(A) Monkshood; Aconite (Aconitum uncinatum) is an attractive wild flower with a slender, rather weak stem often supporting itself against other species. The flowers are quite large and handsome. The five sepals are very unequal in size and shape; the upper one large and hood-like, concealing two small petals within it. The leaves are firm, three- to five-lobed and notched, on slender petioles. In rich, moist woods from Pa. southward, flowering from June to September.
(B) Hepatica; Liverwort (Hepatica triloba). If we except the [Skunk Cabbage], the beautiful Hepatica is the first of our flowers to appear. Its stems are thickly covered with fuzzy hairs; the three-lobed, smooth-edged leaves are rather thick and coarse, lasting through the winter but turning a ruddy color, while the new ones, that appear with the buds, are light-green and radiate above the older prostrate ones. A single blossom appears at the end of each long fuzzy scape; it is about one inch broad, and has five to ten pale-purple or lilac sepals.
Hepaticas bloom from March to May in open woods from N. S. to Manitoba and southward.
Mandrake; May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum) belongs to the Barberry Family (Berberidaceæ), a small family of shrubs or herbs, divided into five genera of but one or two species each. The present species is quite common in rich woods, or in shady moist ground, from western N. E. to Minn. and southward flowering in May. The bare stalk rises to heights of 10 to 12 inches, then branches into two long-stemmed, light-green, large, spreading leaves; the latter are five- to nine-parted, lobed, notched, and unevenly balanced. From the forked joint of the leaves hangs a solitary white flower on a short, slender, curving peduncle, this is very delicate, nearly two inches across, and of six petals and twice as many stamens.
The fruit is large and lemon-shaped, yellow in color, ripening in July. It is the fruit that gives it the name of May Apple. While the leaves and stem are poisonous, the fruit is not, but has a peculiar, acid, sickish flavor.
(A) Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). Closely following on the heels of our handsome Hepatica we find the delicate flowered Bloodroot unfurling its leaves and expanding its flowers in rich, rocky, open woodland. The flowers are very delicate; the petals stay but two or three days anyway, and a breath of wind may blow them off sooner.
After the flower is gone, the leaf develops rapidly and becomes very large and imposing, with many divisions and lobes. The root is reddish and is filled with a bloodlike juice, as is also the stem. Bloodroot is common from N. S. to Minn. and southward. It flowers in April and May.
(B) Prickly Poppy (Argemone mexicana) is a handsome Mexican plant found in the southwestern portions of the United States. It has a prickly stem from one to two feet high. The stemless leaves have sharp lobes, also armed with prickles. The flower is bright yellow, has four petals, and numerous orange-tipped stamens. The flowers give no nectar but plenty of pollen to the bees that visit them.