Part 17

BELLWORT. Oakesia sessilifolia. Lily Family.

Stem.—Acutely angled, rather low. Leaves.—Set close to or clasping the stem, pale, lance-oblong. Flower.—Yellowish-white or straw-color. Perianth.—Narrowly bell-shaped, divided into six distinct sepals. Stamens.—Six. Pistil.—One, with a deeply three-cleft style.

In spring this little plant is very abundant in the woods. It bears one or two small lily-like blossoms which droop modestly beneath the curving stems.

With the same common name and near of kin is Uvularia perfoliata, with leaves which seem pierced by the stem, but otherwise of a strikingly similar aspect.

HAWTHORN. WHITE-THORN. Cratægus coccinea. Rose Family.

A shrub or small tree, with spreading branches, and stout thorns or spines. Leaves.—On slender leaf-stalks, thin, rounded, toothed, sometimes lobed. Flowers.—White or sometimes reddish, rather large, clustered, with a somewhat disagreeable odor. Calyx.—Urn-shaped, five-cleft. Corolla.—Of five broad, rounded petals. Stamens.—Five to ten, or many. Pistil.—One, with one to five styles. Fruit.—Coral-red, berry-like.

The flowers of the white-thorn appear in spring, at the same time with those of the dogwoods. Its scarlet fruit gleams from the thicket in September.

WHITE BANEBERRY. Actæa alba. Crowfoot Family.

Stem.—About two feet high. Leaves.—Twice or thrice-compound, leaflets incised and sharply toothed. Flowers.—Small, white, in a thick, oblong, terminal raceme. Calyx.—Of four to five tiny sepals which fall as the flower expands. Corolla.—Of four to ten small flat petals with slender claws. Stamens.—Numerous, with slender white filaments. Pistil.—One, with a depressed, two-lobed stigma. Fruit.—An oval white berry, with a dark spot, on a thick red stalk.

PLATE XII

BELLWORT. ]

The feathery clusters of the white baneberry may be gathered when we go to the woods for the columbine, the wild ginger, the Jack-in-the-pulpit, and Solomon’s seal. These flowers are very nearly contemporaneous and seek the same cool shaded nooks, all often being found within a few feet of one another.

The red baneberry, A. rubra, is a somewhat more Northern plant and usually blossoms a week or two earlier. Its cherry-red (occasionally white) berries on their slender stalks are easily distinguished from the white ones of A. alba, which look strikingly like the china eyes that small children occasionally manage to gouge from their dolls’ heads.

MOUNTAIN HOLLY. Nemopanthes fascicularis. Holly Family.

A much branched shrub, with ash-gray bark. Leaves.—Alternate, oblong, smooth, on slender leaf-stalks. Flowers.—White, some perfect, others unisexual; solitary or clustered in the axils of the leaves on long, slender flower-stalks. Calyx.—Minute or obsolete. Corolla.—Of four or five spreading petals. Stamens.—Four or five. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—Coral-red, berry-like.

The flowers of this shrub appear in the damp woods of May. Its light red berries on their slender stalks are noticed in late summer when its near relation, the black alder or winterberry is also conspicuous. Its generic name signifies flower with a thread-like stalk.

WINTERBERRY. BLACK ALDER. Ilex verticillata. Holly Family.

A shrub, common in low grounds. Leaves.—Oval or lance-shaped, pointed at apex and base, toothed. Flowers.—White; some perfect, others unisexual; clustered on very short flower-stalks in the axils of the leaves; appearing in May or June. Calyx.—Minute. Corolla.—Of four to six petals. Stamens.—Four to six. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—Coral-red, berry-like.

The year may draw nearly to its close without our attention being arrested by this shrub. But in September it is well nigh impossible to stroll through the country lanes without pausing to admire the bright red berries clustered so thickly among the leaves of the black alder. The American holly, I. opaca, is closely related to this shrub, whose generic name is the ancient Latin title for the holly-oak.

PLATE XIII

WHITE BANEBERRY.—A. alba. ]

RED-BERRIED ELDER. Sambucus racemosa. Honeysuckle Family.

Stems.—Woody, two to twelve feet high. Leaves.—Divided into leaflets. Flowers.—White, resembling those of the Common Elder (p. 78), but borne in pyramidal instead of in flat-topped clusters. Fruit.—Bright red, berry-like.

The white clusters of the red-berried elder are found in the rocky woods of May; its scarlet fruit, like that of the shad-bush, appearing in June.

BUNCH-BERRY. DWARF CORNEL. Cornus Canadensis. Dogwood Family.

Stem.—Five to seven inches high. Leaves.—Ovate, pointed, the upper crowded into an apparent whorl of four to six. Flowers.—Greenish, small, in a cluster which is surrounded by a large and showy four-leaved, petal-like, white or pinkish involucre. Calyx.—Minutely four-toothed. Corolla.—Of four spreading petals. Stamens.—Four. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—Bright red, berry-like.

When one’s eye first falls upon the pretty flowers of the bunch-berry in the June woods, the impression is received that each low stem bears upon its summit a single large white blossom. A more searching look discovers that what appeared like rounded petals are really the showy white leaves of the involucre which surround the small, closely clustered, greenish flowers.

The bright red berries which appear in late summer make brilliant patches in the woods and swamps. Both in flower and fruit this is one of the prettiest of our smaller plants. It is closely allied to the well-known flowering-dogwood, which is so ornamental a tree in early spring.