy places. St. Croix. Sparganium natans, (L.) Brooks. St. 

 Croix. 



NaiadacEjE. — Potamogeton natans, (L.) Lake-like expansions of the Upper St. Peter's and St. 

 Croix. 



Alismace^e. — Alisma plantago, (L.) Swamps. Upper St. Peter's. Echinodorus subulatus, (Engelm.) 

 Muddy margins of ponds. St. Croix. Sagittaria variabilis, (Engelm.) Shallow ponds and muddy 

 margins of lakes and rivers throughout the Northwest. This plant, so variable in foliage, and so abundant 

 in distribution, furnishes an important article of native food in the tubers which beset its fibrous roots. 

 These tubers (from the fact of their affording nourishment to the larger aquatic fowls, which congregate 

 in such abundance about the northwestern lakes) are called by the Chippewas, Wab-es-i-pin-ig, or swan 

 potatoes, a name which has been naturally appropriated to several streams of this region, Wabesipinicon ; 

 meaning, the abode of the swan potato. These tubers frequently attain the size of a small hen's-egg, and are 

 then eaten by the Indians, with whom they are a great favourite. In their raw state they contain a bitter, 

 milky juice, but in boiling become sweet and palatable. Triglochin elatum, (Nutt.) Upper St. Peter's. 

 Scheuchzeria palustrus, (L. ) Bogs. St. Croix. 



OilCHiDACEiE. — Microstylis monophyllos, (Lindl.) Springy swamps. St. Croix. Microstylis ophio- 

 glossoides, (Nutt.) Damp woods. St. Croix. Orchis spectabilis, (L.) May. Woods. Kock Island, 

 Illinois. Platanthera Hookeri, (Lindl. ) Woods. St. Croix. Platanthera dilatata, ( Lindl. ) Springy 

 swamps. St. Croix. Platanthera leucophoea, (Nutt.) Moist places on prairies. Iowa. Platanthera 

 psycodes, (Gray. ) Swamps. St. Croix. Pogonia ophioglossoides, (Nutt.) Cranberry marshes. St. 

 Croix. Calophogon pulchellus, (P. Br.) June. Bogs, and moist sandy places. Iowa and Minnesota. 

 Spiranthcs gracilis, (Bigelow. ) Pine barrens. St. Croix. Spiranthes cernua, (Richard. ) Wet, grassy 

 places. St. Peter's. Goodyera pubescens, (R. Br. ) Hemlock woods, on Lake Superior. Cypripedium 

 pubescens, (Willd.) Yellow moccasin flower. Hillsides and prairies. Iowa and Minnesota. Cypripe- 

 dium candidum, (Muhl.) Moist banks. Iowa. Cypripedium spectabile, (Swartz.) June. Shady hills, 

 near Davenport, Iowa. Blue Earth River. Cypripedium acaule, (Ait.) Woods. St. Croix. 



AmarilidacevE. — Hypoxis erecta, (L.) Dry soil. Iowa and Minnesota. 



iRlDACEyE. — Iris versicolor, (L.) Swamps. Iowa and Minnesota. Sisyrinchium Bermudianum, (L.) 

 Blue-eyed grass. May. Prairies of Iowa. 



DioscoreaceyE. — Dioscorea villosa, (L.) Wild yam root. Thickets. Iowa and Minnesota. A 

 twining dioecious vine, the tortuous echinate root said to prove an efficacious remedy in bilious colic. 

 (Ridell.) 



Liliace;e. — Smilax rotundifolia, (L.) June. Thickets on the banks of the St. Peter's. Smilax 

 hispida, ( Muhl.) St. Peter's river bottoms. Smilax herbacea, (L.) June. St. Peter's and St. Croix. 

 Trillium cernuum, (L.) May. Lake St. Croix. Trillium sessile, (L.) May. Rich woods and copses. 

 Davenport, Iowa. Not extending far to the north. A singular anomalous specimen has been noticed, 

 illustrating the tendency to correspondence of parts, even when reverting from the original type. Thus, 

 in place of the ordinary number, three, running through the several parts of the flower, there are in the 

 specimen alluded to, four leaves, four sepals, four petals, eight stamens, and four pistils. Polygonatum 

 pubescens, (Pursh.) River-banks. Mississippi and St. Peter's. Smilacina racemosa, (Desf.) June. 

 Copses. St. Peter's. Smilacina stellata, (Desf.) Moist places in prairies. Iowa. Smilacina bifolia, (Ker.) 

 May. Pine woods. St. Croix. Clintonia borealis, (Raf.) Moist woods. St. Croix. Ornithogalum 

 umbellatum, (Linn.) May. Fields. Davenport, Iowa. Scilla esculenta, (Ker.) Wild hyacinth. 

 Fields. Davenport, Iowa. The root of this elegant flowering plant, closely resembles an onion in shape, 

 generally attaining the size of a hickory-nut, and possessing a pleasant, mucilaginous taste. This, or a 

 closely allied species, extends to the Rocky Mountains, and constitutes an article of diet among the 

 Indian tribes. Allium Canadense, (Kalm.) Wild onion. Rich hillsides. Iowa. Allium triflorum, 

 (Raf.) June. Mountain leek. Shady and rich hillsides. St. Peter's and St. Croix. Lilium Phila- 

 delphicum, (L.) June. Rolling prairies of Iowa and Minnesota. Lilium Canadense, (L.) July. 

 Swamps. St. Peter's. Erythronium albidum, (Nutt.) April. Davenport, Iowa. 



