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.
