How to know the wild flowers

Certain flowers might be grouped under the head of “vegetable cranks.” Here would be classed the evening primrose, which only opens at night, the closed gentian, which never opens at all, and the wild ginger, whose odd, unlovely flower seeks protection beneath its long-stemmed fuzzy leaves, and hides its head upon the ground as if unwilling to challenge comparison with its more brilliant brethren. Unless already familiar with this plant there is nothing to tell one when it has reached its flowering season; and many a wanderer through the rocky woods in early May quite overlooks its shy, shamefaced blossom.

The ginger-like flavor of the rootstock is responsible for its common name. It grows wild in many parts of Europe and is cultivated in England, where at one time it was considered a remedy for headache and deafness.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Indian Turnip.
Arisæma triphyllum. Arum Family.

Scape.—Terminated by a hood-like leaf or spathe. Leaves.—Generally two, each divided into three leaflets. Flowers.—Small and inconspicuous, packed about the lower part of the fleshy spike or spadix which is shielded by the spathe. Fruit.—A bright scarlet berry which is packed upon the spadix with many others.

These quaint little preachers, ensconced in their delicate pulpits, are well known to all who love the woods in early spring. Sometimes these “pulpits” are of a light green veined with a deeper tint; again they are stained with purple. This difference in color has been thought to indicate the sex of the flowers within—the males are said to be shielded by the green, the females by the purple, hoods. In the nearly allied cuckoo-pints of England, matters appear to be reversed: these plants are called “Lords and Ladies” by the children, the purple-tinged ones being the “Lords,” the light green ones the “Ladies.” The generic name, Arisæma, signifies bloody arum, and refers to the dark purple stains of the spathe. An old legend claims that these were received at the Crucifixion:

The Indians were in the habit of boiling the bright scarlet berries which are so conspicuous in our autumn woods and devouring them with great relish; they also discovered that the bulb-like base or corm, as it is called, lost its acridity on cooking, and made nutritious food, winning for the plant its name of Indian turnip. One of its more local titles is memory-root, which it owes to a favorite school-boy trick of tempting others to bite into the blistering corm with results likely to create a memorable impression.

The English cuckoo-pint yielded a starch which was greatly valued in the time of Elizabethan ruffs, although it proved too blistering to the hands of the washerwomen to remain long in use. Owing to the profusion with which the plant grows in Ireland efforts have been made to utilize it as food in periods of scarcity. By grating the corm into water, and then pouring off the liquid and drying the sediment, it is said that a tasteless, but nutritious, powder can be procured.

Alum-root.
Heuchera Americana. Saxifrage Family.

Stems.—Two to three feet high, glandular, more or less hairy. Leaves.—Heart-shaped, with short, rounded lobes, wavy-toothed, mostly from the root. Flowers.—Greenish or purplish, in long narrow clusters. Calyx.—Bell-shaped, broad, five-cleft. Corolla.—Of five small petals. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One, with two slender styles.

In May the slender clusters of the alum-root are found in the rocky woods.

Blue Cohosh.
Caulophyllum thalictroides. Barberry Family.

Stems.—One to two and a half feet high. Leaf.—Large, divided into many lobed leaflets; often a smaller one at the base of the flower-cluster. Flowers.—Yellowish-green, clustered at the summit of the stem, appearing while the leaf is still small. Calyx.—Of six sepals, with three or four small bractlets at base. Corolla.—Of six thick, somewhat kidney-shaped or hooded petals, with short claws. Stamens.—Six. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—Bluish, berry-like.

In the deep rich woods of early spring, especially westward, may be found the clustered flowers and divided leaf of the blue cohosh. The generic name is from two Greek words signifying stem and leaf, “the stems seeming to form a stalk for the great leaf.” (Gray.)

Early Meadow Rue.
Thalictrum dioicum. Crowfoot Family.

One to two feet high. Leaves.—Divided into many smooth, lobed, pale, drooping leaflets. Flowers.—Purplish and greenish, unisexual. Calyx.—Of four or five petal-like sepals. Corolla.—None. Stamens.—Indefinite in number, with linear yellowish anthers drooping on hair-like filaments (stamens and pistils occurring on different plants). Pistils.—Four to fourteen.

The graceful drooping foliage of this plant is perhaps more noticeable than the small flowers which appear in the rocky woods in April or May.

Lily-leaved Liparis.
Liparis liliifolia. Orchis Family (p. 17).

Scape.—Low, from a solid bulb. Leaves.—Two, ovate, smooth. Flowers.—Purplish or greenish, with thread-like reflexed petals and a large brown-purplish lip an inch and a half long; growing in a raceme.

In the moist, rich woods of June we may look for these flowers. The generic name is derived from two Greek words which signify fat or shining, in reference to “the smooth or unctuous leaves.” (Gray.)

Beechdrops. Cancer-root.
Epiphegus Virginiana. Broom-rape Family.

Stems.—Slender, fleshy, branching, with small scales; purplish, yellowish or brownish. Leaves.—None. Flowers.—Purplish, yellowish or brownish, spiked or racemed, small, of two kinds, the upper sterile, the lower fertile.

These curious-looking plants abound in the shade of beech-trees, drawing nourishment from their roots. The upper open flowers are sterile; the lower ones, which never expand, accomplish the continuance of their kind.

A low fleshy herb without green foliage; tawny, reddish, or whitish. Flowers.—Resembling in structure those of the Indian pipe, but clustered in a raceme.

The pine sap is a parasitic plant which is closely allied to the Indian pipe (Pl. XXI.). Its clustered flowers are usually fragrant. The plant is commonly of a somewhat tawny hue, but occasionally one finds a bright red specimen. It flourishes in oak or pine-woods from June till August.

Rattlesnake-root.
Prenanthes alba.

Height.—Two to four feet. Leaves.—The lower cleft or toothed, the uppermost oblong and undivided. Flower-heads.—Nodding, composed of white or greenish strap-shaped flowers surrounded by a purplish involucre.

Lion’s Foot. Gall-of-the-Earth.
Prenanthes serpentaria. Composite Family (p. 13).

Height.—About two feet. Leaves.—Roughish, the lower lobed, the upper oblong lance-shaped. Flower-heads.—Nodding, composed of greenish or cream-colored strap-shaped flowers surrounded by a greenish or purple involucre.

These plants are peculiarly decorative in late summer on account of their graceful, drooping, bell-shaped flower-heads. The flowers themselves almost escape notice, and their color is rather difficult to determine, the purplish or greenish involucre being the plants’ conspicuous feature.

The generic name is from the Greek, and signifies drooping blossom.

Wild Bean. Ground-nut.
Apios tuberosa. Pulse Family (p. 16).

Stem.—Twining and climbing over bushes. Leaves.—Divided into three to seven narrowly oval leaflets. Flowers.—Papilionaceous, purplish or chocolate-color, somewhat violet-scented, closely clustered in racemes.

In late summer the dark, rich flowers of the wild bean are found in short, thick clusters among the luxuriant undergrowth and thickets of low ground. The plant is a climber, bearing edible pear-shaped tubers on underground shoots, which give it its generic name signifying a pear.

Coral-root.
Corallorhiza multiflora. Orchis Family (p. 17).

Rootstock.—Much branched, coral-like, toothed. Stem.—Nine to eighteen inches high, without green foliage. Flowers.—Rather small, dull brownish-purple or yellowish, sometimes mottled with red; growing in a raceme.

In the dry summer woods one frequently encounters the dull racemes of this rather inconspicuous little plant. It is often found in the immediate neighborhood of the Indian pipe and pine sap. Being, like them, without green foliage, it might be taken for an allied species by the casual observer. This is one of those orchids which are popularly considered unworthy to bear the name, giving rise to so much incredulity or disappointment in the unbotanical.