The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. XIII, No. 6, 
116 
11. Melanthium L. Bunch-flower. 
Tall leafy, pubescent herbs, perennial from short root stocks. 
Leaves oval, lanceolate or linear; inflorescence a pyramidal 
panicle; flowers greenish, white or cream colored; perianth of 
spreading segments, clawed, filaments shorter than the divisions 
of the perianth, somewhat united to the perianth segments; 
anthers cordate or reniform; styles 3, subulate. 
1. Melanthium virginicum L. Virginia Bunch-flower. Stem 
l>£-5 feet tall, rather slender; leaves linear, l 2 / 2 ~l l A in. wide; 
divisions of the perianth ovate to oblong, clawed, the claw about 
one-third of the whole length of the segment. Richland, Wayne. 
12. Veratrum L. False-hellebore. 
Tall perennial herbs with short, poisonous rootstocks. Leaves 
broad and for the most part clasping; stem and inflorescence 
somewhat pubescent; inflorescence a terminal panicle or spike¬ 
like raceme; flowers greenish, yellowish or purple, bisporangiate 
or monecious on short pedicels; stamens free short and recurved. 
1. Stem stout and very leafy toward the top, inflorescence spreading in a 
dense spike-like raceme, ovulary glabrous. V. viride. 
1. Stem slender, leaves few, inflorescence in a narrow panicle, ovulary 
tomentose. V. ivoodii. 
1. Veratrum woodii Robb. Wood’s False-hellebore. Stem 
slender, sparingly leafy, 1-5 feet high; leaves oblanceolate, only 
the lowest clasping; panicle narrow; perianth greenish-purple, 
with entire segments; ovulary tomentose; capsule few-seeded. 
Auglaize county. 
2. Veratrum viride Ait. American False-hellebore. Stem 
stout, very leafy at the top, 2-7 feet tall; leaves broadly oval, 
pointed; sheath clasping; inflorescence a dense, spreading spike¬ 
like raceme; perianth yellowish-green; segments twice as long as 
the stamens, ciliate serrulate; ovulary glabrous; capsule manv- 
seeded. Ashtabula county. 
13. Zygadenus Mx. Zygadene. 
Erect perennial bulbous, glabrous herbs with rather large 
panicled, greenish-white flowers. Stems leafy; leaves linear; 
perianth segments separate or united below; stamens free from 
the perianth segments. 
1. Zygadenus elegans Pursh. Glaucous zygadenus. Very 
glaucous, stem slender, R?-3 feet tall; leaves keeled; inflorescence 
sometimes one foot long; flowers greenish; perianth segments 
oval to obovate, obtuse, somewhat united. Champaign, Stark, 
Highland, Ottawa. 
