34 



WEEDS A^-D rSEFUL PLAXTS. 



I. C. racemo'sa, EU. Eacemes very long : carpels mostly solitary, 

 ovoid, obliquely beaked by the short thick style. 



Racemose Cimicifuga. Tall Snake-root. Black Snake-root. 



Boat large, branclimg. (SKeni 4-6 feet high, slender, smooth, leatV near the middle, 

 naked ahove and helow, with one or two radical leaves on long erect petioles. Leaver 

 ternately decompound, petiolate : Teaflds 2-4 inches long, acute or acuminate, imequallj- 

 incised-demate. the terminal one larger and often 3-lohed. Eacemes terminal, branching, 

 6-12 inches long. Sejpals 4. orbicular, conca.Te. greenish white. jSeecfe compressed 

 and angular. 



Rich woodlands. H. June. Fr. September. 



Obs. The white terminal racemes of this plant, when in flower, are 

 quite eonspicnons in the woodlands. The stem and leaves, when bruised, 

 emit a disagreeable odor. The root is somewhat mucilaginous and 

 astringent. Although a plant of no agricultural value, — and probably 

 over-rated as a medicine. — the infusion of the bruised root is so gener- 

 ally regarded as a sort of Panacea for stock (especially for sick cows), 

 that every farmer ought to know it, and be able with certainty to desig- 

 nate it. 



Ordee n. :y:AGXOLIA'CE^. (Magxolia Family.) 



Trees or shrubs with ih&'leaf-lmds sheathed by membranous stipules ; large, sohtary, hypo- 

 gynous, polyandrous, po:yr imrri; -7r,;;vr^ .- b :th i-;p?J? an l j-riols colored and arranged in 

 series of threes, imbr'ica: - " ' ' /. ' ' : i ' -l e or lobed (never serrate). 

 <Sia»i€?is in several row; : ; : ^ i - ; ked together and covering 



the prolonged receptacle. Seeds 1-2 :n each carp?-; : alli.min fleshy : embryo minute. 

 A smaU but superb family, more ornamental, however, than important in agriculture. 



1. MAG^^O'UA, L. Magnolia. 



[Xamed in honor of Prof. Pierre Magnol, a French botanist.] 



Sepals S. Petals 6-9. Stamens ^vith. \ery shovt filaments and anthers 

 opening inwards. Pistils crowded on the long receptacle, coherent in a 

 mass, and forming a fleshy and rather woody cone-l^ke fruit : each carpel 

 opening by its dorsal suture. Seeds berry-like. 1 - 2 in each carpel, from 

 which they are suspended when matm^e by a long thread ov funj cuius. 

 Buds conical, the coverings formed of successive pairs of stipules. 



1. M. glau'ca, L. Leaves lance-oblong, obtuse, white beneath ; petals 

 roundish-olo ovate ; cones small, oblong. 



Glaucous ly^GxoLiA. Laurel or Small Magnolia. Sweet Bay. 



Shrub or small tree 4-20. or even 30 feet high, branching : with a smooth, glaucous, aro- 

 matic ba?-fc. ieai'ei thickish, 4-8 inches long, deciduous at the Xorth but persistent at 

 the South. Flovjers white, on thick, club-shaped peduncles, 2-3 inches broad, very 

 fragrant. 



Swamps from Massachusetts southward, mostly near the coast. June -Aug. 



Obs. This charming little tree is well worthy the attention of those 

 who wish to surround their dwellings with attractive objects ; it is per- 

 fectly hardy, and in cultivation attams a respectable size. 



