Part 22

INDIAN PIPE. CORPSE-PLANT. Monotropa uniflora. Heath Family.

A low fleshy herb from three to eight inches high, without green foliage, of a wax-like appearance, with colorless bracts in the place of leaves. Flower.—White or pinkish, single, terminal, nodding. Calyx.—Of two to four bract-like scales. Corolla.—Of four or five wedge-shaped petals. Stamens.—Eight or ten, with yellow anthers. Pistil.—One, with a disk-like, four or five-rayed stigma.

The effect of a cluster of these nodding, wax-like flowers in the deep woods of summer is singularly fairy-like. They spring from a ball of matted rootlets, and are parasitic, drawing their nourishment from decaying vegetable matter. In fruit the plant erects itself and loses its striking resemblance to a pipe. Its clammy touch, and its disposition to decompose and turn black when handled, has earned it the name of corpse-plant. It was used by the Indians as an eye-lotion, and is still believed by some to possess healing properties.

FIELD CHICKWEED. Cerastium arvense. Pink Family.

Four to eight inches high. Stems.—Slender. Leaves.—Linear or narrowly lance-shaped. Flowers.—White, large, in terminal clusters. Calyx.—Usually of five sepals. Corolla.—Usually of five two-lobed petals which are more than twice the length of the calyx. Stamens.—Twice as many, or fewer than the petals. Pistil.—One, with as many styles as there are sepals.

This is one of the most noticeable of the chickweeds. Its starry flowers are found in dry or rocky places, blossoming from May till July.

The common chickweed, which besets damp places everywhere, is Stellaria media; this is much used as food for songbirds.

The long-leaved stitchwort, S. longifolia, is a species which is common in grassy places, especially northward. It has linear leaves, unlike those of S. media, which are ovate or oblong.

PLATE XXI

INDIAN PIPE.—M. uniflora. ]

ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE. Circæa Lutetiana. Evening Primrose Family.

Stem.—One or two feet high. Leaves.—Opposite, thin, ovate, slightly toothed. Flowers.—Dull white, small, growing in a raceme. Calyx.—Two-lobed. Corolla.—Of two petals. Stamens.—Two. Pistil.—One.

This insignificant and ordinarily uninteresting plant arrests attention by the frequency with which it is found flowering in the summer woods and along shady roadsides.

C. Alpina is a smaller, less common species, which is found along the mountains and in deep woods. Both species are burdened with the singularly inappropriate name of enchanter’s nightshade. There is nothing in their appearance to suggest an enchanter or any of the nightshades. It seems, however, that the name of a plant called after the enchantress Circe, and described by Dioscorides nearly two thousand years ago, was accidentally transferred to this unpretentious genus.

THIMBLE-WEED. Anemone Virginiana. Crowfoot Family.

Stem.—Two or three feet high. Leaves.—Twice or thrice cleft, the divisions again toothed or cleft. Flowers.—Greenish or sometimes white, borne on long, upright flower-stalks. Calyx.—Of five sepals. Corolla.—None. Stamens and Pistils.—Indefinite in number.

These greenish flowers, which may be found in the woods and meadows throughout the summer, are only striking by reason of their long, erect flower-stalks. The oblong, thimble-like fruit-head, which is rather noticeable in the later year, gives to the plant its common name.

CLEAVERS. GOOSE-GRASS. BEDSTRAW. Galium Aparine. Madder Family.

Stem.—Weak and reclining, bristly. Leaves.—Lance-shaped, about eight in a whorl. Flowers.—White, small, growing from the axils of the leaves. Calyx-teeth.—Obsolete. Corolla.—Usually four-parted, wheel-shaped. Stamens.—Usually four. Pistil.—One with two styles. Fruit.—Globular, bristly, with hooked prickles.

This plant may be found in wooded or shady places throughout the continent. Its flowers, which appear in summer, are rather inconspicuous, one’s attention being chiefly attracted by its many whorls of slender leaves.

BITTER-SWEET. WAX-WORK. Celastrus scandens. Staff-tree Family.

Stem.—Woody, twining. Leaves.—Alternate, oblong, finely toothed, pointed. Flowers.—Small, greenish, or cream-color, in raceme-like clusters, appearing in June. Pod.—Orange-colored, globular, and berry-like, curling back in three divisions when ripe so as to display the scarlet covering of the seeds within.

The small flowers of the bitter-sweet, which appear in June, rarely attract attention. But in October no lover of color can fail to admire the deep orange pods which at last curl back so as advantageously to display the brilliant scarlet covering of the seeds. Perhaps we have no fruit which illuminates more vividly the roadside thicket of late autumn; or touches with greater warmth those tumbled, overgrown walls which are so picturesque a feature in parts of the country, and do in a small way for our quiet landscapes what vine-covered ruins accomplish for the scenery of the Old World.

CULVER’S ROOT. Veronica Virginica. Figwort Family.

Stem.—Straight and tall, from two to six feet high. Leaves.—Whorled, lance-shaped, finely toothed. Flowers.—White, small, growing in slender clustered spikes. Calyx.—Irregularly four or five-toothed. Corolla.—Four or five-lobed. Stamens.—Two, protruding. Pistil.—One.

The tall straight stems of the culver’s root lift their slender spikes in midsummer to a height that seems strangely at variance with the habit of this genus. The small flowers, however, at once betray their kinship with the speedwells. Although it is, perhaps, a little late to look for the white wands of the black cohosh the two plants might easily be confused in the distance, as they have much the same aspect and seek alike the cool recesses of the woods. This same species grows in Japan and was introduced into English gardens nearly two hundred years ago. It is one of the many Indian remedies which were adopted by our forefathers.

BLACK COHOSH. BUGBANE. BLACK SNAKEROOT. Cimicifuga racemosa. Crowfoot Family.

Stem.—Three to eight feet high. Leaves.—Divided, the leaflets toothed or incised. Flowers.—White, growing in elongated wand-like racemes. Calyx.—Of four or five white petal-like sepals, falling early. Corolla.—Of from one to eight white petals or transformed stamens. Stamens.—Numerous, with slender white filaments. Pistils.—One to three.