190 lETTEES FROM ALABAMA. 
largCj oblong, and deeply plaited longitudinally; 
the stem is angular, and bears many handsome 
flowers, whose sword-shaped petals are bright scar- 
let, varied with yellow at the base. They are suc- 
ceeded by a rough, oval, pale green capsule, contain- 
ing a few black seeds, perfectly round, and so hard 
as to have given the name of Shot to the plant. 
In the woods a delightful odour is diffused to a 
considerable distance from the abundant racemes 
of white ^blossoms pendent from the Sorrel-tree 
{Andromeda arhorea)^ whose leaves, like those of 
the Oxalis of our owh country, are agreeably acid. 
I will here notice a fact that I think I have 
observed, though I have never seen it alluded to by 
any writer, that if a person stand at a small dis- 
tance from any flower of strong perfume, he will 
distinctly perceive variations in the intensity of 
the odour, as if it were projected from the flow^er 
in irregular waves or gushes. In the open air this 
might plausibly be attributed to varying currents 
of air, but I have observed it in a room, where it 
could hardly be dependent on such agency. 
The Comfrey {Gommelina erecta) is now in 
blossom, but it is not common in this neighbour- 
hood, I have observed but one or two plants of 
it, in the shady woods. The leaves are pointed 
ovate, with longitudinal veins, of a very pale 
green : the flower, which is of peculiar formation, 
proceeds from a semicircular sac, formed, as I sup- 
pose, by the union of a pair of bractese; when 
this is pressed, a clear glutinous fluid is squeezed 
out, in which the flower must have been bathed 
before its expansion. When full-blown, however, 
this sac is crowned by two large roundish petals, 
of a light blue, standing each on a thick neck or 
