536 
Ar alia  Nudicaulis. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    Octuber,  1897. 
small,  simple  umbels,  each  consisting  of  from  five  to  twenty-five 
greenish  flowers.  Occasionally  there  is  one  or  more  odd  flowers, 
with  rather  long  stalks  growing  at  right  angles  out  of  the  scape 
below  or  between  the  umbels.  The  flowers  are  perfect  or  poly- 
gamous, with  both  fertile  and  sterile  ones  on  the  same  plant.  The 
calyx  is  destitute  of  lobes  or  teeth  ;  the  petals,  stamens,  and  styles 
are  five  in  number.  During  the  summer  a  dark  purple,  nearly 
black,  drupe  develops  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  This 
fruit  is  probably  a  welcome  food  for  birds,  as  it  disappears  soon  after 
ripening,  and  can  only  seldom  be  found  on  the  ground  under  the 
Fig.  2. — Outer  bark,  longitudinal  section. 
leaves.  It  does  not  seem  to  serve  for  the  propagation  of  the  plant, 
the  creeping  root-stock  performing  this  function. 
The  most  interesting  part  in  which  the  peculiar  aroma  of  the 
plant  is  best  noticeable  is  the  rhizome.  It  grows  horizontally  and 
spreads  very  quickly  over  a  large  area,  reaching  a  length  of  more 
than  25  feet,  branching  abundantly  and  producing  small  hairy  root- 
lets rather  sparingly.  The  parts  of  the  rhizome  that  rise  out  of 
the  soil  harden  and  afterwards  die  off,  producing  by  their  decadence 
two  new  growing  plants  in  place  of  one.    The  rhizome  is  nearly 
