Stem.—Three to six inches high, slender, leafy at the summit. Leaves.—Oval, shining, evergreen. Flowers.—White, growing from the axils of the leaves. Calyx.—Five-lobed. Corolla.—Urn-shaped, with five small teeth. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—A globular red berry.
He who seeks the cool shade of the evergreens on a hot July day is likely to discover the nodding wax-like flowers of this little plant. They are delicate and pretty, with a background of shining leaves. These leaves when young have a pleasant aromatic flavor similar to that of the sweet birch; they are sometimes used as a substitute for tea. The bright red berries are also edible and savory, and are much appreciated by the hungry birds and deer during the winter. If not thus consumed they remain upon the plant until the following spring when they either drop or rot upon the stem, thus allowing the seeds to escape.
White Sweet Clover. White Melilot.
Melilotus alba. Pulse Family (p. [16]).
Stem.—Two to four feet high. Leaves.—Divided into three-toothed leaflets. Flowers.—Papilionaceous, white, growing in spike-like racemes.
Like its yellow sister, M. officinalis, this plant is found blossoming along the roadsides throughout the summer. The flowers are said to serve as flavoring in Gruyère cheese, snuff, and smoking-tobacco, and to act like camphor when packed with furs to preserve them from moths, besides imparting a pleasant fragrance.
Waterleaf.
Hydrophyllum Virginicum. Waterleaf Family.
One to two feet high. Leaves.—Divided into five to seven oblong, pointed, toothed divisions. Flowers.—White or purplish, in one-sided raceme-like clusters which are usually coiled from the apex when young. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Five-cleft, bell-shaped. Stamens.—Five, protruding. Pistil.—One.
This plant is found flowering in summer in the rich woods.
PLATE XX
WINTERGREEN.—G. procumbens.