Author Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1890 Excerpt:...Sometimes they are rather downy beneath. They have long petioles. The peduncles are from three to eight inches long. They are longer than the leaves. The flowers are of the odor of carrion. They are found in meadows and on riverbanks. COLCHICUM. COLCHICUM (Colchicum.)--The flowers and leaves rise from a solid bulb or cormb underground. The perianth, or leaves of the blossom, forms a long tube, and bears six similar petallike lobes. MELANTHIUM (Meldnthium.)--The flowers have a perianth (blossom-leaves) of six separate leaves, and these leaves (perianth) remain, or perish, and wither without falling. The plant is acrid-poisonous. The flowers are polygamous--that is, some have only stamens and some only pistils, while others are perfect flowers. They are in panicles, that is, they form a compound, branching flower-cluster, and end in a simple leafy stem. WHITE HELLEBORE ( Verhtrum.)--The divisions of the perianth have no claws. They are of a greenish color. The leaves are oval or oblong. They are partly clasped and are plaited. The flowers have a blossom-leaf of six separate leaves. BELLWORT (Vmluria.)--The perianth falls off after flowering. The plants are not poisonous. The stems are generally forking. The leaves are sessile or clasping. They are ovate or lanceoblong. The flowers are perfect. They are generally single and nodding. The divisions of the perianth are long and narrow. The perianth is large, lilly-like and yellowish. The fruit is a pod and has few seeds. The styles unite at the bottom into one. The flower-stalk is not twisted or jointed. The flowers have a perianth (blossom-leaves) of six separate leaves. TWIST STALK (Stn'ptopus.)--The styles unite into one almost to the top. The perianth is of a whitish or rose-color and its divisions are recurv...