Stem.—Smooth, erect. Leaves.—Thin, pointed, whorled at the summit of the stem. Flowers.—White, delicate, star-shaped. Calyx.—Generally seven-parted. Corolla.—Generally seven-parted, flat, spreading. Stamens.—Four or five. Pistil.—One.
Finding this delicate flower in the May woods, one is at once reminded of the anemone. The whole effect of plant, leaf, and snow-white blossom is starry and pointed. The frosted tapering petals distinguish it from the rounded blossoms of the wild strawberry, near which it often grows.
PLATE III
STAR-FLOWER.—T. Americana.
Maianthemum Canadense.
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Maianthemum Canadense. Lily Family.
Stem.—Three to six inches high, with two or three leaves. Leaves.—Lance-shaped to oval, heart-shaped at base. Flowers.—White or straw-color, growing in a raceme. Perianth.—Four-parted. Stamens.—Four. Pistil.—One, with a two-lobed stigma. Fruit.—A red berry.
It seems unfair that this familiar and pretty little plant should be without any homely English name. Its botanical title signifies “Canada Mayflower,” but while it undoubtedly grows in Canada and flowers in May, the name is not a happy one, for it abounds as far south as North Carolina, and is not the first blossom to be entitled “Mayflower.”
In late summer the red berries are often found in close proximity to the fruit of the shin-leaf and pipsissewa.
Gold Thread.
Coptis trifolia. Crowfoot Family.
Scape.—Slender, three to five inches high. Leaves.—Evergreen, shining, divided into three leaflets. Flowers.—Small, white, solitary. Calyx.—Of five to seven petal-like sepals which fall early. Corolla.—Of five to seven club-shaped petals. Stamens.—Fifteen to twenty-five. Pistils.—Three to seven. Root.—Of long, bright yellow fibres.