This little plant abundantly carpets the northern bogs and extends southward over the mountains, its tiny flowers appearing in May. Its bright yellow thread-like roots give it its common name.
Pyxie. Flowering-moss.
Pyxidanthera barbulata. Order Diapensiaceæ.
Stems.—Prostrate and creeping, branching. Leaves.—Narrowly lance-shaped, awl-pointed. Flowers.—White or pink, small, numerous. Calyx.—Of five sepals. Corolla.—Five-lobed. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One, with a three-lobed stigma.
In early spring we may look for the white flowers of this moss-like plant in the sandy pine-woods of New Jersey and southward. At Lakewood they appear even before those of the trailing arbutus which grows in the same localities. The generic name is from two Greek words which signify a small box and anther, and refers to the anthers, which open as if by a lid.
Crinkle-root. Toothwort. Pepper-root.
Dentaria diphylla. Mustard Family (p. [17]).
Rootstock.—Five to ten inches long, wrinkled, crisp, of a pleasant, pungent taste. Stem.—Leafless below, bearing two leaves above. Leaves.—Divided into three-toothed leaflets. Flowers.—White, in a terminal cluster. Pod.—Flat and lance-shaped.
The crinkle-root has been valued—not so much on account of its pretty flowers which may be found in the rich May woods—but for its crisp edible root which has lent savor to many a simple luncheon in the cool shadows of the forest.
Spring-cress.
Cardamine rhomboidea. Mustard Family (p. [17]).
Rootstock.—Slender, bearing small tubers. Stem.—From a tuberous base, upright, slender. Root-leaves.—Round and often heart-shaped. Stem-leaves.—The lower rounded, the upper almost lance-shaped. Flowers.—White, large. Pod.—Flat, lance-shaped, pointed with a slender style tipped with a conspicuous stigma; smaller than that of the crinkle-root.
The spring-cress grows abundantly in the wet meadows and about the borders of springs. Its large white flowers appear as early as April, lasting until June.