Family

Figwort.

Colour

White.

Odour

Scentless.

Range

Vermont westward and southward.

Time Of Bloom

June-September.

Flowers: growing in terminal, dense, spike-like racemes. Calyx: four or five-toothed. Corolla: tubular; the tube long, four or five-lobed. Stamens: two; protruding. Pistil: one. Leaves: on short petioles; lanceolate; whorled; serrate. Stem: three to eight feet high; erect; stiff.

The height to which this plant grows is always a source of wonderment. It is not an inherited trait, as none of the members of its immediate family is so tall. Perhaps it simply longs to peep over the top of the trees that grow near it in the cool woods or to call attention to itself when it blooms in the meadows. The plant is also called Culver's physic and Black-root.