NAT. ORDER 
Coroncri(B. 
GONVALLARIA POLYGONATUM. SOLOMON'S SEAL. 
Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Corolla, six-cleft. Berry, spotted, three-celled. 
Spe. Char. Leaves, alternate, stem-clasping Stem, ancipital. 
Peduncles, axillary, generally one-flowered. 
The root is perennial, horizontal, white, fibrous, beset with 
knobs, and marked with circular depressions, resembling the im- 
pressions of a seal ; hence the name Solomon's Seal ; the stalk is 
inclined, angular, smooth, and rises about a foot in height ; the 
leaves are oval, pointed, ribbed, smooth, above of a deep green 
color, undei-neath glaucous, and at the base embrace the stem ; the 
flowers are long, bell-shaped, white, or tinged with red, divided at 
the extremity into six short segments, and hang from the same 
side of the stalk, upon slender peduncles ; the filaments are six, 
tapering, short, and inserted in the corolla; the anthers are oblong 
and erect ; the style is filiform, longer than the stamens, and 
crowned with a blunt, triangular stigma ; the germen is round, 
and when ripe becomes a black berry, divided into three cells, 
each containing a single round seed. It grows in the rocky and 
woody parts of nearly all the States. It is also found growing in 
considerable abundance in some parts of England. It flowers in 
May and June. 
In many parts of New Jersey, especially on the nighlands 
and mountainous regions, the Solomon's Seal is found in great 
quantities. I have at various times visited the interior sections of 
Vol u.— 120 
