(Plate CXIV.)

Family

Ginseng.

Colour

White.

Odour

Scentless.

Range

New England westward; southward to Georgia.

Time of Bloom

April, May.

Flowers: tiny; imperfect; clustered closely in a slender-stalked umbel and forming a ball of bloom. Calyx: short: with five small teeth. Corolla: of five petals. Stamens: five. Pistil: one. Friut: deep yellow. Leaves: three, whorled below the flower and divided into three to five sessile leaflets. Root-stock: tuberous; deeply seated in the earth.

The round fluffy ball of tiny blossoms just rising above the leaves gives this plant a very pretty and innocent look. It rests so peacefully in the spring woods that it seems a shame to disturb it to dig for its tubers. They are edible and have a sweet, pungent taste.