t lA REPORTS ON THE HERBACEOUS PLANTS AND ON THE QUADRUPEDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. PUBLISHED AGREEABLY TO AN ORDER OP THE LEGISLATURE, BY THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL SURVEY OF THE STATE, CAMBRIDGE: FOLSOM, WELLS, AND THURSTON, PRINTERS TO TH£ 0NIVKRSITT. 1840. IIC^ '1^ ':\ <\ & REPORT ON THE HERBACEOUS FLOWERING PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE NATURAL ORDERS OF LINDLEY, AKD ILLUSTRATED CHIEFLY BY POPULAR DESCRIPTIONS OF THEIR CHARACTER, PROPERTIES, AND USES. PUBLISHED AGREEABLY TO AN ORDER OF THE LEGISLATURE, BY THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL SURVEY OF THE STATE. CAMBRIDGE: FOLSOM, WELLS, AND THURSTON, PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 1840. / 0 (. I I CONTENTS. Page iNTEODrCTORY REMARKS, .... 5 CLASS I. VASCULARES. Flowering Plants. Sub-class I. EXOGENM. Dicotyledones. TRIBE I. ANGIOSPERMiE. 1. Polypetalotis Plants. Order 1. Araliaceoe, ..... 13 2. Umbelliferce, ..... 15 3. Ranunculace£B, . . . • 21 4. Papaveraceae, . . . • .29 5. Nymphfcacese, , . . . 31 7. HydropcltideJE, . . . . .32 8. Podophyllea), .... 32 9. Crucifera?, . . . . .33 10. Fumariaceae, .... 39 11. Capperidea?, . . . . .40 22. Berberidece, .... 41 24. Malvacese, . . . . .41 36. Hypericineae, .... 44 38. Saxifrageae, ..... 44 46. CactesD, ..... 46 47. Onagrariae, . . . . .46 48. Halorageae, .... 48 49. CircseaceaB, . . . . .49 51. Loaseae, ..... 49 52. Salicarise, . . . . .50 54. Melastomacese, . « . . 51 vi CONTENTS. Order 62. Aristolochioe, Page 51 64. Santalaceoe, 52 72. Sanguisorbese, 53 73. RosacetE, . . . . 54 77. Leguminosse, 60 78. Urticete, . . . . 69 88. 116. Euphorbiacese, E-utacese, . . . . 71 72 122. Geraniacece, 73 123. Oxalidese, . . . . 74 124. 126. Tropasolece, BalsamineEe, 75 75 129. 130. Polygalese, Violaceae, . , . . 76 77 131. Passiflorese, 80 134. Cistinese, 80 136. Sarracenieae, 81 137. Droseracese, 82 139. LinefB, 83 140. 143. CaryophylleEe, Elatinese, 84 91 144. Portulaceae, 91 147. Crassulacese, 93 148. Ficoideas, . ' . 94 150. lUecebreae, 94 151. Amaranthacese, 95 152. Scleranthese, 96 153. 154. 156. 158. 163. Chenopodese, Phytolaccese, Polygoneas, Nyctaginese, Podostemese, 96 . 100 101 . 104 105 164. Callitrichinese, . . 105 165. Ceratophyllese, 105 173. 174. 175. 2. Monopetalous Plants. Pyrolacese, . Campanulacese, Lobeliaceas, 106 . 108 110 CONTENTS. vii Order 181. Cucurbitaceae, . • • • • Page 111 182. Plantagineae, 114 183. Plumbagineas, • • • • ■ 115 184. 186. 189. Dipsacese, Compositffi, StellatsB, • 116 116 143 195. 196. 197. Asclepiadese, Apocynese, . GentianesB, • • • • 145 146 147 J 98. Spigeliacese, 149 199. Convolvulaceaj, 150 200. Polemoniacese, 151 207. Primulaceae, • • • 152 208. LentibularisB, 155 210. Orobancheso, • 156 211. 212. Scrophularineoe, Rhinanthacea?, 157 163 213. Solanese, 164 215. Pedalinea?, • . ■ • • 172 220. Verbenaceae, 172 221. Labiatae, • • • • 174 222. Boraginese, 184 226. Hydrophylleae, • • • • V 187 TRIBE 11. B-CLASS II. ENL GYMNOSPERMJE 187 Su )OGEN/F,. Monocotyledones. TRIBE 1 . PETALOIDEiE. Order 229. Alismacese, • • • • 188 231. 232. HydrocharldeaB, Commelineae, 190 191 233. 235. 238. 239. Xyrideae, Hypoxidese, Amaryllideae, Irideae, • • • • • • • • • 191 192 193 194 240. Orchideae, • • • • • 196 244. Junceae, • • » ' • 202 245. Melanthaceae, • • ■ • • 205 Vlll CONTENTS. Page Order 246. Pontedereae, • • • 206 247. Asphodeleae, . 207 249. Smilacese, • • • 210 250. Dioscoreae, . 214 251. Liliaceae, • • • 215 253. Restiaceae, . 217 255. Typhaceae, • • • 218 256. Aroideas, . 219 258. Fluviales, • • • 223 259. Juncagineae, . 225 260. Pistiaceae, . 226 TRIBE II. GLUMACE^. Order 261. Gramineae, . * • • 231 262. CyperacesB, « • • . 254 INDEX, 269 REPORT ON THE HERBACEOUS PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. By the Rev. CHESTER DEWEY, PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, BOTANY, AKD NATURAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE BERKSHIRE MEDICAL INSTZTUTION AT PITTSFIELD. To His Excellency Marcus Morton, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts : Sir, Soon after our appointment on the Botanical Survey, my associate, George B. Emerson, Esq., of Boston, consented to take the charge of the trees and shrubs, and to leave the herbaceous plants to my particu- lar attention. In conformity to this arrangement, I early entered upon the work, and have prosecuted it long ; and, in fulfilling the duties of the commission received from the hand of your predecessor in office, I herewith transmit my Report on the Herbaceous part of the Flower- ing Plants. Except the necessary systematic arrangement, I have laid aside, to a great extent, the technical language of Botany, as being less con- sistent with the popular object of the Survey. Scientific descriptions have already been published for professed botanists ; these were sup- posed to be designed for the mass of intelligent citizens. The cultivated plants form no small part of agricultural wealth, and are the chief source of it. They seem to merit special attention. The cultivation of even ornamental plants is intimately connected with intellectual and moral habits, and a pure and refined taste. It cannot be believed by the benevolent mind, that the Author of nature has spread over the earth the most delicate and rich beauties of plants and flowers, without designing to attract the attention, and gratify the feelings, of men, or that He intended their beauty and fragrance should be wasted " on the desert air." Those plants, which have not yet been applied to any valuable purpose, are often minutely described in this Report, to lead to the consideration of the proportioji of this part of vegetables, and the great ends designed in this amount of vegetable life. The Introduction to the Report is, in part, occupied with the discussion of this interest- ing subject. Your Excellency need not be reminded, that, while the Report re- quired great labor, it also made necessary a previous attention, for years, to the examination of our plants. 4 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. It was my intention to make some report on the cellular plants, — the cryptogamous vegetables, — but there has not been time to ac- complish it. It is not to be expected that the Report is entirely perfect, but care and effort have been employed to make it as complete as possible. With high respect and consideration, I am your Excellency's Very obedient servant, C. DEWEY. Felruary 24t.h, 1S40. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The object of Botany is the arrangement and description of Plants. Systematic Botany must depend upon such principles, that it may have a universal application. That the language may be useful, and attain its direct object, it must be descriptive of the particular and minute, as well as the great, facts in the world of vegetables. An artificial and a natural method have been adopted lor this purpose ; and both were begun by Linnaeus, the Father of Botany. The former was carried to great extent and perfection by him ; the latter has been greatly improved, and, under great modifications, carried to much perfection by later botanists. In its details, much yet remains to be ascertained and settled. In the artificial system of Linnaeus, the Classes, Orders, and Genera were determined by the organs employed in the produc- tion of the seed, or rather, by the several parts of the flower and fruit. As these organs were visible or invisible, he divided plants into the two great divisions of Phenogamous and Cryptogamous, that is, having visible and invisible organs of reproduction. As this system, with all its simplicity and beauty, and ease of application, and extensive adoption, associated plants of very different struc- ture, the natural method has been adopted by the most distin- guished botanists of the present age. In the Natural System, plants ai-e associated according to their resemblance in structure and organization. To the great Linnaean divisions just mention- ed, correspond the Vasculares and Cellular es^ or, as they are also called, from another great fact, the Floicering and the Flowerless plants. Between the structure of these two divisions, there seems to be a pretty marked distinction. To the cellular structure of the Cellulares, only a mere allusion can be made. 6 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The Vasculares, those possessed of flowers, form two great subdivisions, according to their manner of growth, called Exogencc and Endogenoi. In the Exogenous plants, the growth is by layers, or a deposition of matter upon the outside, as shown in the concentric layers of trees and shrubs ; in the Endogenous plants, the growth is by a deposition of matter within the plant. In the former, the bark^ ivood, pith, &c., are readily distinguished ; in the latter, they are not. In the former, too, the new and delicate matter is protected by the bark, from the inside of which it is made ; in the latter, the same protection is effected by the place of its deposit in the interior of the plant. The Vasculares are propagated by seeds, and are chiefly char- acterized by the leaves. Some are propagated also by bulbs or roots, and are found in the Endogenous division. The leaves of the Exogenous plants have branching or netted veins very generally ; but the Endogenous usually have veined leaves, or leaves with veins rising from the foot-stalk, and running through the leaf either curved or straight, and parallel and undivided. By the veining of the leaves, these two important subdivisions are, as a general fact, readily distinguished. The seeds of the Exogense have two cotyledons, or are di- cotyledonous ; those of the Endogense are monocotyledonous. A "Catalogue of Plants growing without Cultivation " in the Commonwealth, arranged according to the Natural Method of Lindley, as published and applied to the plants of this country by Professor Torrey of New York, was given by Professor Hitch- cock in the Geology of the State already published by the Legis- lature. The Orders of this "Catalogue," have been followed in this Report on the Herbaceous plants, with the addition of such Orders from Lindley, as the introduction of the cultivated plants has made necessary. The changes made in some of these Orders, both in Europe and our own country, are not sufficiently settled to require a departure from the Orders of Lindley. It was thought best, also, to follow these Orders, that the whole Survey might be more symmetrical, and reference to the various parts more easy and satisfactory. For the same reason, the names of the genera and species in Professor Hitchcock's Cata- logue have been retained, even in the few cases where it might INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 7 be supposed a later or earlier name was to be preferred. Some additional species, since discovered or ascertained, have been put in their proper places. For ease of reference to Lindley's work, his numbers of the several Orders have been given, although many of his Orders are omitted, because we have no plants belonging to them. It has been supposed, too, that while the objects to be attained by the Legislature in the Survey, required a systematic arrange- ment in the outline, it was important that the descriptions should be popular in their character, easy to be apprehended, and not technical in their language, and that notice should be taken of facts of importance or of interest in any respect. The botan- ical name, with the usual abbreviation of the author's name, has been given, but without the synonymes ; because one name would direct the botanist to the plant intended, and more names, and even all the synonymes, would offer no advantage to the com- mon reader. The cultivated plants have been introduced, whether raised in the garden or on the farm, and many of the parlour ; whether de- signed for ornament, food, clothing, or art, or manufacture. All these were supposed to have been intended in the Survey of Vegetable Life in the Commonwealth. In drawing up this Report, besides the actual examination of a great proportion of the plants, and the advantage of a long atten- tion to them, reference has been freely made to all the accessible authors on our plants, to several of whom abundant and direct acknowledgment is made. The descriptions of the Orders, how- ever, are chiefly from Lindley's work already referred to, while the properties and geography have been taken from him and any others who have treated of them. It is too well known for re- mark, that the works of Michaux, Muhlenburg, Rush, Bigelow, Eaton, Torrey, Nuttall, Beck, &c., contain full scientific accounts of nearly all the plants mentioned in this Survey. There is room, doubtless, for the display of their economical properties, and their application to art and manufacture, to the support, and ornament, and enjoyment of life, to a much greater extent. The Agri- cultural Survey will probably detail many particulars respecting the 8 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. cultivated vegetables, in the proper statistics of the farm, which might otherwise find a place in the Botanical Report. OF THE USELESS PLANTS. t A large number of the plants which are considered useless, because they have yet no known application, are particularly described in this Report. They occupy space ; they aid in cov- ering the earth with vegetable life. They are, indeed, weeds, and often considered as mere nuisances. What is the advantage derived from them ? What object is designed by them ? Can any one be in truth useless ? Certainly not, is the reply to the last question. The others may receive the following answers : 1. The vegetable kingdom is the great means of purifying the atmosphere, so that it may sustain the animal kingdom. Respira- tion of animals, and various operations in nature, produce such a change as tends to make the atmosphere unfit for its great office. Its oxygen has become combined with carbon, or the essence of charcoal, and cannot be separated by the lungs so as to support life. This separation is effected by vegetables. They take up the carbon and restore the oxygen to the atmosphere. They do this as they grow in the air, and also as they grow in and under water. Provision is made for the absorption of carbonic acid by water, and thus food is supplied to plants, and life to animals. This is one of the most beautiful provisions in the economy of Divine Providence. It has sometimes been doubted whether vegetables were able completely to accomplish the object. None have maintained, however, that they did not operate largely and chiefly to this end. Even the general opinion seems to be strong- ly in favor of their perfectly effecting this purpose. To ac- complish this object, vegetables must be spread widely over the earth. It might not be sufficient to depend upon the results of cultivation. Besides, the vegetables must be formed for growth through all the warm season of the year, and in all the variety of soil, situation, chmate, condition. Plants that are directly useful, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 9 would not be more likely to effect this end in all this variety ; it is doubtful, indeed, whether the useful plants would be so well adapted to this state of things, as they generally require a more favorable combination of circumstances. To secure this end, too, it is important that a host of plants should have no natural attractions for animals, that they may grow without molestation, and exert their influence upon the atmosphere without interruption. This end is secured by the foliage of forests, which is chiefly removed from all access of destructive agencies. It is a general fact, that animals multiply nearly in proportion to the supply of food. If all vegetables were food for animals, the entire action of a great multitude could not be employed, as it now is, in purifying the atmosphere. In this grand respect, all plants are performing a work of the highest utility. Unseen and silent, they renovate the very pabu- lum of life. 2. Another end of the vegetable kingdom is food for the ani- mal. AH animal life is ultimately supported from the vegetable world. But animal life abounds ; tens of thousands of smaller animals, and especially of the insect tribe, must be dependent, as well as the larger animals and man, upon vegetables. By their foliage and seeds, the plants now considered as useless by many, may give far more support in the article of food, than is com- monly imagined. We know that many small birds derive much food from seeds, as also a host of insects ; and yet we may be in relative ignorance on this subject. Even the animals of the seas must have no inconsiderable dependence upon vegetable substances for their support. A great amount of decomposed vegetables must be annually poured into the great reservoir by all the rivers. 3. Plants enrich the soil, and fit it for the production of vege- tables in greater quantity. This is true of vegetables generally, when they live and die and decay on their place of growth. Cul- tivation often exhausts land, because no adequate return is made for the vegetable matter removed from the fields. The vegeta- bles, often considered useless, will, by their decay, perform another important service, in enriching the earth, and improving the soil. It has long been remarked, that this effect follows, because 2 10 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. the atmosphere contains the elements of vegetable matter, and plants derive their support from the air as well as from the earth. Experiment has proved that a plant will grow and flourish without any food except that obtained from water and the atmosphere. The reason for giving up exhausted fields to the growth of any vegetables for a few years, is philosophical and conclusive. Without the great fact of vegetables enriching the earth, the reason could not exist. 4. Many important properties and applications of these plants may yet be discovered and made, so that they may be seen to be more directly useful. Great discoveries have been made in this respect within the last fifty years. It cannot be doubted that the progress of discovery is only just commenced. The beautiful colors for painting, called lakes, are many of them obtained from vegetables, and many more may yet be procured. Combinations, too, of vegetable matter may develope important powers. With- out this, indeed, important uses have already been seen. 5. The beauty and variety of vegetable life are in themselves a useful end. In this way are displayed the wisdom, power, and contrivance of the Creator ; the illimitable means at his control ; the effecting of the same ends by objects so diverse ; the adapta- tion of means to ends ; the constant supervision of his agency ; the ceaseless variety amidst surprising uniformity. These are reasons amply adequate to produce an interest in respect to all parts of vegetables. The purification of the at- mosphere alone, and preserving in it the due proportion of oxy- gen in a state to support life, invests the world of vegetables with new attractions. THE HERBACEOUS FLOWERING PLANTS or MASSACHUSETTS, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE NATURAL ORDERS OF LINDLEY. AND ILLUSTRATED CHIEFLY BY POPULAR DESCRIPTIONS OF THEIR CHARACTER, PROPERTIES, AND USES. PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS CLASS I. VASCULARES. Flowering Plants, Sub-class I. EXOGEJ^.T.. Dicotijledones. TRIBE I. ANGIOSPERMiE, (Or having seeds enclosed in a pericarp or covering.) 1. Polypetaloiis, Jlpetalous, and Achlamijdeous Plants. ORDER 1. ARALIACE^. The Aralia Tribe. Flowers in the form of an umbel ; leaves compound ; fruit a berry ; permanent calyx standing on the germ or ovary ; stamens 5 or 6, 10 or 12, rising within the border of the calyx or flower-cup. This is a small order, embracing, in Massachusetts, only two genera and five species, though the plants of the order are found widely scattered over North America, and in China, Japan, New Zealand, &ic. Some of them are shrubby, while ours are herba- ceous. The plants possess no properties of much interest. 1. Aralia. L. 5. 5. The origin of the name is unknown, but a plant of this name was first sent to Europe from Quebec in 1764. Loudon. Calyx entire, or 5-toothed ; corol 5-petalled, small ; stamens 5 or more, 5 spreading styles ; berry 5 or 10-seeded, crowned with the styles ; small involucres often on the umbels. 1. A. racemosa. L. Spikenard. Branched, herbaceous stem ; petioles 3-parted, with ternate or quinate divisions, and 14 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. the leafets acuminate, sharp-serrate, ovate or cordate ; umbels many, on large axillary panicles. This well-known plant is a native of our woods, and often cul- tivated in our gardens ; flowers white and small, in umbels, on a divided, somewhat panicled stem, with large leaves ; its height is often four or five feet. The plant is shghtly odorous ; the root is highly aromatic, and formerly was used in a bruised state upon wounds, and is still employed for some medicinal purposes. Flowers in July and August. 2. A. nudicauUs. L. Wild Sarsaparilla. Stalk, a foot or more high, bears a leaf which becomes twice ternate, or simply with 5 leafets, and a flower-stalk rising near the division, and shorter than the leafets, which are sessile, smooth, serrate, oblong- oyal, and acute ; root creeping, thick, aromatic ; used by com- mon people often in the composition of a medicinal beer. Flovt^- ers are greenish, 3-umbelled, small. Widely spread over the woods from Arctic America to Carolina, and westward to the Rocky Mountains. 3. ^. hispida. Mx. Wild Elder. Stem is somewhat woody, or plant partly shrubby, bristly and hispid leaves doubly pinnate, with ovate and serrate smooth leafets ; bears many umbels of flowers, greenish white, and the peduncles axillary and terminal. Grows in dry or rocky woods, often three feet high, and usually dying about half way down ; is found from Virginia to Canada. It more commonly inhabits a light soil in Berkshire County, upon land partially cleared, which has been suffered to be overrun with briers and the like ; common, but not abundant. Panax. L. 5. 2. , Calyx slightly 5-toothed, superior ; corolla 5-petalled ; stamens 5, on the margin of the flower ; styles 2 or 3, and a berry 2 or 3-seeded ; polygamous, and the calyx of the staminate flower entire. The meaning of the generic name is universal remedy, from the supposed virtues of the first species. The Chinese have written volumes upon the excellences of this plant ; and yet UMBELLIFERiE. 15 no wonderful or very superior properties have been discovered in the plant in Europe or America. Loudon. P. quinquefolium. L. Ginseng. Stem divides a foot or less from the ground into three leaf-stalks, usually bearing 5 leafets of oval form, serrate, acuminate, smooth ; the flower- stalks shorter than the leaf-stalks. Grows on the hills of Berk- shire County, but not in abundance. Its root is fleshy, long, and tapering, and greatly esteemed by the Chinese for its soothing influence. For its medicinal properties, see Bigelow's " Med- ical Botany." This plant is scattered over a wide range in our country. Flowers in June. P. trifoliim. L. Dwarf Groundnut. Stem 3-8 inches high, dividing into 3 parts which are ternate or quinate, and have lance-oblong and serrate leafets, nearly sessile ; an umbel of small white flowers arises at the division of the leaves, on a short foot- stalk ; styles commonly 3 ; following the stem 6 or 8 inches into the earth, you find a round, tuberous root of the size of a small bullet. Spread over the open woods from Canada to Georgia. Difficult to find its Linn^an place, because of its variation in the number of stamens and pistils ; polygamous also ; berry 3-seeded. Flowers in May. ORDER 2. UMBELLIFERIE. The Umbelliferous Tribe. Calyx superior, 5-toothed, or entire ; petals 5, inserted on the germ, with 5 stamens alternating with the petals ; styles 2, on 2 united seeds, or 2 seeds adhering by their sides ; flowers form an umbel, and commonly a compound umbel. Stems hollow or fistular, furrowed, and usually with divided leaves. Differ from the Araliaceje in the fruit. The plants of this order form many genera, and are spread widely over the world ; grow in all situations, plains, woods, marshes, and are far more numerous in the northern hemi- sphere. They are often very poisonous, and always to be sus- pected until proved ; some are healthful and nutritious, as Carrot, 16 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Parsnip, Celery ; the seeds are said never to be poisonous, and often are a pleasant aromatic, as Coriander, Dill. Various gum- resins exude from the wounded stem or branches, possessing very different properties, as Assafoetida from a species of Ferula, and gum Galbanum, as is supposed, from Bubon galbanum. Various medicinal properties are exhibited by them, and many become valuable articles. About twenty species are credited to this State. CONIUM. L. 5. 2. C. maculatum. L. Poison Hemlock. This plant de- lights in the sides of roads and fences, and abounds in many places where the soil is light and dry. In the time of flowering especially, it fills the air with nauseating effluvia ; grows from three to five feet high, branching, light green, spotted and handsome, and sends up many terminal umbels of small white flowers. It has no resemblance to our tree called Hemlock. It is employed to obtain, by maceration and careful evaporation, the extract usually called Cicuta, so valuable in medicine (see Big- elow's " Medical Botany "). It is supposed to have yielded the poison which Socrates drank. It is a native of Europe, and usually believed to have been introduced and naturalized here. Flowers ia July. Coniuni is derived from the Greek for dust, probably from the dusty appearance of the pollen. CicuTA. L. 5. 2. American Hemlock. The name Cicuta is of unknown origin ; used by Virgil. Lou- don. Two species, growing on low grounds, and poisonous ; natives of the United States and Canada. 1. C. maculata. L. Water Parsnip. Musquash Root. Stem 4 — 5 feet high, smooth, branching, spotted, with triply pinnate or much divided leaves ; whole plant rather glaucous green ; in wet meadows and pastures, not very abundant. When the leaves rise from the ground, the plant has some resemblance in form and odor to Sweet Cicely, and, though the root is far less UMBELLIFERtE. 17 sweet and pleasant, is mistaken for it, and the root, exceedingly- poisonous, is eaten to the destruction of life. Children should never be permitted to expose themselves to this fatal mistake ; and yet scarcely a year passes, in which children are not de- stroyed by it. In Bigelow's " Medical Botany," is a full ac- count of hs character and operation on the human system, and of its fatal effects. Flowers in July and August. 2. C. bulbifera. L. Water Hemlock. Stem 2-3 feet high, branching, sleek, more slender than the other ; grows in ditches and about ponds or marshy places, bearing scaly bulbs in the axils of the leaves ; flowers small and white, on small terminal umbels, with partial involucre leafets. Poisonous. Flowers in August. Crantzia. Nutt. 5. 2. C. lineata. Nutt. Taken from the following genus ; found near Boston. JS\Uall and B. D. Greene, Esq. Hydrocotyle. L. 5. 2. Marsh Pennywort. The three species found in this State, Americana, umbcllata, vulgaris, are of too little importance to require description ; the plants are small, unattractive, and grow in moist or wet woods and hedges. From the Greek for water-vessel, as the depression in the leaf holds a drop of water. Daucus, L. 5. 2. D. carota. L. The common Carrot. Pastinaca sativa. L. 5. 2. Parsnip. These are two well-known plants of the garden, and seem, in some cases, to be naturalized. The roots are nutritious and healthful, though the parsnip is said to be rather poisonous as it -grows in a wild state ; natives of Europe. The use of the carrot as a food for cows, and proper nutriment for obtaining rich milk, is fully ascertained by agriculturists ; a native of England and other parts of Europe. 3 18 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. LiGUSTICUM. L. 5. 2. L. Scoticum. L. Lovage of the gardens, is naturalized near Boston and New Bedford. So little is the use of this plant, that it is rarely cultivated, at least in the western part of the State. It was found on the borders of salt marshes by Dr. Bigelow. One species is from Liguria, whence the name of the genus. L. actceifolium. Mx. Actasa-leaved Lovage, with umbels somewhat whirled, the lateral ones barren ; a plant upwards of 3 feet high, having its side leaves trapeziform ; has been found in Topsfield and Scituate by Mr. Cakes and Mr. J. L. Russell. Angelica. L. 5. 2. .5. triquinata. Mx. AngeHca. Stem, 4-6 feet high, large, hollow, smooth ; leaves twice divided into 3 parts ; flowers in large umbels, spreading, greenish ; finely aromatic ; grows in meadows, and flowers in June. Big. The plant usually called by this specific name is much smaller, white, villous below the umbel, with white flowers. Beck. It is found in the adjoining parts of the State of New York. Heracleum. L. 5. 2. H. lanatum. Mx. Cow Parsnip. Named after Hercules. Loudon. This is another large umbellate plant, often 6 feet high ; leaves ternate, large and spreading, woolly beneath, deeply cut, and serrate ; flowers white, in very large spreading umbels, and strong scented. Grows in meadows, and flowers in June ; not very abundant. According to Sprengel, this species is the true H. panices, L., a native of the Apennines and Siberia. Beck. iExHUSA. L. 5. 2. ^. cynapium. L. Fool's Parsley. Stem, 2 feet high, branching, not spotted, striate, with twice-pinnate leaves ; in- volucres at the partial umbels, of 3 long, linear, and pendulous leafets. This plant greatly resembles Conium, and is often mis- UMBELLIFERiE. 19 taken for it ; grows about the streets of Boston ; probably intro- duced ; flowers in July and August. Big. A peculiar vegetable alkali has been found in this plant by Pro- fessor Ficinus of Dresden, "which he calls Cynopia." Lind. This plant is a deadly poison. It is named from the Greek, to burn, on account of its acrid power. Loudon. DiSCOPLEURA. DC. 5. 2. D. capillacea. DC. Bishop Weed. Stem 1-2 feet high, smooth, bent a little at the branches, with much-divided leaves ; grows in wet places or bogs, near New Bedford. Allied to the following. SiUM. L. 5. 2. Water Parsnip. Two species, latifolium, L., and lineare, Mx., which are only varieties, as they have been found, by T. A. Greene, and G. B. Emerson, growing from the same root, are found in the low grounds, often with Cicuta bulhifera^ having branching stems, and pinnate leaves, and umbels of small white flowers, of a slight and offensive odor ; flowers in July and August. Poisonous. Sium is from the Celtic for watery about which the plant abounds. Sanicula. L. 5. 2. S. Marylandica. L. Sanicle. Stem aboiit 2 feet high, with erect branches, and divided leaves so as to resemble the fingers, with flowers in simple umbels, and having a bush-like appearance ; seeds with hooked bristles ; flowers in June, and grows about thickets and hedges ; common. SisoN. L. 5. 2. S. Canadense. L. Honewort. Stem about 2 feet high, with compound leaves in 3 divisions ; umbels branched, bearing minute white flowers and smooth seeds ; grows with the pre- ceding, and flowers in July. Sison is from the Celtic for stream^ as some species live about waters. Loudon. 20 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Smyrnium. L. 5. 2. S. aureum. L. Meadow Parsnip. Cow Parsnip. Alex- anders. This plant has suffered repeated change of name. It is about 2 feet high, smooth, branching ; umbel compound, bearing orange-yellow flowers ; leaf-stalk divides into 3 parts, and then into 3 leafets. Grows on alluvial and upland meadows over the western part of the Slate, abundant on Connecticut River and in the eastern part of the State. Latterly it has at- tracted some attention for its medicinal properties. Dr. Partridge, Stockbridge. Smyrnium is from the Greek for myrrh, as the juice smells like this substance. Loudon. Uraspermum. Nutt. 6. 2. U. Claytoni. Nutt. Sweet Cicely. The sweet, spicy flavor of the root, like anise seed, has made this plant an object of search with the young. Stem about 2 feet high, smooth, with ternate leaves ; flowers small and white, in June ; root spindle-form, somewhat fleshy, often branching ; inhabits borders of woods, and by fences of meadows. U. hirsutum. Big. Hairy Uraspermum. With the pre- ceding often grows this plant, and much resembles it, but is rough and hairy, and of a whitish cast, and its leaves are more deeply cut, and somewhat hairy ; the root has none of the pleas- ant sweetness of the preceding, but has a strong, rank taste. It was rightly formed into a distinct species by Dr. Bigelow. Found in the western part of State, as well as about Boston. Apium. L. 5. 2. •^. graveolens. L. Celery. The common vegetable of our gardens. Introduced from Europe, and blanched by being nearly covered with earth as it grows, by which process it becomes juicy, sweet, crisp, and fine-flavored. The name ^pium is said to be from the Celtic, water, from the wet places of the species. Even this one is coarse, rough, and poisonous in its wild state. RANUNCULACEiE. 251 ORDER 3. RANUNCULACEiE. Crowfoot Tribe. Calyx many-leafed, inferior or below the germ, leafets or sepals 3-6; polypetalous, 5-15 petals in rows, also inferior or hypogynous ; stamens indefinite, many hypogynous ; pistils many, one to each ovarium, forming a many-celled pistil, or several small and distinct carpels or little seed-vessels ; fruit vari- ous, generally herbaceous ; leaves alternate or opposite ; various inflorescence. This is an extensive order of plants, but most numerous in Europe, and next in North America. They belong to a chraate damp and cold. Lind. A considerable number is found in this Commonwealth. The properties of this order render the plants generally to be suspected, as they are often caustic, acrid, or poisonous ; some- times tonic, bitter, or antispasmodic. The medicinal characters of the order are very diverse. AcTiA. L. 12. 1. ^. rubra. W. Baneberry. Stem 2 feet high, glabrous, round and glaucous, with leaves several times ternate ; flowers white in a short raceme, bearing red and shining berries, whose long pedicels are far smaller than the common peduncle ; flowers in May, and grows in damp woods. j3. alba. Big. White Baneberry. Stem and leaves differ little from the preceding, but the raceme is less round, and longer ; berries clear white, tipped with red, and their pedicels equal in diameter to the common peduncle ; grows in the same places as the other, and flowers at the same time. Astringent. A. racemosa. L. Cohosh. Black Snakeroot. Stem 3-5 feet high, smooth, with decompound, ternate leaves, and ovate- oblong, dentate leafets; racemes of white flowers, 6-10 inches long, and somewhat paniculate ; odor strong and fetid ; flowers in July. Strong medicinal properties ; cultivated in the gardens of the Shakers. 22 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Aquilegia. L. 12. 5. Columbine. «^. Canadensis. L. Red Columbine. Stem a foot or more high, branching, smooth, with decompound leaves ; flowers red or yellowish, singular in form, pendant, with the stamens extend- ing a little from the flower, terminating behind in a straight horn, knobbed and sweet ; a beautiful plant, flowers in April and May, and should be cultivated for its beauty ; inhabits dry woods and fields, and rocky situations. Canada to Virginia. t^. vulgaris. L. Is cultivated in gardens for its fine blue beautiful flower ; the horn or spur, terminating in the knob, is crooked. The power of cultivation has caused these flowers sometimes to become double, a hollow horn being enclosed in another. Exotic, from England. The seeds of this genus are said to be tonic. DC. Some insects get access to the sugar of the horn by inserting their tongue through an opening made into the tube. The genus is named from the aquiline or eagle-shaped form of the spur. Clematis. L. 12. 12. C. Virginiana. L. Virgin's Bower. From the Greek for a tendril. Loudon. This beautiful plant climbs and fastens itself by the twining of the leaf-stalks around branches of shrubs ; flower-stalks rise from the axils of the leaves, and bear a cluster of white flowers ; the fruit has long feathery tails, being the lengthened and enlarged style, and presenting a singular and beautiful appearance in ma- turity. Flowers in August ; spread over much of North Ameri- ca, in woods and low grounds. Atragene. L. 12. 12. .yj. .Americana. Sims. " An elegant climbing vine, with large flowers. The stem gives off opposite axillary buds, out of each of which proceed 2 ternate leaves, and a fine purple flower. Petals 4, oblong-ovate, ciliate, an inch or more in length." Big. Flowers in June, and grovi^s on the hills and in the valleys RANUNCULACE^. 23 of Berkshire County. This species was taken from the pre- ceding genus, and formed into a genus by itself. Anemone. L. 12. 12. Windflower. From the Greek for icind, from its bleak locaHties. Loudon. Three species ; two, nemorosa, DC, and thalictroides, L., small, delicate, beautiful ; flowering in April and May, about hedges and woods. ^. Virginiana. L. This is a taller and coarser plant, in fields and pastures and hedges ; its stem dividing about a foot from the ground into 2, and sometimes more, flower-stalks, which bear a single whitish-green flower, and mature their fruit in a cylindrical head an inch or more long ; leaves are given ofi" at this division of the stem, ternate, deeply lobed and hairy. Flowers in July ; fruit woolly. It is often said, in the western part of the State, that the In- dians made use of this plant to prevent the fatal efl'ects of the poison of the rattlesnake. j3. cylindrica. Gray. Stem 1-3 feet high, with subumbellate flower-stalks, each bearing one flower in a yellowish-green many- leafed flower-cup ; head of fruit an inch long ; leaves in 3 divis- ions ; the lateral segments 2-parted, and the middle one 3-cleft ; flowers in June ; coUected near Boston by Mr. Greene. T. and Gr. in " Flora of North America." CoPTis. Sals. 12. 12. C. trifolia. Sals. Goldthread. Named by the common people from its small, horizontal, creeping, bright-yellow roots, lying just under the surface ; a flower-stalk bearing one white flower, rises from the root to the height of about 3 inches ; leaves radical and ternate, about as high as the flowers ; grows in swamps or low grounds, on banks, or around the roots of trees, and flowers from May to July. Roots bitter, and the infusion used for " apthous affections of the mouth." See Bigelow's " Medical Botany." The plant yields a yellow dye. Beck, Named from the Greek, to cut, on account of the divided leaves. 24 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Hepatica. W. 12. 12. H. triloba. W. Early Anemone. Liverleaf. From the Greek for liver, from the color of the leaves. Often misnamed Liverwort, which is a Marchantia, and very different from this Liverleaf. Flowers early in the spring, on the sides of sunny hills, and in sunny openings of woods, sending up a cluster of flower-stalks 3-4 inches high, hairy, and bearing each a single white, or blue, or purplish flower ; leaves from the root also, with petioles often longer than the peduncles of the flowers, and rather prostrate, divided each into three segments or lobes, rounded or acutish, and thus constituting the two varieties of obtuse and acute leafed Liverleaf, in their older state, of a fine liver-color. The plant flourishes well under bushes in gar- dens, in situations exposed to the sun. Flowers in April ; was taken from the genus Anemone. This plant has been supposed to possess high medicinal virtues, and is sometimes employed in pulmonary complaints. Thalictrum. L. 12. 12. Meadow Rue. Three species are found in the meadows and borders of woods, which resemble somewhat the Rue of the gardens at a little distance ; the leaves are beautiful, but the flowers are insig- nificant, and neither of the plants is of much consequence. T. dioicum. L., flowers rather earlier than T. cornuti, L. and T. corynellum, DC, and is rather larger than the latter. May and June. Named from the Greek, to grow green, from the change in the color of the leaves. Caltha. L. 12. 12. C palustris. L. Cowslip. It is sometimes called Marsh Marygold, and is a well-known plant of wet places and slow streams. Stem a few inches high, with round, large, heart- shaped or kidney-form leaves, and bearing many deep-yellow flowers. The whole plant and flowers form one kind of common and early greens for the table in the country. Flowers in April, abundant. Several other species have been discovered in Arctic America. RANUNCULACE^. 25 Named from the Greek, for goblet, as the corolla resembles a golden cup. Loudon. Ranunculus. L. 12. 12. This is an extensive genus ; forty-one species are ascribed to North America by Torrey and Gray in their " Flora " ; fourteen species are attributed to our Commonwealth by Professor Hitch- cock, in his " Geology of the State," p. 602. The flowers have a great resemblance to each other, while the appearance of the plants is considerably different. From the Latin for frog, as so many species grow about frog- ponds and the hke places. R. acris. L. Buttercups. Crowfoot. This is a common plant, and in many places is a great nuisance in grass fields ; bears fine yellow flowers, of middle size, on a branching stem, with leaves much-divided, pubescent, or subglabrous. The plant, and the root in particular, contain a strong acrid principle, which disappears on drying. In its decoction seed-corn is sometimes soaked, to protect it from being pulled up by crows. Flowers from May to September. Root solid and fleshy, not large ; stem near 2 feet high. Flowers double by cultivation, and are some- times found double in their native state. R. bulbosus. L. Buttercups. A smaller plant, growing, hke the other, in fields and road-sides ; similar bright-yellow flowers, glossy, and of a very rich hue ; much-divided leaves, somewhat hairy ; root more poisonous than the preceding, even caustic ; flowers from May to August. See Bigelow's " Medical Botany." R. abortivus. L. Small-flowered Crowfoot. Stem a foot high or less, with radical leaves, undivided, and heart or kidney shaped, crenate, or scolloped on the margin, with stem-leaves in 3 or 5 divisions ; small, unsightly, yellow flowers ; common in wet soils, in open woods or fields ; flowers in May. R. filiformis. Mx. This is a variety of R. reptans. L. Small, 4 26 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. filiform stem, creeping, round, rooting at the joints, with linear and compressed leaves ; plant delicate ; flowers small. June. R. repens. L. Creeping Crowfoot. Grows in wet and shaded places, along streams, with flowers often larger than those of R. acris ; is a variable species, being erect or procumbent, often sending out creepers or runners a considerable distance ; leaves generally ternate, deeply cut, often pilose or hairy ; flowers bright yellow, whh petals often emarginate, and calyx spreading. May to August. R. sceleratus. L. Celery-leafed Crowfoot. Stem smooth, glabrous, branching, succulent, a foot high, with lower leaves in 3 segments, and upper ones sessile and cut down, linear and entire ; flowers yellow, numerous in a concave yellowish calyx ; very acrid, and may be used to produce bhsters ; grows in wet places, and flowers in June. R. jlammula. L. Small Spearwort. Stem smooth, de- clining, with lanceolate and entire leaves, and small, single, yellow flowers ; in ditches, rare ; found near Boston ; flowers in June, and supposed to be introduced. Big. May be used, like the last, to produce blisters ; but both are liable to create dangerous ulcers. Lind. R. aquatilis. L. Water Crowfoot. Stem chiefly under water, creeping, and sending out filiformly dissected leaves at the joints, with 3-6 inches of the end of the stem projecting from the water, bearing fine yellow flowers, and peltate, 3-parted leaves ; in pond-holes ; flowers in June. This corresponds with the plant of this name in Pursh's "Flora," and is a mere variety of the Linnaean species, and is probably tne first variety of this plant in the " Flora " of Torrey and Gray, Vol. I. p. 16. It may have been included in the following by Professor Hitchcock. R. Jluviatilis. L. River Crowfoot. Stem about a foot long, small, slender, sending out filiform leafets at the joints, floating RANUNCULACE^. 27 in the water, and bearing its white, smallish flowers on the sur- face ; flowers in July, running waters. This is a beautiful spe- cies, scarcely to be mistaken. It seems to be distinct from the preceding, with which it is ranked by Torrey and Gray, and from the following, which it no more resembles. This is the plant described by Dr. Bigelow in " Flor. Bost.," p. 227. R. multifidus. Pursh. Water Buttercups. In general ap- pearance, this plant greatly resembles R. aquatilis above, but the part projecting from the water, while it bears large, yellow, bright flowers, has no leaves, or the mere rudiment of a leaf at the joint. It is a larger, coarser plant than the others. For a good reason, it was named R. lacustris by Beck and Tracy ; but it seems not to belong to R. Purshii, Richardson. For preserving it a distinct species, there is good authority. Under the name above, it is described in "Flor. Bost." p. 228. R. cymbalaria. Ph. Sea Crowfoot. Stem filiform, smooth, sending out stolons, rooting at the joints, with radical leaves reni- form, on long foot-stalks, and with crenate border ; flowers yel- low, petals spatulate ; grows on salt marshes. Big. R. Pennsylvanicus. L. Bristly Crowfoot. Flowers in Au gust in woods and meadows, and is a large, branching plant, covered with horizontal, hairy bristles, or is hispidly pilose, 1-2 feet high. T. and Gr. Itis well described in "Plor. Bost." £i^. R. fascicularis. Muhl. Roots fascicled, fleshy ; stem short ; radical leaves ternate, and on long stalks, rather variously di- vided ; whole plant has a smooth, silky pubescence ; calyx vil- lous and spreading, and yellow inside ; flowers in April and May, and grows on dry, rocky hills. Big. R. hirsutus. Curtis. Rough Crowfoot. Whole plant hirsute, rough-hairy, branching, with leaves 3-lobed or ternate, with ob- tuse sections ; flowers whitish-yellow, in a reflexed calyx ; grows in wet fields, and is in flower in July. 28 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The species of Ranunculus have been thus fully described, as they are relatively common plants, and most of them spread over the State. They have few interesting properties, and, like very many others, are not employed to any very beneficial purpose. Delphinium. L. 12. 2. Larkspur. Five or six species are cultivated in the gardens, for their beauty. The Bee Larkspur bears a flower which has, at a little distance, a striking resemblance to a bee. Some of these species are not found in common gardens, and have not been introduced many years. AcoNiTUM. L. 12. 5. ^. napellus. L. Monk's Hood, is often found for orna- ment in gardens. The bright, glossy, green leaves, and singular flower, make it a beautiful plant. Strong, acrid property. Named from a town in Bithynia, where it grows, viz. Acona. Loudon. Another species is also seen, but more rarely ; fine palmate leaves, and flexuous or zigzag stem. NiGELLA. L. 12. 5. c/Y. Damascena. L. Fennel-flower, with its white or light- blue flowers, surrounded by a large, pinnate, and much-divided involucre, and covered with its similar leaves, is a fine plant for gardens ; its large capsule resembles a rattle-box. As the stamens have short filaments, and are below, and re- moved from the pistil, the styles bend over, and bring down their stigmas in contact with the anthers, so as to receive the pollen and be fertilized. This contrivance is palpable to every observer, and illustrates one particular in vegetable physiology. The black color of the seeds gives name to the genus, from the Latin for black. The seeds of this and some other species, are used to adulterate pepper. Loudon. Adonis. L. 12. 13. A. autumnalis. L. Pheasant's Eye. Is so named from its coral-red flower ; and often called Soldier-in-green, from its fine bright-green foliage, terminated by a scarlet corolla. PAPAVERACEiE. 29 Some of this genus are employed as emmenagogues. The plant was fancied to have sprung up from the blood of the wounded Jldonis. Loudon. P^ONiA. L. 12. 3. Peony. P. officinalis. L., is the well-known Peony of our gardens. As the flower becomes double, or the stamens change into petals, by cultivation, it is admired for its large head of petals, as well as for its fine foliage. It is a hardy plant, finding safe winter quarters in its large tuberous roots, from which it rises early in the spring. The root is said to be acrid and bitter, and antispasmodic (Lind.) ; but the two former properties are slight in its cultivated state. It is sometimes grated and given as a stomachic. Named after Pceon^ a physician of antiquity, who used it in medicine. Loudon. Many of the species are splendid ornaments of the greenhouse. ORDER 4. PAPAVERACE^. Calyx 2-leafed, or having 2 sepals, deciduous, with corolla of 4 petals, or some multiple of 4, and many hypogynous stamens ; germ or ovarium single, without a style, or having only a short one, containing numerous seeds. The plants contain a milky or yellow juice ; leaves divided ; flowers not yellow. Lind. The poisonous properties of this order are well known. It does not contain a great many plants, and a large proportion are found in Europe ; a few in our country. The appearance of a milky juice in plants should always lead to caution in the use of them. Opium, the substance formed from the juice of some plants of this order, is from the Greek for juice. Chelidonium. L. 12. 1. C. majus. L. Celandine. Stem two feet high, with pinnate leaves, pale-green, and rather glaucous ; flowers yellow, in a sparse umbel, and their parts fall off" prematurely ; a bright- yellow juice abounds in all parts of the plant, unless the seed is an exception ; grows about yards and fences, and flowers in 30 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. May and June, perennial. Big, It was doubtless introduced, and has become naturalized. The seeds are crested, and dis- posed in a silique-like capsule. Named from the Greek for sioal- lowj as flowering when that bird appeared ; the English seems to be a corruption of that word. Loudon. Sanguinaria. L. 12. 1. S. Canadensis. L. Bloodroot. Named from the red juice of its root, from the Latin sanguis, blood ; bears a single white flower on a stem 6-8 inches high, and sends up radical leaves beautifully lobed, and glaucous underneath ; calyx falls off with the full expansion of the flower ; flowers in April, about dry woods and hedges ; root horizontal, fleshy, zigzag, sending off many radicles, whose bud at the end contains the plant of the next year, a careful dissection of which shows the flower and leaf, and even the stamens, by a small magnifier. Strong medicinal properties, emetic, cathartic. See Bigelow's "Medical Botany." Papaver. L. 12. 1. Poppy. P. somniferum. L., the common poppy of the gardens, cul- tivated merely for ornament, as a general fact, in our country. The well-known drug, opium, is obtained by incisions of the stem and fruit-vessel ; the white juice becomes dark-colored on exposure to the air, and seems to contain three important sub- stances. The narcotic principle, which produces sleep, is called morphia ; the stimulating power seems to depend on its vegetable alkali, called narcotine ; it also contains meconic acid, called from the Greek name of poppy, which is combined with the morphia as a vegetable alkali. As a medicine, in the hands of the skilful physician, opium, and the preparations from it, are of the highest consequence ; as a drug, used by the people to produce intemper- ance, as in China, &c., its use becomes a tremendous evil. Seeds oily and healthful ; oil is procured from them for adulterat- ing olive oil. Lind. The plant is said to have been used by Theophrastus, three hundred years before the Christian era, for its power as an anodyne. P. rhceas. L., is a smaller plant possessing similar properties. NYMPHiEACE^. 31 partially naturalized about some gardens and fields. This species is so named from the Greek, to flow or fall, on account of its fugacious flowers. Note. The following three orders were arranged with the preceding by Jussieu, and, though associated with it in location, it does not appear evident in what place they should be fixed. They have even been arranged in the class of Endogenae. The subject has been long debated, and not satisfactorily settled ; the whole shows the imperfection of the Natural Method, and what advances are still to be made in it. ORDER 5. NYMPHiEACEiE. Calyx many-leafed, and corolla many-petaled, passing gradually into each dther ; stamens many, standing on a large fleshy disk, and around the many-seeded ovarium or germ ; herbaceous, with thick, cordate leaves, or peltate, on a long foot-stalk growing from a prostrate trunk, in still waters. The few plants of this order are spread over the northern hem- isphere. The stems have a bitter, astringent principle, and the plants are ranked among the sedatives, slightly narcotic. The order is named from the first genus, a name from the Greek for nymph. Nymph^a. L. 12. 1. JV*. odorata. Ait. White or Sweet Water Lily. A well- known aquatic ; leaves round, heart-shaped, floating on the water by their long petioles ; flowers on long, flexile foot-stalks, with numerous white petals of a very sweet odor ; grows in ponds, and flowers in July ; medicinal. See Bigelow's " Med- ical Botany." A beautiful variety of this, with petals of a rosy tint, is culti- vated at the Botanic Garden in Cambridge. Nuphar. Sm. 12. 1. Yellow Water Lily. JV. advena. Ait. Another aquatic, sending its bright-yellow flowers and thick leaves to the surface ; petioles semicyHndrical ; 32 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. sepals or leaves of calyx 6, and petals numerous, and stamens many, all standing round a large, furrowed, and ovate germ, con- taining many seeds ; stigma peltate and large, sessile, circular, with a crenated or undulate border. JV. Zuiea, Sm., is said to be confounded with this species. Beck. JV. kalmiana. Ait., is probably only a smaller variety of one of the preceding species ; found by Mr. Boott in Sudbury River, and flowers in June. This genus seems not to possess any interesting characters or properties. Some animals will eat the roots of some of the species. Nuphar seems to be the Arabic name of the plant slightly altered, from JSTaufar. Loudon. ORDER 7. HYDROPELTIDE^. Stamens many, hypogynous ; ovaries 2 or more, style short ; calyx 3 or 4-leafed, and colored ; standing alternately wnth as many petals. Only one species of this order in our State, and only two anywhere ; both American plants, and aquatics, not known to possess any valuable properties. Hydropeltis. Mx. 12. 12. H. purpurea. Mx. Water Shield. Takes its name from its fine, flat, elHptical leaf, floating on the surface of water, and attached by its centre to the long leaf-stalk, woolly on the under side, and smooth and shining on the upper ; bears dark purple flowers, on a long stem, from the side of a leaf-stalk ; flowers in July ; whole plant covered with a gelatinous sub- stance. Ponds ; as on Taconic Mount. ORDER 8. PODOPHYLLE^. Sepals 3 or 4, often deciduous ; petals several, around the hypogynous stamens ; germ single, with a single nearly sessile stigma ; the enlarged germ becomes succulent, or coriaceous, many-seeded ; leaves large and lobed. This order is composed of American plants ; only two species, and only one north of Pennsylvania. CRUCIFER^. 33 Podophyllum. L. 12. 1. P. peltatum. L. May Apple, or Mandrake. Stem a foot high, dividing into 2 large and lobed peltate leaves, with one flower from the fork of leaves ; the fruit becomes large, juicy, pleasantly acid, and is often eaten ; spread over much of the State, but less abundant than in the States west and south. Flowers large and white ; May or June ; grows in rather damp woods, not in marshes. Medicinal ; Bigelow's " Medical Botany." A gentleman left Georgia in the last of March, when this plant was in flower, and as he travelled leisurely northwards, found this plant in flower in all his tour ; when he reached the western part of our State, on the last of May, it had just begun to show its blossoms. The genus is named from the Greek for foot and leaf, from the form of the leaf and its foot-stalk. ORDER 9. CRUCIFERiE. Sepals and petals 4, alternating, and each cruciform, or in opposite pairs ; stamens 6, one pair opposite and shorter, the 4 longer in 2 opposite pairs ; ovarium superior ; stigmas 2, united as one ; fruit a short or long silique or pod ; leaves alternate ; flowers generally" yellow ; herbaceous. Plants of this order abound in the temperate zone of Europe ; they are relatively few in North America, and fewer still in the New England States. The properties are stimulant and antiscorbutic ; in some there is considerable acridness in different parts of the plant ; some are healthful and nutritious as food. The order is named from the position of the parts of the flowers opposite each other, so as to form a cross, in Latin crux. SiNAPis. L. 13. 2. S. nigra. Sm. The common Mustard. This was introduced, and is naturalized in many places. The culture of the plant for its seed is said to be very profitable. As a vegetable for greens, in its young state, it is highly esteemed, and would be thought far pref- erable to Spinach, if it were equally well known. The seeds have various medicinal uses. 5 34 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. »S^. alba. L. White or Yellow Mustard, has a great resem- blance to the other, but is different, and more rarely cultivated. From the Greek name of the plant of nearly the same sound ; mustard is from the Latin for hot 7nust. Loudon. Erysimum. L. 13. 2. E. officinale. L. Hedge Mustard ; grows about gardens, and beside fences ; resembles mustard, but is a smaller and more diffusely branched, and more rough and ragged in its appearance. Stem 2 feet high, and leaves runcinate, or lion-toothed ; flowers from June to September. Its properties of httle value. Sup- posed to be healthful, and named from the Greek, to cure. Thlaspi. L. 13. 2. T. bursa-pastoris. L. Shepherd's Purse, so plentiful about gardens and in roads and fields, is known by its triangular, wedge- form, obcordate capsule, and its radical leaves pinnatifid. April to October. Litroduced. T. campestris. L. Yellow Seed. Found in the fields, and especially among flax, with the seed of which it was probably brought from Europe ; its capsule is inflated and obcordate ; stem-leaves dentate and sagittate ; flowers in June. Both species are mere weeds ; from the Greek, to compress, from the flattened fruit or seed. Loudon. Raphanus. L. 14. 2. R. raphanistrum. L. Cudloch. Wild Radish. A very troublesome plant in cultivated fields, rough, bristly, glaucous, with lyrate leaves ; stem two feet high ; flowers in August ; in- troduced, but naturalized in the woods of Chelsea Beach Island. Bisc. "o ■ R. sativus. L. Radish ; cultivated for its root, of various forms, taper-form, turnip, &c., and used as a rehsh, from its pleasant spicy taste. From the Greek, for rapidly appearing, on account of its rapid growth. Loudon. CRUCIFER.^. 35 Lepidium. L. 14. 1. L. sativum. L. Peppergrass ; well known in the gardens, its many-cleft leaves forming a pleasant relish ; exotic, from Europe. The resemblance of the capsule to a scale., gives name to the genus. L. Virginicum. L. Wild Peppergrass. Stem branching, a foot high, with some pinnate leaves, and upper ones long and tapering ; much resembles the garden plant ; grows in light soil, and flowers in June ; silicle or pod is lentiform ; stamens often only two. COCHLEARIA. L. 14. 1. C Jlrmoracea. L. Horse Radish ; naturalized in many places, cultivated for its root ; leaves large and long and wide. Named from a word for spoon, from the spoon-like depressions in the leaves. Loudon. C. officinalis. L. Scurvy Grass. Cultivated occasionally in gardens. Camelina. Crantz. 14. 1. Its name imports dicarf-jiax ; a genus of few species, belonging to Europe. The seed-vessel is a roundish pouch, with swelling valves, and cells many-seeded. C. sativa. DC. Gold of Pleasure. Cultivated occasionally in England for the oil of its seeds, and has lately appeared in the eastern part of this State. Stem about 2 feet high, branched ; flowers small, numerous, yellow, corymbose ; pouch long-pedi- cillate ; leaves roughish, lanceolate, and sagittate ; fields ; June. The plant has been introduced for some time into the Middle States. Cakile. L. 14. 1. C. maritima. Nutt. American Sea Rocket. Grows along the seashore ; stem flexuous, deep-green, smooth, with leaves 36 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. fleshy, sinuate, toothed, caducous ; flowers in July ; grows near Boston, and on Cape Ann ; see Bunias, in Bigelow's " Flor. Bost." p. 251. Common in Europe. Cardamine. L. 14. 2. C. Pennsylvanica. W. Water Cress. Stem about a foot high in fruit, with smooth pinnate ahernate leaves, and small white flowers ; growing out of water, and beside water, or in wet places ; pleasant spicy taste, and used by common people as a cress ; flowers in June. Dr. Beck unites C. Virginiana, L., and the plant named above, under C. hirsuta, L. It certainly is very difficult to find the distinctions of the three species. The variety called C. virginica, W., is found in Berkshire County. C. teres. Mx. Credited to the vicinity of Amherst College ; is of httle consequence, though interesting to botanists. The genus is named from the Greek, for heart- strengthener^ on account of its stomachic quahties. Loudon. Sisymbrium. L. 14. 2. The Greek name of an unknown plant. Loudon. S. amphibium. L. Water Radish. A coarse plant with small yellow leaves, growing in wet places, and flowering in June. S. nasturtium. L. English Water Cress. With pinnate leaves, introduced from England. Barbarea. L. 14. 2. B. vulgaris. R. Br. Winter Cress. Stem 1-2 feet high, branching ; leaves wing-hke, and much-divided, and the terminal division roundish, upper leaves undivided and dentate, and the root leaves green through the winter ; sand and gravel of banks of streams ; with yellow flowers ; May and June. Sometimes called Water Rocket. Brassica. L. 14. 2. Derived from the Celtic name of cabbage. Loudon. CRUCIFER^. 37 B. napus. L. Kale. Naturalized in a few places ; leaves smooth, upper being heart-shaped and long, clasping. Native of England and Holland. B. rapa. L, Turnip. Excellent as food for man and cattle ; the several kinds are varieties. Cultivation has shown that new land, or just cleared, is not essential to the production of the finest turnips ; native of England. B. ruta-baga. Extensively cultivated as rich food for cattle, being produced in great quantity compared with other articles raised on equal land. It is commonly considered only a variety of the following, but is made a variety of B. campestris by De Candolle. B. oleracea. L. Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower. Of too much use not to be known. The varieties are many, and culti- vated with considerable ease ; cabbage is, perhaps, the most sure crop. Introduced from England. The introduction of the turnip into cultivation in England, is the era from which their modern agriculture is dated. Its culture deserves special attention. Cheiranthus. L. 14. 2. Wall Flower. Several species are cultivated in the gardens, or in pots, for their flowers. Their beauty is too well known to need remark. The generic name is from the Arabic name for a plant with red and sweet flowers. Loudon. Draba. L. 14. 1. D. verna. L. Whitlow Grass. Leaves radical, oblong, acute, hairy ; flower-stem 2-3 inches high, ending in a raceme of white flowers ; flowers in April and May, in the fields. Dentaria. L. 14. 2. Tooth-root, Pepper-root. D. diphylla. Mx. Stem about a foot high, sends off 2 ternate leaves, and a raceme of white flowers ; grows in open woods, and flowers in May. 38 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. D. laciniata. W. Stem is scarcely as high as the other, and sends off 3 ternate leaves, or 3 leaves divided into 3 segments, linear, and somewhat toothed, with reddish white flowers in a raceme ; grows in woods, and flowers in May. Both these are rather beautiful plants. LUNARIA. L. 14. 1. Two species are cultivated for their flowers ; one bears its fruit in a flat, oval, or roundish pod, of singular appearance, and an inch in diameter ; flowers bluish and purple. Iberis. L. 14. 1. Candy Tuft. A species with whitish flowers has been long cultivated as edg- ing for aisles in gardens and walks. Another beautiful variety, with purple flowers, is becoming common. Native of Spain, Tuscany, &c. So called from Iberia, the ancient name of Spain. Arabis. L. 14. 2. Five species are credited to this State. ^. falcata, Mx., which is Jl. Canadensis, L., is named from the shape of its pod, flat and curved like a scythe, and called Sicklepod. Stem 2 or more feet high, round and small, with sessile leaves ; flowers in woods, in June. A. rhomboidea. Ph., has fine rhomboid leaves on the stem, and heart-shaped ones at the root ; flowers white ; grows on wet meadows, Roxbury. Blossoms in May ; root tuberous and fari- naceous. Big. A. hastata. L. Hairy Tower Mustard ; has the general ap- pearance of common mustard, though it is a much smaller plant. Jl. thaliana. L. Wall Cress ; is a small plant about six inches high, branched ; radical leaves on petioles ; stem leaves sessile and few ; flowers white in a corymb ; on hills, and blos- soms in May. Of the other species, A. hirsuta, Sm., there is some doubt, which cannot be solved at present. FUMARIACE^. 39 IsATIS. L. 14. 1. /. tinctoria. L. Woad, so valuable for its blue coloring matter ; is supposed to be little cuUfvated in this State. The leaves at the root are crenate, on the stem arrow-form. Named from the Greek, to render equal, from its supposed power to smooth the roughness of the skin. Used to color the skin of the ancient Britons and Picts, from which they were named. Loudon. Hesperis. L. 14. 2. H. matronalis. L. Garden Rocket. A fine plant in the gardens, and, when its flowers become double, it is thought quite handsome ; a native of Lake Huron, and sometimes called Darnels Violet. H. tristis. L. Yellow Rocket, is less cultivated than the other ; stem hispid and branched ; flowers handsome. The genus is named from the Greek for evening, as the flowers are then more fragrant. Loudon. ORDER 10. FUMARIACEiE. Fumitory Tribe. Two deciduous sepals ; 4 cruciate petals, sometimes so united as to appear one, or only 2 united, cohering at the apex, and inclosing the anthers and stigma ; stamens 6, often in 2 sets, rarely separate ; ovarium superior, and one-celled ; leaves much- divided, often having tendrils, commonly alternate ; herbaceous. The plants have not much odor, but a watery and not milky juice, and are said to be diaphoretic and aperient ; but they are not used for these properties. Only a few genera, and not numer- ous species, belong to this order, and these are scattered over the northern temperate zone. The fecundation of the Fumariaceae shows special contrivance. While the anthers are confined by the corolla, and the pollen seems unable to reach the style, the stigma projects two blunt horns, one of which passes to each of the two sets of anthers, so as to secure the pollen as it exudes from the anther, or is forced out by the contractions of the anther. 40 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. FUMARIA. L. 16. 6. F. officinalis. L. Fumitory. Introduced from Europe, but growing about gardens and fields ; rather handsome, glaucous, pinnate leaves, red or crimson flowery, seed in a pouch or pod ; stem a foot or more high ; flowers in July. Annual. On account of the disagreeable smell, named from the Latin for smoke. Loudon. CORYDALIS. Vent. The Greek name of Fumitory. Loudon. C. cucullaria. Pers. Cohc Weed. Bears a cluster of white flowers closed at the top, on radical and leafless white stems about six or eight inches high ; leaves radical, much-divided into leafets, delicate green, shghtly glaucous ; blooms in May, along hedges and light woods ; root bulbous, or a collection of small solid tubers, C. glauca, Ph., and C. formosa^ Ph., are both beautiful plants of the woods, and might ornament any garden ; flower in May. C. fungosa. Pers. Climbing Colic Weed ; has already been introduced from our woods into the gardens and yards, where it climbs or follows the trail placed for it often twenty feet in length, forming fine arches and arbours, and bearing numerous clusters of whitish or flesh-colored flowers ; the corolla has a spongy mass inside, as if one petal. Stem, climbing by tendrils, and full of flowers ; blossoms in July. The species have suffered much in their names, which have been repeatedly changed. ORDER 11. CAPPERIDEiE. Caper Tribe. Monosepalous or polysepalous, four divisions, and as many petals cruciate ; stamens definite or indefinite, rarely tetradyna- mous, commonly many, mostly perigynous ; ovary on a short stem ; leaves various and inflorescence also ; some are herba- ceous. MALVACE^. 41 Cleome. L. 6. 1. C. dodecandra. L. Stem branched, viscid, pubescent, strong odor, ternate leaves, and purplish white flowers in a raceme ; pods swollen, hairy viscid ; blossoms in June, in sandy places. Narcotic, anthelmintic, emetic, cathartic. ORDER 22. BERBERIDEiE. Sepals or leaves of calyx, 3 to 6, deciduous, having scales around them ; petals once or twice as many as sepals, hypogy- nous, with an appendage inside at the base ; stamens opposite the petals, and of equal number with them ; single 1 -celled ovary ; shrubby, or herbaceous, with compound leaves. Only one herba- ceous genus belongs to our State. Leontice. L. 6. 1. L. thalictroides. L. Poppoose Root, and False Cohosh. Stem a foot or more high, with a single, much-divided leaf, and having 2 - 3-lobed leafets ; flowers small and yellowish- green ; sepals and petals each 6, and a scale at the base of the petals ; berries deep blue ; blossoms in April and May ; in dry- ing, the plant becomes black ; it is dark-colored in its younger state. Is the Caulophyllum of Mx. The other genus is the Barberry, so well known for its red, finely acid berries. ORDER 24. MALVACE^. Calyx generally divided into 5 parts, sometimes 3, or 4, or 5 sepals, more or less united at the base, often with a surrounding one or more leafed involucre ; hypogynous petals, usually 5 ; anthers mostly very numerous, with their filaments monadelphous, or in one set ; many fruit-vessels, united round a common axis, and each bearing a style, form the ovarium ; leaves alternate ; some of the plants herbaceous, and contain much mucilage ; used as emollients ; natives of the torrid and warm temperate zones. 6 42 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Alth2ea. L. 15. 12. .5. officinalis. L. Marsh Mallows. Found on the seacoast in salt marshes, with a strong, erect stem, two feet high ; thick- woolly, and leaves cordate and soft-downy on both sides ; entire, or 3-lobed ; large purple flowers ; blossoms in August ; probably introduced. ^. rosea. L. Common Hollyhock. Well known in our gar- dens ; flowers red, white, yellow, very dark-brown. Within a few years the column of stamens has changed into small petals, arranged into three or more stellate sets, and adding much to the beauty of the flower. Leaves heart-form. .5. ficifolia. L. Fig-leafed Hollyhock, has leaves some- what palmate in 7 lobes. Hibiscus. L. 15. 12. H. palustris. L. Marsh Hibiscus. Grows about salt marsh- es ; stem 3 — 5 feet high, erect, downy, with ovate and dentate leaves, soft-downy beneath, and whitish ; flowers large, purple ; outer calyx of numerous divisions ; inner calyx of 5 sections ; blossoms in August ; on Charles River. Big. The fibres of the bark are strong, and are wrought sometimes into cordage. Several exotic species are cultivated for ornamental plants, as H. Moscheutos, W., H. Syriacus^ Li. ; H. Trionum^ L., or Bladder Ketmia, Flower of an Hour, is a common species in the gardens. Malva. L. 15. 12. J[l. rotundifolia. L. Low Mallows. Has a prostrate stem, with roundish and cordate leaves ; flowers white and reddish-white, pedicelled ; grows in fields, and especially about houses ; blossoms from June to October, and is common everywhere, being like catnep, motherwort, &c., one of the attendants of man in his habitations in temperate climes. M. Sijlvestris. L. High Mallows. Somewhat naturalized, growing for years without any cultivation; stem 4-6 feet high, MALVACE^. 43 and hairy, with large roundish leaves, about 7-lobed, and with reddish purple flowers on short pedicels ; blossoms in July, in fields and gardens ; introduced. M. crispa. L. Crisped or Curled Mallows, whose leaves are so beautifully crisped^ light-green, and angular ; whitish flowers, smaller than the preceding ; cultivated in gardens, like the other, for its mucilaginous leaves ; supposed to be useful in poultices. The bark is sometimes formed into cordage. M. moschata. L. Musk Mallows. Is the beautiful mallows of the gardens, with delicate white flowers, and yielding an odor so greatly resembling musk, when faintly but clearly perceived ; can scarcely be said to be naturalized. Its snow-white flowers recommend it to the eye of taste. Probably other species may be cultivated in some parts of the Commonwealth. SiDA. L. 15. 12. *S^. ahutilon. L. Indian Mallows. Stem 2-5 feet high, with large, roundish, cordate leaves, woolly ; flowers on short petioles, yellow or orange-colored ; grows on the sides of roads and in waste fields, and blossoms in July ; introduced, but fully naturalized. Lavatera. L. 15. 12. L. arborea, L., Tree Mallows, and L. Thuringiaca, L., are cultivated for ornament. They afford beautiful flowers ; named after the celebrated Lavater ; the former being a native of England, Spain, and Africa, and the latter of Germany, Hun- gary, &c. Malope. L. 15. 12. M. malacoides. L. Smooth Mallows. Introduced from Tus- cany and Barbary ; resembles the preceding, but its outer calyx is 3-leafed, and that of Lavatera is 3-parted ; flowers of both much alike, light rose-colored. Some beautiful species are cultivated in the greenhouse. 44 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. GossYPiUM. L. 15. 12. Cotton. G. herhaceum. W. The common Cotton plant was intro- duced from India or Africa ; at the north it is cuhiv^ated for orna- ment and curiosity in gardens ; stem about 2 feet high, bearing large white flowers, with its seeds involved in long wool. Its history belongs not to the botany of Massachusetts. Other exotic genera are cultivated in the greenhouse. ORDER 36. HYPERICINEiE. Outer floral envelope divided, monosepalous, or of 4 or 5 se- pals, including 4 or 5 petals, hypogynous ; stamens many, in- definite, hypogynous, often in 3 or more sets ; leaves not always opposite ; flowers commonly yellow ; some of the order are herbaceous. Hypericum. L. 12. 5. H. perforatum. L. St. John's Wort. A well-known plant in neglected and barren, sandy fields ; stem 2 feet high, branched, and bearing many yellow flowers for a considerable time ; leaves opposite, with many dots over the surface, as if they had been perforated by a needle. Eight other species, angulosum, Mx., ascyroides, W., Cana- dense^ L., Corymbosum, L., cystifoUum., Lrak., parviflorum, W., sarothra, Mx., Virginicum, L., are credited to this State, and some of them are rather common ; but, with some striking ex- ceptions, they have little beauty, and have not any useful applica- tion. Another species has lately been found near Boston. Tuck- erman,. H. ellipticum. Hooker. Stem a foot or more high, with el- liptic, obtuse leaves an inch long, and cyme nearly naked. ORDER 38. SAXIFRAGEiE. Saxifrage Tribe. Calyx divided sometimes to the base into 4 or 5 parts ; pe- tals none, or 5, between the divisions of the calyx ; stamens SAXIFRAGES. 45 6 or 10, perigynous or hypogynous, as the calyx is above or below the germ or ovary, which is commonly composed of 2 carpels and their lobes, terminated by the sessile stigma ; leaves simple ; herbaceous. Saxifraga. L. 10. 2. (S. Pennsylvanica, L., Water Saxifrage, and /S. Virginien- sis, Mx., Rock Saxifrage, are named from their usual habitations ; the former grows two feet high, bright-green ; the latter is much smaller, and flowers very early in the spring. Their properties are of little consequence. Parnassia. L. 5. 3. P. Caroliniana. Mx. Parnassus Grass. The English name is a great absurdity, as no part of the plant resembles any of the grasses. Stem a foot or more high, with a single ovate leaf in the middle, and several oval leaves at the root ; flowers white, petals longer than the calyx ; 5 nectaries of 3 threads ending in yellow heads, alternating with the stamens ; blossoms in August, and grows in wet meadows and beside cold streams ; plentiful in Berkshire County, and found also in the eastern counties. CHRysOSPLENIUM. L. 10. 2. C. ^mericanum. Hooker. A small, creeping, succulent plant, about springs and brooks, with 8 stamens commonly ; leaves opposite, roundish, and narrowed to the petiole ; flowers in April, with scarlet anthers ; dignified with the name of Golden Saxifrage ; of no obvious use. Hooker considers this plant as different from the European, C. oppositifolium, L., which name had been given to it. MiTELLA. L. 10. 2. J\I. diphylla. L. False Sanicle. Has its flowers on a stem about a foot or less high, in a raceme, with 2 opposite leaves, and having radical leaves on bristly petioles, cordate, dentate, and lobed ; flowers small, white, delicate, their 5 petals being beautifully pinnatifid, standing on the calyx ; grows abundantly in moist woods, and blooms in June. 46 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. »M. cordifolia. Mx., has a rather shorter stem, with only one leaf or none, but with cordate, lobed, and crenate leaves at the root ; sometimes creeping by suckers ; petals beautiful, like the other ; grows in rocky, moist places, and flowers in June. TiARELLA. L. 10. 2. T. cordifolia. L. Mitre Wort. Resembles the preceding in its leaves and stem ; flowers yellowish-white in a long raceme ; grows in woods with M. diphylla ; of delicate appearance, but no useful application. Reseda. L. 12. 3. R. odorata. L. Mignonette, is a common exotic of the gardens, a finely-scented plant. A much taller variety, without odor, is also cultivated for its beauty, R. frutescens. R. luteola, L., Dyer's Weed, is merely noticed as rarely cultivated. ORDER 46. CACTEiE. Indian Fig Tribe. Sepals and petals numerous, usually indefinite ; stamens in- definite, somewhat cohering to the petals ; ovary inferior, 1 -celled ; style filiform ; fruit succulent ; leaves wanting, or fleshy, smooth, entire or spine-hke. Cactus. L. 11. 1. A genus of succulent plants, various and singular in structure, commonly leafless. Many species are cultivated in the hot- houses, on account of their singular form, and the beauty of their flowers. C. opuntia. L. Prickly Pear. Named from the town Opws, in Greece. It is a well-known exotic. Nantucket. T. Jl. Greene. ORDER 47. ONOGRARIiE. Evening Primrose Tribe. This includes 4 genera, and nearly a dozen species in our State. The plants of this order belong to temperate climes ; and possess no very interesting or useful properties. ONOGRARI^. 47 Calyx superior, tubular, with a 4-lobed division ; petals inserted on the throat of the calyx, and equal to the divisions of the calyx ; stamens definite ; style single, with a capitate or 4-lobed stigma ; leaves simple, alternate or opposite. CEnothera. L. 8. 1. (E. biennis. L. Scabish. Tree Primrose. Stem 3-5 feet high, villous and scabrous ; flowers yellow, in a terminal spike, with obcordate petals ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, alternate, pubescent ; found in fields, and flowers from June to Septem- ber. Roots farinaceous. (E. fruticosa. L. Sundrop. Rather shrubby, was found by T. A. Greene, at Plymouth. (E. pumila. L. Low Scabish. Is common over dry fields. GE. grandijlora. Ait. Garden Scabish. A native of the South- ern States, is cultivated for its flowers ; much resembles the first. ISNARDIA. L. 4. 1. /. palustris. L. Water Purslane. Stem prostrate, creeping, smooth, with opposite and ovate-lanceolate leaves ; flowers single, axillary, without corolla ; grows in wet places and pools, and blossoms in June. Has a slight resemblance to common Purslane. /. allernifolia. DC. Seed Box. Stem 2 feet high or more, branched, smooth ; leaves lanceolate, alternate, slightly scabrous on the margins and under side ; flowers axillary and single ; capsule roundish-obovate, 4-angled, and winged ; grows in swamps, and flowers in July. Epilobium. L. S. 1. E. spicatum. Lam. Sweet Willow Herb. Stem 3-6 feet high, leafy, round, smooth, branched above, ending in a raceme of many flowers ; leaves linear-lanceolate and veined ; flowers purple, with irregular petals ; grows along woods and moist hedges, and blossoms in July. This is a very showy plant. 48 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Seeds ■ crowned with a silky down. Would form a fine plant for the garden. The four other species, coloratum, and lineare, Muhl., molle^ T., palustre, L., have few attractions. Gaura. L. 8. 1. G. biennis. L. A showy plant with terminal spikes of sessile, dark rose-colored flowers on a hairy, purplish, herbaceous, erect stem, with alternate, lanceolate, toothed leaves. Differs from an Epilobium in the tube formed by the calyx being obovate, and the seeds having no pappus. Found by G. B. Emerson in Brookline. ORDER 48. HALORAGE^. So called from the genus Haloragis, which grows in the eastern Archipelago. Floral envelopes minute, superior ; stamens inserted, with the petals, on the calyx, which is permanent on the ovary of one or more cells ; leaves of various positions ; flowers axillary, sessile, some are monoecious, or dioecious. Have no important proper- ties ; some are mere weeds ; spread widely over the earth. Myriophyllum. L. 20. 12. , J[T. spicatum. L. Spiked Water Millfoil. Stem long, rising through the water, and projecting the spike of whorled and naked flowers above the surface ; leaves immersed, whorled, capillary- pinnate ; 3 bracts to each flower, the middle one largest ; petals oblong, obtuse, brownish-green, caducous ; flowers in July and August ; grows in ponds and deep still waters. JW. tenellum, Big., is found at the pond in Tewksbury. JH. procumhens, Big., found at Dan vers by Dr. Nichols. Both these species were investigated by Dr. Bigelow, are rather small and singular plants, and grow in the mud of ponds. M. verticellatum. L. Water Millfoil. Grows also in water. % LOASE.E. 49 with whorled pinnate leaves, and the terminal spike leafy ; flowers in July. The flowers are sometimes perfect. » M. ambiguum. Nutt. Floating Millfoil. Stem 2-4 feet high, erect, floating in large collections, dichotomous ; immersed leaves capillary, emerged leaves pectinate ; flowers axillary, soli- tary, sessile ; blossoms in July ; found near New Bedford. Proserpinaca. L. 3. 3. Mermaid Weed. Two species, P. palustris, L., and P. pectinata^ Lam., grow in wet grounds, and round marshy places ; the former has lanceolate- linear leaves, and the latter pectinate leaves ; flower in July and August. Another genus, Hippuris, closely related to Myrioj^hyllum, and found in the State of New York, is probably yet to be detected in our ponds. It is called Mare's Tail, from its peculiar form. ORDER 49. CIRCiEACE^. Calyx tubular, with a 2-parted limb, deciduous ; petals 2, and stamens 2 on the calyx ; ovary inferior and 2-celled ; leaves opposite and toothed ; flowers in racemes. No valuable proper- ties. Only one genus. CiRCEA. L. 2. 1. Enchanter's Night Shade. Two species, Alpina, L., and Lutetiana, L., are common in moist places along hedges, in rather cold soil, and loving shaded places. They have received an English name, as if they had some importance ; common to Europe and America. Named after Circe, the famous enchantress of old. ORDER 51. LOASE^. A 5-parted calyx, with 5 or 10 petals ; stamens indefinite ; style 1 ; ovary superior or inferior ; herbaceous, hispid, with pungent hairs, secreting an acrid juice ; peduncles axillary, 1-flowered. No known properties, and nothing remarkable, ex- 7 50 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. cept the stinging hairs of some species. Only two genera of the order in this country, and one in this State. Centaurella. Mx. 4. 1. C. paniculata. Mx. Screw Stem. Stem 4-8 inches high, square, slender, somewhat twisted, branched, smooth ; leaves minute, subulate, alternate below ; flowers small, greenish-white, on the ends of the branches ; grows in meadows, and blossoms in August. ORDER 52. SALICARIiE. Loosestrife Tribe. Monosepalous divided calyx, with petals between the divisions, deciduous, or wanting ; stamens rise from the side of the tube of the calyx below the petals, and from 1 to 4 times as many ; style filiform, rising from the ovary, superior ; generally herbaceous, with branches often 4-sided ; flowers axillary, or in terminal spikes or racemes ; leaves usually opposite. The properties are strangely diverse, astringent, vulnerary, venereal, diuretic, vesicatory, coloring, and dyeing. Belongs to temperate regions. Lythrum. L. 11. 1. L. verticillatum. L. Swamp Willow Herb. Stem 2 feet high, rather woody towards the base, with opposite lanceolate leaves, or in threes, and fine purple spreading corolla of 5 or 6 petals on the calyx ; blossoms in August, and grows in swamps ; often called Grass-poly, and is a fine plant ; short-lived flowers. L. salicaria. Ph. Willow-leafed. Supposed to be a rare plant, but has been found near New Bedford. L. hyssopi folium. L. Hyssop-leafed. Has a stem a foot or more high ; in low grounds ; flowers purple ; handsome. Ammannia. L. 4. 1. A. humulis. Mx. A procumbent plant, with nearly sessile leaves, tapering at the base, and with small, red, sessile flowers, in ARISTOLOCHI^. 51 the axils of the leaves ; flowers in August ; grows in wet mead- ows ; not attractive enough to get an English name. CupHEA. Jacq. 11. 1. C. viscosissima. Jacq. Calyx tubular and ventricose, 6 - 12- toothed ; about 6 petals ; stem a foot and more high, erect, branching ; flowers lateral, solitary, purple ; hills and wet grounds ; found in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, by Dr. G. White. It is an annual plant, very viscid ; blooms in September. ORDER 54. MELASTOMACEiE. Calyx 4-6-lobed ; petals equal in number to the divisions of the calyx, and rising from their base ; once or twice as many stamens as petals ; ovary attached somewhat to the calyx, of several cells, containing innumerable minute seeds ; leaves op- posite, usually entire ; flowers in a terminal thyrse ; some her- baceous. One genus in this country. Slight astringency belongs to the order : the fruit of many is succulent and eatable, and of some, colors the mouth black, which gives name to the order. A great many species are contained in this order, but they belong chiefly to the tropics, 78 to India and the Indian Archipelago, 12 to Africa and its islands, and 620 to America ; and only 14 are found out of the tropics, and of these 8 belong to the United States. Lindley. Only one genus belongs to the Northern States, and only one species to this State. Rhexia. Brown. 8. 1. R. Virginica. L. Deer Grass, Meadow Beauty. Stem a foot high, square, membranous on the angles, somewhat hairy, with sessile, ovate-lanceolate, ciliate, smooth leaves ; flowers purple, large, in dichotomous corymbs ; flowers in July, and grows in wet meadows. Has no important properties, but great beauty, and is well deserving cultivation. ORDER 62. ARISTOLOCHIiE. Birthwort Tribe. Calyx tubular, superior, having 3 segments, and no corolla ; ovary with 3-6 cells, and 5-10 stamens, epigynous, or upon 62 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. the germ, many-seeded ; leaves alternate ; flowers axillary, soli- tary, of a dull color ; some are herbaceous. Tonic, stimulant, anthelmintic, antarthritic, alexipharmic, evac- uant, antophthalmic, emetic, are the properties belonging to the order. Common in equinoctial America ; sparingly found in the tem- perate zones. Aristolochia. L. 18. 6. A. serpentaria. L. Virginia Snakeroot. This plant grows in shady woods in the Southern States, from Pennsylvania to Carolina ; stem flexuous ; oblong and cordate leaves ; flowers purplish brown on a radical peduncle ; blossoms in June. The roots are highly medicinal. Bigelow's " Medical Botany." Cultivated by the Shakers. Of this genus, 47 species have been described. ASARUM. L. 18. 10. t3.. Canadense. L. Wild Ginger, White Snakeroot. Stem- less ; from the root arise two kidney-form, broad, and round leaves, pubescent on both sides, and with hairy petioles ; a single flower rises between the leaves, and close to the ground, having a woolly calyx of several deeply-parted segments, on a short pedimcle ; root creeping, fleshy, partially jointed ; blossoms in May, and grows in woods. The roots have a pleasant aro- matic taste ; medicinal. Bigelow's "Medical Botany." Another species is found in the South, and one in Canada, while only one is ascribed to England and other parts of Europe. ORDER 64. SANTALACE^. So named from the genus, Santalum^ whose species belong to India and New Holland. Calyx 4 or 5-cleft, with stamens opposite the segments of the calyx ; ovary inferior, 1 -celled ; style 1 ; leaves alternate, or mostly opposite, undivided ; flowers generally in spikes ; rarely solitary or umbelliferous ; small. Few properties of interest. In New Holland, the East Indies, &c., the plants of this order SANGUISORBE^. 63 are large trees or shrubs ; in Europe and North America, they are weeds. Thesium. L. 5. 1. T. umbcllatum. L. False Toad Flax. Stem about a foot high, round, erect, branching a httle, with alternate, entire, sessile, mucronate leaves, oblong-ovate ; flowers in a corymb, white ; blossoms in July, on rocky hills, and in dry woods. Said to be slightly astringent. The other genus of this order in our State, contains trees, as Nyssa, the Pepperidge, or Tupelo Tree. ORDER 72. SANGUISORBEiE. Burnet Tribe. Flowers often declinous, or stamens and pistils in separate flowers; calyx tubular, 4-5-lobed, without petals; stamens definite, usually alternating with the lobes of the calyx, and stand- ing round the style which rises solitary from the ovary ; leaves alternate, with stipules ; flowers small ; often in heads ; some of the order are herbaceous. Astringent and tonic ; it is rather too late in the history of beauty, to repeat the assertion of F. Hoff- man, that a decoction of Alchemilla vulgaris, will restore "faded beauty to its earliest freshness." Lindley. The plants of this order are spread widely over the world. Sanguisorba. L. 4. 1. S. Canadensis. L. Burnet Saxifrage. Stem 2-4 feet high, with pinnate leaves, and long cylindrical spikes of white flowers ; grows in wet meadows ; blossoms in August. Another species is ascribed to the Northern States. POTERIUM. W. 4. 1. P. sanguisorba. L. Burnet. A plant too well known to need description ; cultivated for its beauty and pleasant-flavored leaves, with an angular stem nearly 2 feet high, and leafless, and bearing a head of not very showy flowers ; a native of Eng- land, and the South of Europe. 64 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. %3lchemilla^ another genus of this order, found on the high mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, is, perhaps, yet to be found on the mountains of Massachusetts. ORDER 73. ROSACEA. The Rose Tribe. Calyx 4 or 5-lobed, with 5 equal petals ; stamens numerous, on the calyx and within the petals ; ovary superior, 1 or more, 1-celled ; leaves simple or compound, alternate, and with 2 stipules at their base. All the rosaceous plants and their fruits are healthful. They, or some of them, are used for their astringency, or as a febrifuge, or for tanning, some for their fruits as food, some as tonic and emetic, others as anthelmintic ; a list of very different properties. They are very beautiful plants, and are widely diffused over the temperate and cool parts of the northern hemisphere. The order is large, and contains more than forty species in this State, besides the exotics of the family. Rose is from an Armorican v\^ord, meaning red^ the common color of the flowers. Rosa. L. 11. 12. R. corymbosa. Ehrh. Swamp Rose. Stem 3 — 8 feet high, prickles none, or else recurved, with leathery leaves, pinnate, 5-7 leafets, and long stipules ; flowers somewhat in corymbs ; fruit commonly hispid ; petals large, red, emarginate ; flowers in June, in swamps. R. lucida. Ehrh. Grows about ponds and borders of marshes, 3-6 feet high, shrubby, with entire segments of calyx, spread- ing, appendaged ; flowers large, with emarginate petals, red ; blossoms in July or August. It flourishes well in yards and gardens, and, as it blossoms after all the other species have dropped their flowers, and continues to blossom for a considerable time, it forms a valuable addition to our flowering ornamental plants. R. parviflora. Ehrh. Small-flowered. This seems to be R. Caroliniana, Mx., a small and handsome rose of the woods, rather shrubby ; blossoms in .Tune. ROSACEiE. 55 R. micrantha. Sm. Has very small ichite flowers on a bush often 6 feet high. Big. It is not found in the western part of the State. Resembles the following in odor, but the flowers are smaller. R. rubiginosa. L. Sweet Brier, Eglantine. The fine odor of the leaves and flowers makes this species, rough as it is, with its strong recurved prickles, a great favorite ; it is easily cultivated, and commonly thought to be introduced from Europe. Its per- fectly wild state, in the fields and along hedges in the north part of Berkshire County, has led me to doubt its importation into that part of the State. Several species of the rose have been introduced, and are found in many gardens and yards. R. Gallica. L., from France, the low bushy rose, with large bright-red flowers, and the only one cultivated for many years in the western part of the State. R. Damascena. L. Damask Rose. From the South of Europe. R. cinnamomea. L. Cinnamon Rose. From the South of Europe. R. muscosa. L. Moss Rose. R. moschata. L. Musk Rose. From Barbary. R. seniperflorens. L. Monthly Rose. From China. R, pimipinellifolia. L. Burnet Rose. From the South of Eu- rope, with its small leaves and stems, and abundance of flowers. R. alba. L. White Rose. Delicate, from Europe. R. Burgundiaca. L. Burgundy Rose. From Europe. R. multiflora. L. Japan Rose. From Japan. 56 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The rose has for ages been a favorite plant for ornament. About 50 species have been described, and cultivation has pro- duced numerous varieties. More than 500 varieties and species are contained in the London catalogues, and, at Rouen, nearly double this number is enumerated. Loudon. Doubdess far more than those above mentioned are found in the more expensive flower-gardens in this State. The flowers of the rose, or of several species, are valuable in medicine. For this purpose, the abundant flowers of the cinna- mon rose, and of others, are picked. Of this species, about thirty- varieties are sold in Europe. Rose-water is a well known prepa- ration. The Rubifolia from Canada and the Lakes, and the Cherokee from the South, are amongst the most desirable native species now cultivated. The Boursault, the muUiJlora, the Banksce, the Lamarck, are among the most beautiful European ; and there are numerous varieties introduced from China, Rosa Indica, which have added much to the value of a family already so rich. POTENTILLA. L. 11. 12. p. tridentata. L. A small, rather beautiful species of cinque/oil ; stem 3-8 inches high, nearly erect, dichotomous ; leaves ternate-palmate, thick and leathery, with obovate leafets, 3-toothed at the summit ; flowers white, small ; grows on Wa- chusett and Hoosac Mountains. The bald summit of Taconic Mount is covered for a considerable distance with it. It is found also in the valley near the College in Williamstown, probably from seed brought down from the mountain. P. J^orvegha. L. Hirsute, erect, dichotomous, 8-16 inches high, with leaves shaped like the preceding, but toothed, and rough-haired, and yellow-flowered ; blossoms in June, in old fields. P. Canadensis. L. Five-finger. Spread over the fields, with a stem often procumbent and running, sometimes erect ; re- sembles the strawberry at a little distance ; leaves quinate-palmate ; yellow flowers ; blossoms from April to July. ROSACEiE. 57 P. argentea. L. Silvery Cinquefoil. A handsome, erect, white-tomentose, silvery-looking plant, near a foot high ; leaves quinate-palmate, obovate, revolute on the margin ; flowers yellow ; June, in fields. P. simplex. Mx. Running Cinquefoil. Is also P. sarmentostty Willd., and has a running stem and hairy, with quinate leaves, and yellow flowers ; spread over fields, and much like P. Canadensis. P. anserina. L. Silver Weed. Creeps among the grass by its hairy reddish stem, with pinnate leafets, of a fine silvery ap- pearance beneath, and solitary yellow flowers on long peduncles ; blossoms in June, and grows on salt marshes near Boston. P. fruticosa. L., and P. jlorihunda. Ph. Woody Cinque- foil. Mere varieties of the same plant ; woody, branching, often 4 feet high, sometimes much less ; yellow terminal flowers of long continuance ; pinnate leaves ; blooms in June ; grows on the margin of ponds in marshy situations, and on cold upland tracts. A handsome shrub, and mentioned here with most of the herbaceous species. P. confertijlora, Torrey, or Bootia sylvestrls, Big. Stem 2 feet high, erect, stiff", round, furrowed, with upper leaves simple or ternate, and radical leaves pinnate ; petals white, roundish, and flowers partially corymbed ; blossoms in June ; whole plant covered with hairy down ; found at Deerfield, and in Berkshire County. P. palustris. Scop. ^Marsh Cinquefoil. Known commonly as Comarum paluslrBy L., has a stem 18 inches high, ascend- ing, but not erect, with leaves divided into 3, 5, or 7 leafets, oblong, serrate, and whitish beneath ; flowers in June. I found it near a pond-hole in Stockbridge, half a mile north of the church ; found also near Boston. Note. Cinquefoil, of French origin, is five-leafed ; and, when finger-like leafets appear, it is called five-finger. - 8 58 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Geum. L. 11. 12. G. rivale. L. Avens Root, or Water Avens. Pubescent, stem simple, erect, about 2 feet high, with a few nodding flowers, dark-colored ; radical leaves lyrate, with a large-lobed terminal leafet ; calyx reddish brown, closely erect, confining the veined yellowish petals ; fruit with long feathery awns ; blossoms in June, grows in wet meadows. Supposed by the common people to possess valuable medicinal properties. The two other species of Geum, Strictum, Ait., and Virgin- ianum, L., grow in woods and swamps, or along banks of streams, but are of little importance. Agrimonia. L. 11. 2. .5. eupatoria. L. Agrimony. A hairy plant of 2 feet in height, with leaves interruptedly pinnate ; flowers in a spike long and hairy, scattered and yellow ; grows by fences and hedges, blooms in June ; astringent and tonic. Fragaria. L. 11. 12. Strawberry. F. Virginiana. L. Common Strawberry. Its short stem, white flowers, and agreeable fruit, are well known. It is con- sidered by Linnaeus as a spurious berry, as the seeds project from the enlarged and fleshy receptacle. It is one of the most de- licious of our native fruits. jP. Canadensis. Mx. Mountain or Woods Strawberry. This is larger than the other, the leafets broader, the peduncles longer and recurved, pendulous, while in the other only the berry is pendulous ; berry longer and tapering, and less finely fla- vored. Woods and hills. jP. vesca. L. Garden Strawberry. Remarkable for sending out its runners ; introduced from England, and several varieties cultivated for the large delicious fruit. It is singular that some of the plants bear barren flowers, blossom abundantly, but bear no fruit. It becomes necessary to destroy them, and replace them by the fertile variety. ROSACEiE. 69 Note. On the hills of Washington, in the east part of Berk- shire County, a tc/ii7e-fruited strawberry is abundant in the fields, sought for from its sweetness, though it has not quite so fine a flavor, or rather has a weaker flavor than the common red straw- berry. The leaves are somewhat villose, and the plant may be a permanent variety of F. Virginiana. Those fields have long pro- duced this variety. Dalibarda. L. 11. 12. D. repens. Lam. Has a rooting and creeping stem, and cor- date, crenate leaves, on long petioles ; peduncle nearly radical, long, bearing one white flower ; seeds in the dry receptacle ; blossoms in June, on hills ; Greenfield and Princeton. D. fragarioides . Mx. False Strawberry. Much resembles the common strawberry at a little distance ; bears ternate leaves, toothed, ciliate, smooth ; radical peduncle, bearing a few yellow flowers ; blossoms in June ; woods and hedges ; common in Berkshire County. RuBUs. L. 11. 12. R. occidentalis. L. Black Raspberry. Fruit much valued. R. strigosus. Mx. Red Raspberry. Fruit larger than that of the preceding, and more richly flavored. There are two va- rieties in the woods, differing in their fruit, the one being red, and the other reddish brown, or a much darker color. R. villosus. Ait. Blackberry, High Blackberry. A tall, large, prickly plant, bearing racemes of white flowers ; berries fine and wholesome ; the root yields a decoction considered to be healthful in dysenteric affections ; for medicinal properties, see Bigelow's "Medical Botany." R. trivialis. Mx. Running Blackberry, Dewberry. Char- acterized by its name, bears large black berries, very excellent when fully ripe. 60 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. R. saxatilis. Mx. Stone Raspberry. Grows a foot high, and is an annual plant ; the preceding are perennial. R. odoratus. L. Flowering Raspberry. Distinguished by its large purple flowers, and its large, 5-lobed, and serrate leaves ; flowers in June, in woods and hedges. Often cultivated for its beauty. Fruit is large, but sour, and is not sought for. R. setosus. Big. Bristly Raspberry. Grows in swamps. R. frondosus. Big. Probably a variety of R. villosus. R. Canadensis. L. A stiiall creeping plant, in woods and swamps, bearing small, dark-red, pleasant berries. R. obovalis. Mx. Hispid with stiff hairs, ternate leaves, few-flowered ; black and sweet berries, with only a ^ew large grains ; blossoms in June; grows in mountain swamps. All the species of Spiraea are woody, and belong to the shrubs, where they will be described. ORDER 77. LEGUMINOS^. The Pea Tribe. Calyx divided into 5 parts more or less deeply, often unequal, and the odd segment before, with 5 petals or less, or none, in- serted at the base of the calyx, papilionaceous, or regularly spread- ing ; the odd petal behind ; stamens perigynous, monodelphous, diadelphous, or distinct ; ovary superior ; fruit a legume or drupe ; leaves alternate. This order is known generally by either its papilionaceous flower, or its legume, commonly called pod, like that of the pea and bean ; one of these is sometimes wanting, or rather exchanged for another form of corolla, or pericarp. Some- times there is a rosaceous flower and leguminous fruit. Lindley. This is a very important order ; it is a large one. The irrita- bility of some of the family, as the sensitive plant, is wonderful and inexplicable. The plants are widely spread over the earth, and some yield important articles of food. Many of them are LEGUMINOS.E. 61 trees of great beauty or use, or both ; some yield important dye- stuffs ; some are poisonous, while most have a wholesome char- acter. Some are tonic, or stimulant, or astringent, or emetic, vesicatory, or cathartic, &c. Several yield important gums, bal- sams, extracts. About 280 genera belong to the order, and con- tain within the torrid zone 1 602 species, and north of the torrid zone, 1312 species, and south of the tropic, 524 species. Many of the most interesting, are unknown in temperate climates ; 236 species are ascribed by Torrey to North America. All our plants of this order, have papilionaceous flowers ; calyx with dis- tinct divisions ; and stamens around the pistil. Many are beautiful. Amphicarpa. Ell. 15. 10. Jl. monoica. Nutt. Pea Vine. Has a hairy, twining, slender stem, and purple flowers ; leaves ternate, with ovate leafets ; the racemes of peialous flowers are sterile, and the radical apetalous flowers fertile ; woods, July. Apios. Ph. 15. 10. ./3. tuberosa. Moench. Ground-nut. A twining plant, often many feet long, with leaves pinnate, having 5 — 7 leafets ; keel of the corolla falcate ; flowers in racemes, dense, axillary, dark- purple ; root tuberous, pleasant to the taste, raw or roasted ; blossoms in July ; woods. When the seeds have fallen from their capsules, the opened and colored fruit-vessels have a beautiful appearance, and are sometimes used with ground pine in decorations. " Baptisia. Vent. 10. 1. B. tindoria. Br. Wild Indigo. Stem 2-3 feet high, very branching, very smooth, with ternate leaves ; calyx 2-lipped, stamens deciduous, flowers 5-petalled, nearly equal, in racemes ; in drying, the plant turns black, or rather blue ; woods, in a light soil ; July. Astringent, antiseptic, emetic, cathartic. Cassia. L. 10. 1. Sepals scarcely united ; stamens 10, free, unequal in length, and the 3 upper ones abortive ; 5 unequal petals. 62 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. C Marylandica. L. Wild Senna. Stem 3-4 feet high, erect, branched, smooth, with pinnate leaves in 8 or 9 pairs of leafets ; large yellow flowers in axillary racemes, almost a panicle towards the summit ; narrow, compressed legume ; blossoms in June, grows on banks of streams, or in moist places, in open fields. Medicinal. See Bigelow's " Medical Botany." Two other species, chamcBcrista, L., and niditans, L., are smaller and handsome plants, of little consequence. Crotalaria. L. 15. 10. Calyx 5-parted, sublabiate, lower lip 3-cleft ; large cordate standard ; united filaments, and swollen, inflated legume. C. sagittalis. L. Rattle Box. Stem a foot high, erect, branched, variable pubescence ; simple oblong-lanceolate leaves, with decurrent stipules ; 3-flowered racemes opposite the leaves, and yellow corolla ; seeds rattle in the inflated, mature legume ; blossoms in June, grows in dry grounds and sandy woods. Genista. Lam. 15. 10. Calyx 2-lipped, upper 2-parted, lower 3-toothed or 5-di- vided ; standard oblong-oval, and keel straight ; stamens in one set, with a flat legume. G. tinctoria. L. Dyer's Weed. This plant yields a fine yellow color, and may have probably been introduced ; some- what shrubby ; stem a foot high, much branched, and the upper part covered with small, yellow, nearly sessile flowers ; leaves lanceolate smooth ; blooms in July ; has covered the hills south of Salem. Big. Medicago. L. 15. 10. M. lupulina. L. Nonesuch. Litroduced, and found in fields about Boston ; said to be useful as fodder for sheep ; stem pro- cumbent ; flowers in racemed spikes, with yellow petals ; legumes reniform ; fields, June to August. M. scutellata. L. Cultivated in gardens for its beauty ; LEGUMINOS^. 63 matting on the ground ; legume twisted in a spiral form, like a flat snail-shell. There may be other species cultivated, which are less common. LupiNus. L. 15. 10. Stamens all united ; legume leathery, swelling at the seeds ; calyx deeply 2-lipped ; keel acuminate. L. peren is. L. Common Lupine. Sun Dial. Perennial, often growing in splendid clusters ; stem a foot or more high, erect, hairy, bearing large blue flowers, in a fine raceme or spike ; leaves digitate, 8 or 9 leafets, oblong, mucronale, villous beneath ; blossoms in May, in the light soil of open woods. It has long been cultivated for ornament in gardens. To it have been added several other species, exotics, within a few years ; as L. albus, L., the white-Jloivered lupine ; L. hirsutus, L., the rough-leaved with blue Jloicers ; L. roseus, L., the red-Jiowered ; and L. luteus, L., the yelloxc. Phaseolus. L. 15. 10. P. trilobus. Mx. Bean Vine. Stem prostrate, twining, somewhat hairy and scabrous ; 2 - 3-lobed ovate leafets ; pe- duncles bear a head of flowers ; banner spreading, reddish-white, keel slightly twisted, and tipped with purple ; legumes linear ; blossoms in July ; South Boston. Woods. Stamens diadelphous. Used by Indian doctors as a cooling, sedative, antibihous tonic. Lindley. Several species of Phaseolus are cultivated for the beans, and are of great consequence. P. nanus. L. Bush-bean. Several varieties. The small white field-bean is a great favorite. P. vulgaris. L. Pole-bean. Many varieties, of which the kidney-bean is fine. P. lunatus. L. Lima-bean. A very rich seed, requiring long and warm summers, and favorable exposure, to ripen. 64 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. P. multiflorus. L. Scarlet Pole-bean. Has a splendid ap- pearance in flower. PisuM. L. 15. 10. Segments of calyx leafy, 2 upper shorter ; stamens 9 in one set, and 1 in the other ; standard large, reflexed ; style com- pressed, villous above ; legume compressed, not winged ; seeds round, many. P. maritimum. L. Sea Pea. Found on marshes about salt water in the vicinity of Boston, and described by Dr. Bigelow as a Lathyrus ; it is probably the above plant of Linnaeus. Stem 4-sided, compressed, glaucous ; leaves pinnate, with 5-8 ovate or rounded leafets, with arrow-shaped stipules ; flowers 6-8, in a raceme, showy, blue and purple ; legumes oblong, with globular seeds ; blossoms in May to July. P. sativum. L. Common Pea. A great many varieties are cultivated ; some of those in the gardens are rich and luscious ; the field-pea is an important article as the food of hogs, and in the composition of provender for horses, cattle, &c. The seeds of more than twenty varieties are sold in some of the seed stores. Lathyrus. L. 15. 10. L. palustris. L. Marsh Wild Pea. Stem lax, winged, smooth, supported by grass or other plants, w^ith pinnate leaves in 3 pairs of leafets, oblong, mucronate ; peduncles long, bearing a few purple flowers ; blossoms in June, in wet meadows or low grounds, in the vicinity of Boston. Big. L. odoratus. L. Sweet Pea. Cultivated for its beauty and odor. Other species are not uncommon in gardens. ViciA. L. 15. 10. V. cracca. L. Tufted Vetch. Has a stem slightly pubes- cent, branching, square, slender, with pinnate leaves of many pairs of leafets, oblong and mucronate ; the peduncles bear long, LEGUMINOSiE. 65 crowded, recurved racemes of small, pale-purple, drooping flowers ; blossoms in July, in meadows, and along fences. Maiden, Cam- bridge. Big. A native of England. r. sativa. L. Common Vetch. Tare. This is the com- mon tare of wheat fields ; resembles a pea, but is more slender, and its leaves are narrower, lanceolate, and in 5 or 6 pairs of pinnate leafets ; valves of the legume twist about each other in a peculiar manner as the seeds fall out. Probably intro- duced. This is often supposed to be the tare of the Bible, but the evidence is rather doubtful. Native of Britain. V. pusilla. Willd. Slender Vetch. A very slender plant, with minute bluish-white flowers, on a square stem, with linear, very obtuse and small leafets ; blooms in July ; South Boston, along fences. Big. A native of Britain. V. faha. L. Garden Bean, Windsor Bean. With an erect, many-flowered, strong stem, supporting oval and entire leafets of ternate leaves. Introduced from Egypt ; a great many va- rieties are cultivated. Tephrosia. L. 16. 10. T. virginica. Ph. Goat's Rue. Stem a foot high, erect, round, with 8-12 pairs of oval-oblong pinnate leafets, and a terminal odd one ; variegated, handsome flowers, in a short ter- minal raceme ; legumes falcate, compressed, linear, many-seeded ; grows in dry sandy woods, or barrens, and blooms in June. The whole plant is villous, or pale downy, and the root is slender, tough, and long, and popularly called catgut. Big. Appears to be spread widely over the United States and Canada. A very beautiful plant, well deserving of cultivation. DoLicHOs. L. 16. 10. D. pruriens. L. Cowitch or Cowage. Rarely cultivated, though it is sometimes seen in gardens ; does not reach maturity in Berkshire County, although the irritating hairs on the pods, by which it is useful in certain diseases, are pretty fully grown. 9 66 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Trifolium. L. 16. 10. Clover. Some cultivated species, of great consequence in agriculture, are well known, and fully naturalized. Trifolium means three- leafedy a general character of the species. T. pratense. L. Red Clover. Originally from Britain. T. repens. L. White Clover. Originally from Britain. T. arvense. L. Hare's Foot, Rabbit Foot. Grows on dry, hard soil ; small, pubescent. T. procumbens. L. Yellow Clover. Has yellow flowers, on a spreading stem 3-6 inches high ; probably introduced, and not very widely extended. T. agrarium. L. Woods Clover. Bears small yellow flow- ers on long peduncles, with leaves nearly sessile ; woods and fields ; blossoms in June. A species, sometimes called Russia Clover, is a fine border grass, and may prove valuable. T. officinale. L. Melilot. The yellow flowered, and the white, both finely scented, are often cultivated in gardens. The white grows naturally along the borders of the marsh in South Boston, Big., and is sparingly naturalized in some other places. It is said to make good hay for horses. The usefulness of the red clover for hay, and of the white for pasturage, is too great to be more than alluded to. T. incarnatum. W. Italian Clover, is proposed for culti- vation, as a valuable plant. Grows about 2 feet high, with roundish ovate crenate leaves, and an oblong villous spike of flowers. It requires to be cut early for hay. It has been already used as a grass for borders. This species is said to be a native of Italy. Loudon. LEGUMINOS^. 67 T. medium. L. Zigzag Clover. Distinguished by its zig- zag stem ; has been found by Mr. Oakes, naturahzed on hills in Danvers. Lespedeza. Mx. 16. 10. Was named in honor of Lespedez, governor of Florida, who protected Michaux in his botanical researches. Loudon. The plants are of little consequence either for use or beauty ; belong generally to North America. Eight species of the dozen, are credited to this State ; grow chiefly in open w^oods or hedges. L. capitata. Mx. Bush Clover. Has a soft-hairy, and very leafy stem, about 2 feet high ; ternate hairy leaves, oblong and mucronate ; flowers in rather clustered or head-like racemes ; somewhat woody ; blossoms in August and September. L. polystachya. Mx. Hairy Bush Clover. Is rather more woody, more hairy, with ternate leaves, roundish, and racemes of flowers, axillary, exceeding the leaves in the length of their hairy foot-stalks ; September ; woods. L. angustifolia. Ell. Has been found by T. A. Greene at Plymouth, in sandy woods, 3-4 feet high, with very narrow leafetSj villous below. L. prostrata. Muh. Trailing Clover. L. procumbens. Mx. Running Bush Clover. Has a slender, pubescent stem, 2-3 feet long, and purple flowers in rather long racemes, and ternate, roundish leafets ; beautiful ; blossoms in August. L. sessilijiora. Mx. Has ovate, reticulated legumes, and an erect, simple stem, 2 feet high, and very narrow leafets, with violet-colored flowers ; August ; sandy or dry woods. L. violacea. Pers. Is a handsome species, with violet flowers, mostly in pairs, numerous, in racemes somewhat umbel-hke ; stem long and slender ; dry woods ; flowers in August. 68 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. L. reticulata. Nutt. Different from L. reticulata^ Pers., which is L. sessilijiora above ; stem simple, erect, stiff, with oblong-linear leafets ; blossoms in August. Hedysarum. L. 16. 10. Named by Linnaeus from the sweet odor of some of the flowers. It was formerly a more extensive genus, and embraced most of the species of the preceding Lespedeza ; it contains now about 50 species, of which near 20 are found in this country, and 11 are credited to this Commonwealth. In general, the plants are of little importance. In appearance, they are not very beautiful, and may be called singular. One species is the Sairitfoin of Eu- rope, considered in France and England as highly valuable in agriculture as hay, growing on light and chalky soils, being profitable as a crop on good soils for about ten years. It is to be seen whether this may not be a valuable grass for cultivation in New England, if it can endure the climate. H. Canadense. L. Bush Trefoil. Stem 3-4 feet high, erect, hairy, with ternate leaves, and oblong-lanceolate leafets ; racemes terminal and axillary, of purple flowers ; joints of the legumes oval, obtuse, hispid ; blooms in July, in dry woods. H. bracteosum. Mx. Has a stem 3-5 feet high, with ter- nate leaves, near the middle, having ovate and acute leafets, and a long panicle of flowers. H. acuminatum. Mx. Has a pubescent stem 3-6 feet high, with a panicle of flowers often 2 feet long, and, along the stem, ternate leaves, with ovate, acuminate, and hairy leafets, and the odd one roundish-rhomboidal ; purple flowers ; blossoms in July. H. rotundifolium. Mx. Has a prostrate, hirsute stem, with fine-flowered racemes ; in rocky woods. H. humifusum. Muhl. Is prostrate, but smoother than the preceding, and the leafets less round, or more ovate. URTICEiE. 69 The other 6 species, ciliare, N., cuspidatum^ W,, nudi- Jlorum, L., obiusum, Muhl., paniculatum^ L., viridijiorum, L., resemble these, but scarcely need a particular description. Both H. bracteosum and H. cuspidalum have a little of that spontane- ous motion of the leaves, for which H. gyrans^ from the Ganges, is so wonderfully distinguished, and for which no cause has yet been discovered. Is it not possible, that this undulating agitation may be owing to the varying temperature or moisture, or both, of slight currents or vibrations of the air ? Great sensibility to one or both of these particulars, and especially to that of heat, might produce the agitations of the leaves, sometimes in one part and not in an adjacent one, as well as in parts more remote from each other. Even confinement in a large glass case might not be able to prevent altogether the action of very acute sensibility. This action in our species is very small compared with that of the In- dian plant, which is in almost constant agitation over more or less of its leaves. ORDER 78. URTICEiE. Nettle Tribe. Flowers without a corolla, monoecious or dioecious, with a per- sistent divided calyx, into which the stamens are inserted ; ovary superior, simple ; fruit a simple dehiscent nut ; leaves alternate, often covered with pungent hairs ; some are herbaceous. The fibres of the bark are often strong, and valuable for cor- dage. Some are narcotic, and stupefying, and poisonous. The plants are spread over all climates and countries ; some grow in dry, arid situations, and some in wet forests, and seem to love the shade. It is not a very large family in this country. Urtica. L. 19. 4. Nettle. Named from its burning stings, as many species have a sting- ing property. JVetlle has the same origin as needle. U. dioica. L. Common Stinging Nettle. Well known ; grows by roadsides in clusters, 2-4 feet high, erect, stiff, with opposite, cordate leaves ; flowers minute, and without beauty. The prickles are tubes, which, when pressed or struck upon the 70 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. flesh, throw out an acrid liquor, which produces the stinging effects. Some of the Indian species produce far more painful effects than those of this country. Widely spread over Europe. U. Canadensis. L. Large Stinging Nettle. So strong are the fibres of the bark, that Mr. Whitlow proposed its culture as a substitute for hemp ; sometimes grows 6 feet high, large, strong, very hispid, and stinging. U. urens. L. Dwarf Stinger. A small stinging nettle, less than 2 feet high, with opposite, elliptic leaves, acutely serrate ; probably introduced from Europe. U. procera. Muhl. Not of much consequence. U. pumila. L. Stingless Nettle. Grows in moist and shady places, often about houses ; stem a foot high, round, smooth, fleshy, nearly pellucid, somewhat procumbent, and resembles a long worm ; flowers monoecious, in axillary racemes or heads. BCEHMERIA. W. 19. 4. B. cylindrica. W. Taken from Urtica by Willdenow ; stem 2 — 4 feet high, erect, round, channelled, somewhat hairy, flowers in long, axillary, cylindrical spikes, with leaves on petioles, and 3-nerved ; grows about fences in dry or damp soils ; blossoms in June to August. Parietaria. L. 19. 4. P. Pennsylvanica. Muhl. Pellitory. Stem about a foot high, simple, with oblong-lanceolate leaves, veiny, and with opake dots ; flowers in axillary clusters ; June, in rocky soils. On Sugar Loaf, Deerfield. Hitchcock. Cannabis. W. 20. 5. C. saliva. L. Hemp. This plant, of such immense im- portance for the fibres of its stem, was introduced from Europe, and is partially naturalized. It is of two sorts, one of which is sterile, and dies after fertilizing the flowers of the other kind, EUPHORBIACEiE. 71 which then increases greatly in size and strength. The only known species. HuMULUS. L. 20. 5. H. lupulus. L. Hop. A well-known plant as cultivated ; it seems also to be a native of the country, as the sterile plant has been found in various and very remote situations, and where there is no probability of its having been introduced. The me- dicinal properties are important. Bigelow's " Medical Botany." The active substance is a peculiar principle, called lupulin. ORDER 88. EUPHORBIACE^. Calyx lobed, inferior, generally with some appendages, and bear- ing monoecious or dioecious flowers ; the fertile flowers have the ovary superior ; rarely having compound leaves. This order includes a host of plants, nearly half of which are found in the equinoctial regions of America, being trees, shrubs, or herbs. They are not found in great numbers at the north ; few in Canada. Most of them contain a milky juice, which is generally injurious ; the common property is stimulating. Some are emetic, and some so poisonous as to be dangerous as medi- cines. Roots of some are healthful food. Only a few species are found in this State, and they are not im- portant. Euphorbia. L. 19. 12. Named in honor of Euphorbus, physician to Juba of Mauritania. E. macuJata. L. Spotted Spurge. Stem branching, and spreading close to the ground, with oblong, obtuse, hairy, slightly serrate leaves, and axillary, solitary flowers, small ; in light soils, along roads and in fields ; blossoms in June. E. hypericifolia. L. Oval-leafed Spurge. Stem erect, and spreading, a foot or more high, with oval-oblong, serrate, opposite leaves, and terminal corymbs of flowers ; rich soils, July. E. polygonifolia. L. Along the seashore, procumbent, 72 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. branching, more full of white juice than the others, succulent ; leaves oblong, linear-lanceolate, obtuse ; blossoms in July. E. helioscopia. L. Sun Spurge. An erect round stem, with wedge-shaped or ovate leaves ; umbel of 5 rays, each of which is 3-branched, and then dichotomous ; involucre leaves under the umbel ; blossoms in June, in rich grounds. ACALYPHA. L. 19. 15. tQ. Virginica. L. Three-seeded Mercury. An insignificant plant, growing in dry, sandy soils, and beside roads, about a foot high, erect, pubescent, with very small sterile flowers, having fertile flowers at their base ; leaves lanceolate-oblong, serrate ; flowers in June to September. RiciNus. L. 19. 15. R. communis. L. Castor-oil Bean. This is the plant whose fruit yields the castor-oil, so well known for its medicinal prop- erties. It has been extensively cultivated in some parts of the State for the production of the oil ; the crop considered profit- able. It is partially naturalized, as it is cultivated as an ornamental plant about gardens. Its large branching glaucous stem, and palmate leaves, peltate, make it a beautiful plant. Its capsules are rough, echinate. The bean in its fresh state is poisonous, and should be kept from the access of children. PoiNSETTiA. Graham. 19. 1. P. pulcherrima. A showy greenhouse plant, introduced from Mexico by the American minister Poinsett. Its great beauty lies in a number of richly-colored, broad-lanceolate, scarlet bractes, from 2 to 5 or 6 inches long, situated just below the inconspicuous flowers. ORDER 116. RUTACE^. The Rue Tribe. Calyx 4-5-divided, with equal petals alternating with the di- visions of the calyx ; definite, hypogynous stamens ; ovary su- perior, divided more or less into 3-5 lobes. GERANIACE^. 73 RUTA. L. 10. 1. R. graveokns. L. Rue. The plant so common in gardens, with leaves much divided, and leafets oblong ; strong-scented ; from the South of Europe. Sudorific, and anthelmintic. For- merly much used. ORDER 122. GERANIACE^. The Geranium Tribe. Calyx of 5 sepals persistent, somewhat unequal, inclosing 5 petals, rarely 4, having short claws ; stamens commonly mono- delphous ; leaves opposite or alternate. Astringent and aromatic ; unequally diffused over the globe. Geranium. L. 15. 10. Named from the Greek word for crane, the capsule and beak resembling the head of that bird. A very extensive genus. G. maculatum. L. Crow-foot Geranium, or Crane's Bill. Stem about 2 feet high, erect, hairy, forked or branched, with large, spreading, haiiy, somewhat palmate leaves, of 5 - 7 lobes ; petals round, purple, handsome ; fruit beaked ; blooms in May ; grows in meadows and fields. A very handsome plant ; root astringent ; medicinal. Bigelow's " Medical Botany." G. dissectiim. W. Wood Geranium. Stem a foot high, pubescent, with leaves variously cut and divided, and with hairy petioles ; peduncles axillary, forked ; blooms in June ; Medford hUls. G. Robcrtianum. L. Herb Robert. A small, branching, spreading plant of a reddish appearance, with ternate or quinate, hairy, petioled leaves ; flowers small, beautiful, purple, with rounded petals ; blooms in May to August, by roadsides and moist hedges. The odor of this plant is strong and offensive. Many species of Geranium are cultivated for ornament, as they have fine flowers and foliage. Many are beautiful plants for the parlour. 10 74 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ORDER J23. OXALIDE^. Wood Sorrel Tribe. Calyx of 5 sejoals, equal, often slightly cohering at the base, with 5 petals hypogynous and equal ; stamens 10, monadel- phous more or less, and the 5 inner or opposite the petals longer than the others ; 5 filiform styles rising from a 5-angled ovarium, of 5 cells ; seeds few ; leaves alternate, generally compound, rarely whorled or opposite. This order much resembles the preceding, and was taken from it ; embraces a considerable number of plants in the hotter and temperate chmes of America, especially, and at the Cape of Good Hope. The plants are not very important. Many have sour leaves ; some are astringent ; an Oxalis in Columbia bears tubers like a potato. Only one genus in North America, and 4 species in this State. OxALis. L. 15. 5. Wood Sorrel. O. acetosella. L. Grows in open w^oods, on hills and moun- tains, covers many parts of Saddle Mount, and makes a beautiful show in the time of flowering. Leaves and flower-stalk grow from the dentate root ; leaves ternate and broad, obcordate, beauti- ful, and dehcate ; flower-stalk roundish, pubescent, 3-6 inches high, bearing one flower, white with reddish veins ; blossoms in June to July. Pure oxalic acid is said to exist in this plant. Taken in quan- tity, this acid is a deadly poison, but a little of it is pleasant. O. violacea. L. Sheep Sorrel, Violet Sorrel. A smaller plant, stemless hke the other, and with similar leaves, but red or purplish flowers. Blossoms in May, in fields. 0. stricta. L. Upright or Yellow Sorrel. Stem 4-8 inches high, with umbelliferous peduncles of yellow flowers, and leaves like the other ; grows in sandy fields ; blossoms through the summer. Both this species and the preceding probably con- tain oxahc acid. 0. corniculata. L. Greatly resembles the last, but has a BALSAMINE^. 75 decumbent stem, bearing umbels of flowers with peduncles shorter than the petioles of the leaves. In Berkshire County ; this spe- cies has probably been confounded with the preceding. ORDER 124. TROPiEOLEiE. Nasturtium Tribe. A small order, whose species are natives of South America. One is commonly cuhivated in our gardens, for use and ornament. Trop^olum. L. 8. 1. T. majus. L. Nasturtium. The calyx and corolla both of an orange color ; flowers irregular and spurred ; a running vine, easily trained, and running several feet, bearing fleshy or leathery sulcate nuts, often pickled. In hot climates it is said to be a shrub ; in the colder, is a vine ; was carried from Peru to Europe in 1684. Admired for the flowers, leaves, and fruit. It is called TropcEolum from the fancied resemblance of its flower to a banner of triumph, — a trophy. If a branch of the plant is placed in a phial of water, it will grow and run for weeks, and sometimes blossom, and may thus be extended over a room. 1 1 species of this genus are found in South America. ORDER 126. BALSAMINE^. Balsam Tribe. This order bears irregular, 1 -spurred flowers ; stamens 5, hypogynous, or under the ovary ; fruit capsular, with 5 elastic valves, by which the seeds are thrown about when mature. Some are said to be diuretic, and some emetic. Only 2 species in North America, and few on the globe. Impatiens. L. 5. 1. /. pallida. N. Touch-me-not, or Jewel Weed. Stem 2 feet high, branched, smooth, succulent, with rhombic-ovate leaves ; spur recurved, on the shorter petal; flowers pale-yellow, 3-4 on a solitary peduncle ; blossoms in August ; grows in wet grounds and damp waste places ; its capsule bursts with great elasticity, when ripe and dry, and the plant is hence often called Snapper., and, from its pendant flower, Jewel Weed. 76 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. /. fulva. N. Is smaller, like the other, grows in like situ- ations, has obtuse leaves, and the spurred petal longer than the other ; flowers deep-yellow, but smaller, and crowded with spots. These two species are of little consequence, and differ very little from each other ; often confounded. /. balsamina. L. Garden Snapper, or Balsam. Cultiva- tion has produced a great variety of flowers, single, double, and of a great variety of colors, 60 varieties being sometimes found in one garden. ORDER 129. POLYGALE^. The Milkwort Tribe. Calyx of 5 irregular sepals, 3 being exterior and 2 interior, wing-hke and petal-like; petals 3-5, of which the keel is an- terior, and larger, and often crested ; stamens as well as petals hypogynous, 8, usually in one set or tube ; ovary superior, com- pressed, 2-celled ; leaves generally alternate ; flowers commonly racemose, small, sometimes quite showy. The leaves are bitter, and the roots usually milky ; among these plants, we find very different properties, stimidant, diuretic, expectorant, cathartic, sudorific, emetic. Not a very numerous order ; and some parts of it are much confined to particular regions. Polygala is more widely spread than the others. Some of the order are herbaceous. Polygala, L. 16. 6. P. senega. L. Seneca Snake Root. Grows in the Middle and Southern States, and is in this State cultivated by the Shakers. Stem a foot high, erect, branching, with pale leaves ; flowers whitish, in a terminal spike. Medicinal. Bigelow's "Medical Botany." The root is hard and strong, and is much used in medicine, and contains the pecuhar vegetable principle, senegin. P. verlicillata. L. Dwarf Snake Root. Stem near a foot high, erect, branched, slender ; leaves whorled or solitary, linear and remote ; flowers small, greenish-white, in spiked racemes ; grows in sandy soils, and blossoms in July. VIOLACEiE. 77 P. sanguinea. L. Much like the preceding, but its flow- ers are dark-red, and stem shghtly fastigiate, branched ; July, in dry soils ; said to have the same properties as P. senega ; is a smaller plant. P. cruciata. N. Has greenish-purple flowers. P. polygama. Walt. Has sessile purple flowers ; medicinal. Bigelow's " Medical Botany." P. paucifolia. W. Flowering Winter-green. Stem 3-4 inches high, leafy ; flowers large, purple, crested on the keel beautifully ; leaves ovate, acute, smooth ; blossoms in May and June, in woods. This is a small but beautiful plant, with large flowers. ORDER 130. VIOLACE^. The Violet Tribe. Calyx of 5 persistent sepals, as many petals equal or unequal, inferior ; 5 stamens rising from below the ovary, which is 1-celled and usually many-seeded ; leaves simple, usually alter- nate ; some plants of the order are herbaceous. Only one genus is found in this State. Viola. L. 5. 1. Violet. Of the proper violet, there are about 50 species, nearly equally divided between North America and Europe. The South Ameri- can species are considerably different, and more shrubby. Of the 20 species enumerated as belonging to this country, by Mr. Nuttall, 18 are found in this Comm.onwealth. They are dis- tinguished as violets which have stems, and violets which are stemless ; usually beautiful plants, or having beautiful, peculiar flowers. They have little use, but are ornamental. The roots of most violets are said to be emetic. Lindley. Of this genus, the anthers are connivent and cohering, so as to resemble united filaments, but in the maturity of the anthers, they easily separate into the 5. Many of the species bear flowers without any petals, in midsummer, as remarked by Nuttall. 78 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Of the stemless violets are the following : V. peclata. L. Bird-foot Violet. Flower-stem or scape 3-5 inches high, several from one root ; leaves radical, pedate, , or bird-foot-like, 5 - 7-parted, smoolhish, the divisions being linear-lanceolate ; stigma large, compressed, truncate, and per- forate at the apex ; blossoms in May, grows in woods and dry- soils ; flowers large and blue. Abounds in the towns on Con- necticut River, and in the eastern towns, and is becoming useful for its medicinal virtues. Dr. Partridge, of Stockbridge. V. cucullata. Ait. Common Field Violet. A variable spe- cies, in its leaves and pubescence, common in w^et fields or meadows ; has large blue flowers, more or less variegated, on radi- cal stems ; 3 - 6 inches high ; leaves turned in at their base so as to resemble a monk's cowl, and hence its technical name ; April and May. V. palmata. L. Hand Violet. Receives its name from the leaves being lobed and cut so as to resemble the shape of the hand ; of which some are certainly finely palmate ; varying as the leaves do, they seem too far removed from the preceding to be only a variety, as some have thought. Grows in wet grounds ; blossoms in May ; flowers middle-sized, blue. V. primulifolia. L. Leaves smooth, oblong-ovate, partially heart-shaped and obtusish, pubescent on the nerves beneath ; petals obtuse, and the 2 side ones slightly bearded ; flowers white and odorous, with long floral leaves ; wet grounds ; May. Found lately in the eastern part of the State. E. Tuckerman, Jr. V. ovata. N. Grows on dry, sandy hills or fields, very close to the ground, having bright blue flowers on short stems, with flat ovate, subcordate, crenate leaves ; whole plant pubes- cent ; May. V. villosa. Walt. Very pubescent, with kidney-form, cor- date leaves, thick and flat on the ground ; like the preceding ; May, on dry hills. VIOLACE^. 79 V. rotundifoUa. Mx. Ground Violet. Has large, broad- ovate and cordate, thick leaves, of a bright-green, with yellow flowers on a very short stem, often scarcely raising them above the leaves of woods ; an early species, blooms in April. V. acuta. Big. Has ovate, ' smooth, crenate leaves, rather obtuse ; petals ovate, acute, white, with the odd petal purple at base ; very small ; April and May, in moist grounds. Big. Boston and Amherst. There are 3 other stemless species, sagittata, Ait., lanceo- lata, L., hlanda-) W., of even less consequence. Of the caulescent, or having a stem, are the following : V. Canadensis. L. "Woods Violet. Stem a foot or more high, erect, with broad-cordate, serrate, acuminate leaves, slightly pubescent along the nerves ; spur short ; flowers large, blue, pale inside ; grows in woods and fields ; May. V. pubescens. Ait. Large Yellow Woods Violet. Stem towards a foot high, erect, with broad-ovate, cordate, toothed leaves ; whole plant villous-pubescent ; middle-sized yellow flowers ; woods ; May. V. rostrata. Muhl. Beaked Violet. Stem 4-6 inches high, erect, diffuse ; leaves smooth ; cordate, acute, serrate ; large pale- blue flowers, with a long spur ; hills and woods ; May. V. tricolor. L. Garden Violet. Is the species commonly cultivated in gardens, so beautiful and so various in its 3-colored flowers ; introduced from England. When propagated by cut- tings or from seed in very rich soil, its flowers increase in size, and have far more splendid colors. V. odorata. L. Sweet-scented Violet. A stemless species, with creeping scions ; stems smoothish ; calyx obtuse ; dis- tinguished for its fine odor, its early flowers, and variously colored petals ; many varieties have risen from cultivation ; a native of the woods and hedges of Europe, far less common than the preceding in our gardens. 80 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ORDER 131. PASSIFLORE^. The Passion Flower Tribe. Calyx of 5 sepals, and corolla of 5 petals on the calyx, and without the filamentose or annular processes which rise from the throat of the calyx ; stamens 5, monadelphous, surrounding the stalk which supports the superior ovary ; styles 3, club-form, with a dilated stigma ; usually climbing ; leaves alternate and stip- ulate. The anthers, movable on their filaments, thus bring the pollen in contact with the stigma. The flowers are often very beautiful, and the whole plant also ; some bear fruit which is sourish, pleasant, and healthful. Gen- erally the properties are of little value. Passiflora. L. 15. 5. Passion Flower. Two species are often cultivated in gardens. P. ccerulea. W. Blue-flowered, from Brazil. P. alata. W. Wing-stemmed, from the West Indies. Two are natives of the United States from Pennsylvania to Florida ; about 50 species are found in tropical America ; one in Norfolk Island, and one in New Holland ; not one in the eastern continent. ORDER 134. CISTINEiE. The Rock Rose Tribe. This order was united with Violacese, from which it much dif- fers, and some of the genera greatly in appearance, which are yet retained in this order by Lindley. Only 3 genera found in this country and State, and only one of these herbaceous. Calyx of 5 persistent unequal sepals continuous with the flower-stalk, containing 5 fugitive, hypogynous petals ; stamens indefinite ; ovary superior ; flowers often in unilateral racemes. Chiefly inhabit South of Europe, North of Africa, and South America. Cistus, from which the order is named, and Hudsonia, will be described under the shrubs. SARRACENIE^. 81 Lechea. L. 3. 3. Pin Weed. Named in honor of Lecheo, Professor of Natural History at Abo ; small insignificant plants, and natives of North America. L. major. L. Fall Pin Weed. Stem 1-2 feet high, erect, hairy, stiff, brittle, purple, with oval leaves downy, and pale beneath, and small obscure flowers, and producing capsules as large as a pin's head ; blossoms in July, on rocks or dry grounds. L. minor. L. Low Pin Weed. Stem 8-12 inches high, erect, branched, smoothish, with linear-lanceolate leaves, rolled back at the margin ; flowers minute, producing capsules smaller than the preceding ; July ; barren fields. L. racemulosa. Mx. Branching Pin Weed. Whole plant about the size of the other, but more branched in proportion, and covered with a close pubescence ; leaves hnear ; July ; dry fields. L. thymifolia. Ph. Woolly Pin Weed. A species found further south, but lately found in the eastern part of our State. E. Tuckerman, Jr. Stem a foot high, erect, with hnear, acute leaves ; branches short, with a leafy long panicle of very small flowers ; whole plant whitish, villous ; sandy places ; July. ORDER 136. SARRACENIE^. Calyx of 5 persistent sepals, and often an involucre of 3 leaves on the outside ; 5 hypogynous, concave petals with claws ; stamens indefinite ; ovary superior, 5-celled, with a single style, and a dilated peltate, 5-angled stigma ; leaves radical, with a hollow, urn-shaped petiole, and an articulated hd over it ; flower- stalk or scape bears one large flower. Properties of no consequence. Plants confined to marshes or wet places of North America ; one genus. 11 82 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Sarracenia. L. 12. 1. S. purpurea. L. Side-saddle Flower. This is a curious plant in respect to its leaves, and beautiful for its flowers ; has its name from the resemblance in shape and position of its curved and hollow leaf, to the horn of a side-saddle. The cup-leaf may- contain nearly a gill of water ; is often half full, and frequently has many insects drowned in it ; flower large, and reddish, with the peltate stigma spread like an umbrella over the stamens ; blossoms in June ; scape 1-2 feet high. Named after Dr. Sarrazin of Quebec. Only 3 other species are known. This genus has been re- moved from the order it was formerly placed in, and seems to be made a distinct order, because its affinities or relations are not understood. A kind of spider has been seen to deposit its half- killed prey in the cup-leaf. ORDER 137. DROSERACE^. The Sundew Tribe. Calyx of 5 equal persistent sepals, and 5 hypogynous pe- tals ; stamens once, twice, thrice, &c. as many as the petals ; ovary superior, single, having 3-5 styles ; delicate plants, often glandular. Some of the order are said to be poisonous, acrid, or acid ; widely spread over the world. Drosera. L. 5. 5. Named from the Greek word for dew, from the dew-like glands on its leaves. D. rotundifolia. L. Sundew. Flowers on a leafless stem or scape, 4-8 inches high, in a terminal raceme ; leaves rad- ical, petiolate, round, flattish, covered above and on the margin with crimson, glandular hairs ; blossoms in July ; grows in wet, boggy, or marshy places ; common in England and this country. The leaves appear as if covered with drops of deic, and pre- sent a beautiful appearance in the sun. Acrid and caustic plant ; curdles milk ; removes warts and corns, and takes away freckles and sunburn. Loudon. LINEiE. 83 D. longifolia. L. Long-leafed Sundew. A smaller and more delicate plant, bearing flowers on a scape 2-4 inches long, and bearing obovate leaves, crenate, tapering into a long petiole ; blossoms in July, in swamps ; common in Britain and here. B. tenuifolia. Muhl. Slender-leafed. Has slender, almost filiform leaves, 6-10 inches long, with flowers purple, on a scape longer than the leaves ; August, in swamps ; abundant along the borders of ponds at Plymouth, Big., where all the three species are found growing in company. ORDER 139. LINEiE. The Flax Tribe. Persistent calyx of 3-4-5 sepals, and same number of petals and stamens, all hypogynous ; flowers rather beautiful, but fugacious. Only one genus in this country, containing the species of our well-known Flax, which was introduced from England, and is scarcely naturalized, and a wild species, a native of the United States. Distinguished by the tenacity of the fibre, and the mu- cilage of the seeds ; diuretic. LiNUM. L. 5. 5. Named from the Greek word, from which we have our word line, on account of the use of the fibre from the remotest ages of society. L, Virginianum. L. "Wild or Virginian Flax. A weed of hills and fields, growing 1-2 feet high, erect, smooth, slender, bearing small yellow flowers in dichotomous panicles ; July. L. usitatissimum. L. Flax. Well named by Linnaeus from its great use and importance, in which no similar article can be a rival, unless it may be wool, cotton, and silk, and with which, for a long period in Europe, no like article, except wool, could compete. Flax requires a deep, rich, loamy soil, for its most successful growth. The improved process for separating the fibre from the inner part, is by drying and breaking the stem on a machine, without 84 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. rotting it, either in water, or on the grass by dew and rain. In this method, pursued in Britain, more seed and a much stronger fibre are obtained, and the remaining part is used for the food of cattle or horses. The fibre can be whitened afterwards, and left much stronger than by the former method. When flax is rotted in ponds of water, by sinking it several bundles in thickness upon each other, the water is charged with deleterious matter so as to kill fishes in the stream below, and to render the adjacent country unhealthy. The seed of flax is exceedingly important for its oil, so ne- cessary in the process of painting, and affording a material rela- tively abundant, cheap, and easy of access. It is boiled with litharge, or oxyde of lead, for the purpose of changing it into an oil that will readily dry ; the litharge destroying or changing the nature of the mucilage or gummy part of the seed. The seed is also valuable for its medicinal character ; emolli- ent, diuretic. The use of the pressed seed of flax after the oil is extracted, as food for horses and cattle, is well known. L. perenne. L. Common to Europe and Missouri, may be used to some extent like the preceding. Most of the 39 species of this genus are found in Europe, and are far inferior to common Flax for useful purposes. 5 spe- cies grow in the United States, and 3 are indigenous. ORDER 140. CARYOPHYLLE^. The Chickweed Tribe. Calyx 4 or 5 parted, or of 4 or 5 sepals, persistent, and pe- tals of like number, with claws, inserted under the ovary, not always present ; twice as many stamens as petals, sometimes monadelphous ; ovary superior, on a pedicle, with 2 — 5 stigmas ; capsule 2-5 valved ; leaves entire and opposite, sometimes connate. The order is named from a splendid and variable spe- cies of Dianthus, the Carnation Pink. A few of this order bear beautiful flowers ; many are weeds ; some are saponaceous ; one is said to be anthelmintic, and one is CARYOPHYLLE^. 85 used for food ; generally of little use, but numerous, and widely- spread over the temperate and colder regions, forming -^^ of the flowering plants of North America, j\ of Lapland, ^\ of France. Lindley. The order contains fourteen genera, and a large num- ber of species, in North America, and is distinguished commonly into two obvious divisions, of no great consequence in a popular view of plants, but preserved here for convenience. 1. The sepals united in a tube ; SilenecBj from one of the principal genera. DiANTHUs. L. 10. 2. Pink. So named from the Greek, floicer of Jove, to express the great beauty and fragrance of the flower, especially of the first species. D. caryophyllus. L. Carnation. This is found only in flower- gardens, being an exotic from the south side of the Alps. They have been so long cultivated in Europe, and are such favorites among all lovers of flowers, that 400 varieties existed more than a century ago, and as many are found now. They are divided into three classes ; Flakes, which have only two colors and stripes large and deep ; Bizarres (French, odd, irregular), variegated with three colors in irregular spots and stripes ; Picotees (French, prickled or spotted), which have a white ground, spotted with scarlet, red, purple, or other colors. The last have the smallest flowers, or smaller than common carnations, and distinguished by their serrated petals ; also more hardy. Though 5 petals are the due number in this genus, in the Carnations the flowers have double or triple that number, and become very large by cultiva- tion. Loudon. D. armeria. L. Red Pink. A native of England, and the chief pink cultivated a few years ago in the western part of the State. In a few places it appears to be naturalized. D. Chinensis. L. China Pink. A native of China ; has reddish and whitish flowers, with toothed petals and linear scales. 86 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. D. plumarius. L. Feathered Pink. Named from its many- cleft petals ; is common to Europe, whence we received it ; glaucous ; throat of the corolla hairy. The PheasanVs Eye is of this species, of which 300 varieties are cultivated ahout Paisley. Loudon. D. barbatus. L. Sweet William. From Germany ; bears red or whitish and often greatly variegated flowers, in tufts or fascicles, with scales as long as the tube of the corolla. Cultiva- tion is making this a very beautiful species, of great variety and mixture of colors. , There are reckoned 41 species of this genus ; only a few are beautiful. The carnation and pink have been called the florist's flower. Loudon. Lychnis. L. 10. 5. L. chalcedonica. L. Scarlet Lychnis or Campion. A na- tive of Russia, cultivated for its beauty ; the border of the petal somewhat 2-cleft, or deeply emarginate ; flowers fascicled, level- topped ; rather rough-leafed. One or two species more are said to be cultivated. One small one is a native of Labrador. The cottony leaves of some spe- cies have been used as wicks for lamps ; hence the name. Lych- nis, from the Greek word for lamp. Saponaria. L. 10. 2. Soapwort. S. officinalis. L., and S. vaccariaj L., have wandered from the gardens into the fields, and are naturalized. In Berkshire County, the former bears large double flowers. The mucilaginous sap of the leaves is said to have a soap-like power ; hence the name. ;S. officinalis is bitter, and was used to cure the itch. Loudon. Agrostemma. L. 10. 5. Named from the Greek, crown of the field, on account of the beauty of the flowers ; only four species, and all natives of Eu- rope. Tubular calyx, 5-sided. CARYOPHYLLE^. 87 Jl. githago. L. Cockle. A well-known weed of wheat 6elds, hairy, and bearing fine rose-colored flowers, and often called Rose Campion ; introduced ; scarcely naturalized ; propa- gated with the wheat. The name githago, is from the resemblance of the seeds to git or gith, aromatic grains supposed of Nigella sativa, L., used in cookery. The black seeds greatly injure the flour of wheat. Jl. coronaria. L. Mullein Pink. Named from its woolly leaves, bearing white or red flowers, sometimes double ; a plant desired from its singular appearance ; a native of Italy. CUCUBALUS. L. 10. 3. The name signifies a bad subject ; as the seeds of C. baccifcr, a native of England, are very poisonous, it is named evil weed. Loudon. C. behen. L. Bladder Campion. Formerly a Silene, na- tive of Crete, about fences and roads ; stem a foot or two high, smooth, paniculate, with white, spreading, nodding flowers, and with spatulate, radical leaves, and opposite, ovate, acute, entire, stem-leaves ; calyx inflated or bladder-like, an obvious and strik- ing character ; introduced ; substitute for asparagus and green peas, according to Loudon. C. slellatus. L. Star Campion, is a native of this country and State; stem 2 — 4 feet high, erect, branching, pubescent, with whorled, lanceolate leaves in fours ; white, paniculate flowers ; petals about 4-cleft ; July ; woods ; calyx inflated and pubescent. Silene. L. 10. 3. Catchfly. More than 70 species are enumerated under this genus, and are generally plants of little use or beauty ; and, as many of them are covered with a viscid, offensive matter, the genus was named after the dirty and drunken heathen deity, Silenus. 3 or 4 spe- cies are peculiar to this country, and a few others are the same as the European ; only 2 species are found in this Commonwealth. 88 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. S. antirrhina. L. Sleepy or Snap-dragon Catchfly. As the flowers are not expanded by day, and the plant resembles a species of Antirrhinum, the popular name is obvious ; grows on dry hills, and blossoms in June. Stem 1-2 feet high, erect, smooth, slender in its branches and peduncles ; leaves lanceolate, acute ; flowers whitish, small, petals obcordate, crowned at the top of the claw of the petal. S. Pennsylvanica. Mx. Wild Pink. Viscidly pubescent ; stems 8-12 inches high, numerous ; radical leaves wedge-form, and stem-leaves long-linear ; panicles somewhat trichotomous ; petals bright-purple ; May ; light soils, in fields and woods. S. nocturna. L. A native of Europe ; has lately been found by Dr. Harris, springing up without cultivation, in Cambridge. S. armeria, L., Garden Catchfly, and S. conica, L., Garden Catchfly, both from England, and perhaps some others, are cul- tivated for ornament. (S. armeria is very common in our gar- dens, and often used for border flowers, as it blossoms for many days, and has rather handsome foliage. 2. Sepals distinct or cohering only at the base ; Alsine^, from a principal genus. Stellaria. L. 10. 3. Named from its star-form or stellate flower. S. media. Sm. Formerly Alsine media, L., Chickweed. Stem procumbent, spreading ; leaves ovate or lanceolate, smooth ; peduncles axillary and terminal, 1 -flowered ; petals 5, deeply cleft so as to appear like 10 ; stamens often 5 ; about gardens and houses ; blossoms from March to November. Naturalized. /S. longifolia. Muhl. Long-leafed Star-grass, and /S. lanceolata. Torrey. Are grass-hke plants, in moist woods and swamps ; of Uttle consideration. CARYOPHYLLE^. 89 Cerastium. L. 10. 5. Named from the Greek for horn^ on account of the horn-like form of the capsule of many of the species. Few, if any, are indigenous to this country. C. vulgatum. L. Mouse-ear Chickweed. A pale-green plant, partly procumbent, viscid-pubescent ; leaves ovate, obtuse, pubescent or hirsute ; flowers dichotomous, partially umbelled ; petals white, emarginate ; from May to August, in gardens and fields ; introduced from Britain. C. viscosiim. L. A more viscid, but similar plant. C semidecandrum. L. May be only a variety of the last ; on dry hills ; both from Britain. C. arvense. L. Field Chickweed. Rather smaller than the preceding species, ascending, slender, with crowded leaves at the base ; flowers large, white, 2 or 3 on terminal pedicels ; blossoms in May and June, in fields and on rocky hills ; a native also of Britain. C. tenuifolium. Ph. A variety of the last, in all probability, and grows in similar places. C connatum, Beck ; which is C hirsutum Muhl. Credited with some doubt to this State ; very hairy, diffuse ; leaves ob- ovate ; flowers in dense clusters, and white, with a procumbent stem ; May. Probably a variety of C. vulgatum. C. ohlongifolium. Torrey. A larger plant, cespitose, pro- cumbent, pubescent, erect, terete, with oblong-lanceolate leaves ; petals obovate, bifid ; flowers terminal, few, on a dichotomous panicle ; mountains of Massachusetts ; blossoms in June. The last appears to be indigenous ; all of little consequence, except as yielding seed for the food of small birds. 12 90 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Sagina. L. 4. 3. S. procumbens. L. Pearlwort. Stem 2-4 inches high, smooth, branched, procumbent, with linear leaves, mucronate, and small white flowers with very short petals or none ; along streams ; July. Native of Britain. Sagina is so called from its nourishing power, as some of the plants are valuable food for sheep. The above species is a mere weed and troublesome. Loudon. MoLLUGO. L. 3. 3. M. verticillata. L. Carpet Weed. This is a prostrate, spreading weed, with a dichotomous stem, whorled leaves, and small white flowers on axillary peduncles ; in fields, July ; a native of this country. Spergula. L. 10. 5. (S. arvensis. L. Corn Spurry. Stem 6-12 inches high, with swelling joints, and narrow, linear, whorled leaves, and with white flowers in a dichotomous panicle ; August, in sandy fields. Introduced from Britain. Supposed to receive its name from the Latin word to scatter, because it scatters its seeds widely and rapidly. Li Scotland, this species is called yarr. and in England, pickpurse, a name which shows its character. In Germany it is sown in cornfields to give food for sheep in winter, for which it is excellent food, and also for cows, and for hens, green or as hay ; yields most nourishing fodder for its bulk, and gives the best flavored milk and butter. It is not likely to be cultivated here for the same reason that it is not in England, viz., there are better plants for the same soils. Loudon. Arenaria. L. 10. 3. Named from arena, sand, in which most of its species are found ; all are plants of little consequence. About 50 species are de- scribed ; only 8 are credited to the Eastern States. A. serpylli folia. L. Stem 3 — 8 inches long, mostly decum- bent, diffuse and dichotomous, with ovate and acute, sessile leaves, PORTULACE^. 91 and solitary, axillary, and terminal flowers ; petals purplish, con- tract within the calyx towards mid-day ; roadsides ; June. A native of Britain ; naturalized. A. lateriflora. L. Has a more erect stem, 4-8 inches high, with white flowers ; wet, shaded places, June ; a native of Britain, and probably of our country also. J. rubra. L. Common Sandwort, has small dehcate red flowers on prostrate, branching stems ; roads ; July. A. marina. Sm. Sea Sandwort ; more succulent and fleshy than the last. Salt marshes ; July ; often thought to be a variety of S. rubra. A. peploides. L. Stem 8-12 inches high, smooth, fleshy, pellucid, dichotomous ; leaves half-clasping, ovate, acute, fleshy, opposite ; flowers nearly sessile, axillary, with white membrana- ceous petals ; blossoms in May and June ; grows in large col- lections, along the seashore sands ; Plumb Island, near Newbury- port. Big., and some other places along the coast. ORDER 143. ELATINEiE. Only one species of this order is credited to North America, viz. Crypta minima, Nutt. 2. 2. This plant has been found on the Hudson near Albany, and along ponds about New Haven, Connecticut, and widely over the country. It is difficult to de- tect on account of its minuteness, as it lies flat on the ground, and sends up branches only an inch or half inch high, with very minute axillary flowers. It has lately been detected by the sides of ponds in Plymouth County. Properties of the order unknown. Elatine triandra, W., lately found in the eastern part of the State, is probably the plant described by Nuttall. ORDER 144. PORTULACE^. The Purslane Tribe. Calyx of 2 sepals, rarely 3 or 5, united at the base ; petals 5, rarely 3, 4, or 6, distinct, or in a short tube, or none ; stamens 92 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. rising from the base of the calyx, with distinct filaments ; ovary- superior, and capsule 1 -celled ; leaves commonly alternate, with- out stipules ; flowers axillary or terminal. Tasteless, inodorous, somewhat mucilaginous, of a dull green color ; of little use as a family ; are found at the Cape of Good Hope in most abundance ; only a few in this country. PORTULACA. L. 12. 1. p. oleracea. Purslane. A well-known plant of gardens and fields, succulent, fleshy, having a prostrate stem, and flowers on the smaller branches, with yellow petals. Supposed to be intro- duced from Europe, but indigenous to naked plains of Missouri, according to Mr. Nuttall. Sometimes boiled for greens. Claytonia. L. 5. 1. Spring Beauty. Named after Clayton by Gronovius, who received the plants of Virginia collected by Clayton. Within a few years many species have been discovered in North America. Only one species is found in New England. It has been fashionable to blend this in all its varieties under C. Virginicttj L. Our plant had been called C. Curoliniana by Michaux, and afterwards C. spathulcefolia by Pursh, and a marked variety of C. Virginica by others. I have never seen the long, linear, narrow-leafed plant, C. Virginica, L. at the north ; and I was satisfied that ours is very different from that, on receiving a specimen from the south. C. spathulcefolia. Ph. Has a stem 6-10 inches high, nearly erect, often procumbent, with two opposite, fleshy, broad-lanceo- late or spatulate leaves, somewhat variable, and with loose-racem- ed flowers, rose-red, and more or less striped ; root fleshy, tuberous, at some distance in the ground ; open and moist woods ; April. The two species are made distinct by T. and G., " Flora of North America," Part 2, p. 199. The plant is beautiful, as its name imports, but has no useful properties. C. perfoliata, Donn, a native of North America, is said to be a hardy plant, whose foliage is used as spinage. Loudon. CRASSULACE^. 93 ORDER 147. CRASSULACE.E. The Houseleek Tribe. Divisions of the calyx 3 - 20, somewhat united at their base, and originating the corolla of separate petals, or monopetalous ; stamens once or twice as many as the petals and rising also from the calyx ; several hypogynous scales ; ovaries as many as the petals ; mostly succulent plants ; flowers in cymes. This is a large tribe of plants, of which 133 are found at the Cape of Good Hope, 15 in North America, 52 in Europe, and about 70 more scattered over the earth. Only a few species in- habit this State. The properties are sometimes acrid ; many are refrigerant and abstergent ; seem not to be of great value. Penthorum. L. 10. 5. P. sedoides. L. Virginia Stem Crop. The genus is named from the 5-marked angles of the capsule ; and the specific name from its resemblance to Sedum. A plant of no consequence ; a native of this country. Stem a foot or more high, branched and angular above ; leaves alternate and lanceolate ; flowers white or yellowish, in a terminal 1 -sided raceme ; wet grounds ; July. Plant scarcely succulent. Sedum. L. 10. 5. Named from the Latin to sit, from the manner of growth upon rocks, as if sitting upon them. Loudon. A pretty large genus, having but few species in this country. 5 small seed-vessels with a scale at their base, and the divisions of the calyx often swelled and leafy. S. Telephium. W. Stone Crop. Stem branching, with flat, alternate, ovate leaves, somewhat acute at both ends ; flowers in a fascicled corymb, pale purple ; rocks ; July ; eastern part of the State. This is doubtless the S. telephioides, Mx., varieties of the same plant, common to Europe and this country. Several other species of Sedum are cultivated. 94 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Sempervivum. L. 12. 12. S. tectorum. L. Houseleek, or Live-for-ever. A well- known plant of the gardens, with thick, fleshy, mucilaginous leaves ; sends out runners with bulbs, and rather rarely flowering ; native of Britain. The plant is so succulent, that a twig of it will grow, if the end be only stuck fast under the shingles of a roof; hence its generic, specific, and common name. In popular use as an emollient, bruised or not, and a vulnerary. ORDER 148. FICOIDEiE. The Fig-Marigold Tribe. This order contains but few genera, but many species. One species is cultivated. The plants are succulent, polypetalous, with perigynous stamens, and superior ovary. The fruit of some is fig-like, whence the name of the order. Mesembryanthemum. L. 12. 1. From the Greek, mid-day, because the flowers usually expand at that time. No less than 290 species of this genus have been described, of which many are rather beautiful, some only herba- ceous. M. crytallinum. L. Ice-plant, from Greece ; has a nearly prostrate stem, with ovate, acute leaves, appearing as if covered with frost. In gardens. Only one genus is found in this country, Sesuvium, along the seashore of the Middle and Southern States. ORDER 150. ILLECEBREiE. Calyx of 3 or 4, or oftener 5 sepals, sometimes cohering at the base ; petals inserted on the calyx, minute, or none, with perigynous stamens opposite the petals and equal in number ; ovary superior ; styles 2 or 3 ; leaves sessile, often fascicled. Properties of no interest. A considerable class, inhabiting the South of Europe, and North of Africa. AMARANTHACE^. 95 QUERIA. L. 5. 1. Q. Canadensis. L. Forked Chickweed. Stem 6-12 inches high, erect or spreading, dichotomous, pubescent, with opposite, lanceolate, smooth leaves ; flowers solitary, very mi- nute, terminal and axillary ; blossoms in July ; dry soil, in fields. The genus is named from Quer, a Spanish botanist. Some other species are found in this country, but not in this State. ORDER 151. AMARANTHACE^. The Amaranth Tribe. Calyx 3 or 5 leafed, persistent, hypogynous, without a corolla ; stamens 5, or twice as many, distinct and monadelphous ; ovary superior ; flowers in heads or spikes. A rather numerous family, chiefly in the tropical regions, which contain about 150 species, and about 50 are in other parts of the world ; seem to have few distinguishing and valuable properties ; some are used for pot- herbs, some for their singular flowers and inflorescence, and the long continuance of their blossoms ; a few as medicines. Amaranthus. L. 19. 5. Amaranth. Named from the Greek, which means not withering^ as the flowers retain their colors long. About 40 species are described ; only 8 or 10 natives of North America, and stiU fewer of New England. Jl. hybridus. L. A coarse weed about gardens, 2 or 3 feet high, unsightly, with ovate and lanceolate leaves, flowers crowded, small, obscure ; turning reddish in maturity ; blossoms in August. Probably introduced. A. oleraceus. L. Pot Amaranth. A smaller weed about gardens, with insignificant flowers ; rarely used as a pot-herb. ,3. blitum. L. Low Amaranth. Smaller than the others, spreading or prostrate ; supposed to be introduced. 96 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Ji. pumilus. Nutt. A low plant, somewhat decumbent, dif- fuse, with ovate leaves, which are obtuse and fleshy ; on Nashawn Island. T. Jl. Greene. A. retrojlexus, L., has been found in several parts of the country. In the gardens several species are cultivated, as A. melancJioUcus. W. Melancholy, from the East Indies. *^. lividus. W. Lead Amaranth, from North America. ^^. tricolor. W. Three-colored Coxcomb, from the East Indies. t^. caudatus. W. Love-lies-bleeding, from the East Indies. GOMPHRENA. L. 5. 1. G. globosa. L. Globe Amaranth, or Bachelor's Buttons. Well known for its beautiful heads of red flowers, and easily cul- tivated as an annual. India. If the heads are picked before maturity, they preserve their beauty for years. Loudon. ORDER 152. SCLERANTHE^. The Knawel Tribe. Only 2 genera belong to the order. The species grow over Europe, Asia, and North America ; only 3 of Scleranthus are described ; all useless plants ; the name means hard Jiower. Scleranthus. L. 10. 2. S, annuus. L. Common Knawel. Stems procumbent, spreading, somewhat pubescent, numerous ; flowers in axillary fascicles, green and very small ; leaves linear, opposite, acute ; July, in sandy fields. ORDER 153. CHENOPODE^. The Goose Foot Tribe. From the Greek, Goose- Foot, on account of the resemblance of the leaves of many species to the webbed feet of water birds. The plants have little of interest in their appearance, and their flowers are insignificant. CHENOPODEiE. 97 Calyx persistent, deeply parted, sometimes with divisions united at the base ; corolla none ; stamens on the base of the calyx, and against the divisions which they equal in number ; ovary superior ; fruit membranous, sometimes berry-Hke ; leaves alternate, sometimes opposite ; flowers small, sometimes polyga- mous. This order contains a considerable number of plants ; some highly useful. Many have been used as pot-herbs. Chenopodium. L. 5. 2. C. album. L. Pig- weed, or White Goose-Foot. A com- mon weed in gardens and fields ; succulent, and formerly used as a pot-herb. C. hybridum, L., and C. rubrum, L. Often called Goose- Foot ; gardens and waste places. C. botrys. L. Oak of Jerusalem. A native of this country ; a small, erect, branching, and leafy plant, with scattered clusters of flowers on short branches, giving the whole a spike-form ap- pearance ; of a strong and peculiar odor ; grows on light, sandy soil ; August. Tonic and antispasmodic The genus numbers about 40 species, 4 or 5 only being in- digenous ; the first three just mentioned, have probably been in- troduced from Europe. The ashes of our species are used in the manufacture of soda. Beta. L. 5. 2. Beet. From the Celtic for red. B. vulgaris. L. The common Beet, white and red. These plants, introduced from the south of Europe, have become neces- sary as articles of food. The cultivation of the Sugar Beet is no longer problematical. The introduction of an article of such extensive consumption, demanding new and increasing industry and capital, may form an era in the history of our agriculture and prosperity. The extraction of 10 per cent, of sugar from the beet, by the improved method in France, renders it certain, that 13 98 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. the production of sugar from the beet may be profitable even in a land of free labor. While the beet, carrot, turnip, cabbage, &c., are used for food under various forms, it should be recollected, that they are more difficult of digestion than the farinaceous vegetables, wheat, potato, &c. B. cicla. W. Scarcity, and Mangel Wurtzel. Too extensively cultivated, as food for cattle, not to be known for the amount of its yield suited to that object ; a native of Portugal. The spe- cific name cicla, is said to be a corruption of sicula, by which name Catullus called the plant. London. Spinacia. L. 19. 5. (S. oleracea. L. Spinach. Spinage is cultivated to some extent, and as a pot-herb is highly esteemed. AcNiDA. L. 20. 5. Jl. cannabina. L. Sea Hemp. Grows in marshes about salt water, with a smooth, erect stem, having leafy spikes of barren flowers on one plant, and fertile flowers on another, with leaves ending in a long, obtuse point ; blossoms in August. Big. The genus has its name from being siingless, and its specific name from its resemblance to the common hemp. Atriplex. L. 20. 15. Orache. A. hortensis, L. Is cultivated as spinage, and has become naturalized in some parts of this country ; it is called mountain spinage ; from Tartary. More than 30 species are described, though only 5 or 6 are natives of North America, and only half of them are found in this State. ./3. patula. L. Spreading Orache. A branched, spreading, herbaceous plant, with spear-form leaves towards the base ; grows in salt marshes. A. arenaria. Nutt. Grows in sandy places of the coast, CHENOPODE^. 99 with a reddish stem a foot high, much branched, spreading, and lower leaves cuneate-oval, obtuse. Blitum. L. 1. 2. B. capitatum. L. Strawberry Elite. This is a singular plant in its mode of bearing seed ; the flower-cup thickens and reddens, and surrounds the black seed, which finally falls out ; the fruit resembles the strawberry in general appearance. Its name imphes the insipidity of the fruit, and the arrangement of the flowers. It is found in the waste places about yards. Salsola. L. 5. 2. Saltwort. The botanical and English names explain themselves. Near 40 species have been described, most of which belong to the sea- coast of southern Europe. The plants of this genus are the chief source of soda ; the ashes being employed, as are the ashes of land plants to obtain potash, in the production of soda. S. kali. L. A rough, prickly plant, growing along the sea- shore, of which S. Caroliniana, Mx., is probably only a variety growing in similar situations. S. salsa. Mx. Smooth Saltwort. Destitute of prickles, with fleshy leaves ; in salt marshes. Mr. Nuttall considers this the Chenopodium maritimmn of Pursh. The only 2 species found in this country are indigenous also to Europe, and both are employed in obtaining the kelp, and thence the soda, of commerce. The extensive use of soda in the manufacture of hard soap and glass, as well as in bleaching and in medicine, shows the great importance of these vegetables. Salicornia. L. 1. 1. From words meaning salt horn, and often called Saltwort. Of 10 or more species, mostly in the South of Europe, only 3 are found along our coast. Sometimes called glasswort, from its use in the manufacture of glass. S. herbacea. L. Common or Marsh Samphire. Grows in 100 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. salt marshes, with an erect stem destitute of leaves, and branch- ing with lateral and terminal, narrow spikes. It is an interesting fact, that this plant should be found at the salt springs along the shore of Lake Onondago, in the interior of New York, 260 miles from the salt water of the ocean. S. ambigua. Mx. A small plant, found in the vicinity of New Bedford. S. mucronata. Big. Dwarf Samphire. First described by Dr. Bigelow. It is also erect and leafless, thicker, and more fleshy, but much less than the first species, and is in similar situations. Dr. Bigelow remarks, that the plants of this genus are used in producing soda, and on the table as pickles. ORDER 154. PHYTOLACCEiE. The Poke Tribe. The only genus of this order, north of Pennsylvania, is Phy- tolacca, ranked by Jussieu in the preceding order. Because the berries give a fine red juice like lac, this name is given to the genus, and thence to the order. Other species grow in North America, but only one at the North. P. decandra. L. 10. 10. Poke, or Virginia Poke, or Poke Weed. This is a large, fleshy plant, often 6 feet high, well known about hedges and open woods in dryish soils, rising from a very large root, and bearing large, scattered, and somewhat fleshy leaves ; berries of a dark purple, and very juicy ; a favorite food of robins and other birds, as they are moving southwards in autumn to their winter quarters. The violent emetic powers of the root are well known ; useful in medicine. Bigelow's " Medical Bot- any." Blossoms in June to August ; flowers in large and long racemes, so that the dark red berries are finely arranged for beauty and show. POLYGONE^. 101 ORDER 156. POLYGONEiE. The Buckwheat Tribe. Calix inferior, divided, sometimes colored so as to resemble a corolla, bearing the stamens at its base ; nut naked or covered by the calyx, commonly triangular ; seed generally farinaceous ; leaves alternate, with stipules round the outside of the petioles ; flowers sometimes only bearing stamens or pistils, often in ra- cemes and beautiful, often coarse and unsightly. Polygonum. L. 8. 3. Named from the Greek, many knees or joints, from the form of the stem. About 70 species have been described, most of which are natives of Europe, and the north part of Asia ; 24 species are credited by Nuttall to North America ; and 17 species are found in this State, some of which have been introduced from the other side of the Atlantic. Some follow man, and make their home around his dwelling. P. aviculare. L. Knotgrass. Forming a thick carpet about houses, and by its seeds supporting small birds, whence its spe- cific name. Although unlike the grasses, yet, because its stem is jointed or knotted, and it is eaten by cattle, it is called Knot- grass. P. persicaria. L. Heartease, or Heartspot. About gar- dens and fields, with a dark and rather heart-shaped spot on most of the leaves. P. pundatum. Ell. Water-pepper. In moist places, and about rubbish ; it is only a variety, and ought so to be named, of P. hydropiper, L. ; it yields a yellow dye, and is strongly diuretic. P. hydropiperoides. Mx. Occasionally found about Boston. Big. P. sagittatum. L. Prickly or Arrow-shaped Knotweed. 102 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Grows in wet places, with arrow-shaped leaves, and an exceed- ingly rough stem, with teeth backwards. P. arifolium. L. Has a stem like the other, but larger and stouter, and with much larger leaves, less distinctly sagittate, and more halberd-shaped ; grows in wet places, and is often associated with P. Pennsylvanicwn, L., from which it is clearly separated, and yet resembles it. P. coccineum. Willd. Purple Knotweed. Named from the color of both the leaves and the dense spikes of flowers ; grows on the edges of ponds, with its long, smooth leaves, gracefully float- ing, greenish above, and purple or reddish below ; common about the ponds of Berkshire County, and also in the vicinity of Bos- ton ; blossoms in July. P. amphibium. L. Grows more out of the water than the last, and is eradicated with much difficulty from recovered lands. P. convolvulus. L. Bindweed or Bind-Knotweed. Alter- nate and heart-shaped leaves ; grows as a twining vine round other plants ; abundant in cultivated fields ; flowers unsightly. P. cilinode. Mx. Climbing Bindweed. Less common than the other, with deep, heart-shaped leaves, and climbing on and over other plants. P. scandens. L. Resembles Buckwheat in its flower and fruit, but climbs like the other. Some other species, P. articulatum, L., lapathifolium, L., mite, Pers., tenue, Mx., and Virginianum, L., are of still less consequence. P. fagopyrum. L. Buckwheat, or properly Beechwheat. So called from the close resemblance of its seeds to the seed of the Beech tree, or Fagus ; a native of Asia, partially naturahzed in England and this country. The lateness of the season for sowing this seed, viz. about July 4th, its rather prolific character, POLYGONE^. 103 the pleasantness of its flower as food for man, and its utility as a component of food for hogs, cattle, or horses, render it an im- portant vegetable. The flowers form a valuable source of honey for bees, though the honey is not so white, nor quite so pleasant, as that obtained from most other flowers. Another variety, re- quiring a longer time for ripening, is beginning to be introduced. P. orientale. L. Princess' Feather. Introduced from near Mount Ararat into Europe by Tournefort ; is a large and tall ex- otic, with large broad leaves, and flowers in long and flexuous and pendulous spikes of a bright-reddish color. Very handsome. It is said to be cultivated in the East for the medicinal quaUties of the seeds, as well as for its flowers. Loudon. RuMEx. L. 6. 3. About 6 species are found in the State, while only one is very abundant. The leaves have hgules or bands around their base. R. acetosella. L. Sorrel, or Field Sorrel. This well-known plant appears everywhere over the dry, sandy fields that are ne- glected or untilled, and also, after the grain is harvested, often in good soils showing its brownish flowers in great abundance, and to the great annoyance of the farmer. The leaves are very dis- tinctly of the form of the ancient spear. The plant contains oxalic acid. R. crispus. L. Dock. This, with 2 other kindred species, needs few remarks. The root of the yellow dock is often used in the preparation of salves and ointments. R. pallidus. Big. White Dock. This new species was first described by Dr. Bigelow. It occurs about salt marshes in the vicinity of Boston. The dock is used sometimes as a pot-herb. The whole num- ber of species is nearly 50, most of which are weeds, and have little value in the arts or for food. Three other species, acutus, L., Britannicus^ L., and ohtusifolius^ L., are found in the State. 104 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Rheum. L. 9. 3. Rhubarb. The name of the genus is from Rha, the ancient name of the Volga, on whose banks grows the rhubarb used in medicine. R. rhaponticum. Willd. Pie-Rhubarb. Shows its origin in the specific name ; a native of Thrace, and cultivated for orna- ment and for use. Its large, long, leaf-stalks, full of juicy acid, are often used to make tarts, at a time when the common ma- terials usually fail. R. palmatum. L. Rhubarb. Introduced from Asia, and rarely cultivated. The root, so important in medicine, and im- ported as Chinese, Russian, &c. Rhubarb, is cultivated on the southern declivities of the mountains of Tartary, towards Thibet, and in China. ORDER 158. NYCTAGINE.E. The Marvel Tribe. Called after the genus Jfyctago of the French, from the Greek drive and nighty because its flowers expand by night, and are closed much of the day. The plants are natives of the warmer parts of the world. MiRABiLis. L. 5. 1. Noonsleep, or Four o'clock. J\I. jalapa. L. From the West Indies, red, white, and yel- low flowered ; beautiful for gardens ; common. M. dichotoma. W. From Mexico, with sessile and solitary flowers. M. longiflora. W. From Mexico, with crowded, long . flowers, and somewhat villous leaves. The last two not so com- monly cultivated as the first, and yet handsome. The general property of the class is cathartic ; but most of the species have little beauty. CERATOPHYLLE^. 105 ORDER 163. PODOSTEME.E. Only one species is found in North America ; a few are found in South America, and the African Islands. Herbs with floating stems, and capillary or linear leaves irregularly divided, or minute and imbricated. Flowers small, naked, bursting through a spathe, monoecious, without cahx or corolla. PODOSTEMUM. L. 19. 2. P. ceratophyllum. Mx. Threadfoot. Grows on rocks in streams, with a filiform stem, and floating with its pinnate leaves and axillary flowers ; blossoms in July ; near Amherst. ORDER 164. CALLITRICHINEiE. One genus and 3 species make up this order in North America, and 2 of the 3 species are in Massachusetts. The relations of plants of this order are little understood. Callitriche. L. 1. 2. Water-Star. C. verna. Muhl. Named from the Greek, beautiful hair. It is a small plant. Stem floating, filiform, with small, lanceolate, opposite leaves, spatulate, and obovate, forming star-like tufts at the end of the stems ; fresh water ; blossoms in May to August. C. linearis^ Ph. Seems to be C. autumnalis, L., and differs little from the preceding, except in its more linear leaves ; grows in the same situations. ORDER 165. CERATOPHYLLE.E. Only 1 genus and 2 species known in North America. Like the preceding order, the relations- are scarcely made out, and the orders become isolated genera. Ceratophyllum. L. 19. 12. C. demersum. L. Hornwort. The name means horn-leaf, 14 106 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. and the fruit has 3 spines upon it. Stem long and slender, float- ing, with whorled leaves in eights ; flowers axillary, solitary, very minute ; found in ditches in Europe, and in similar places in Nantucket ; July. 2. Monopetalous Plants. We come now to a subdivision of the plants of this class, which is artificial, and yet very important in ascertaining the plants, and easily distinguishing them. The corolla is monopetalous, or the supposed divisions of the petals cohere into a tube. Only a few of the polypetalous corollas cohere at the base so as to be mono- petalous, and form exceptions to this arrangement. ORDER 173. PYROLACEiE. The Winter-Green Tribe. Calyx 5-leafed, inferior, and persistent, with an hypogynous corolla of one petal, regular, 4 or 5-toothed ; stamens hypogy- nous, double the number of the divisions of the corolla ; ovary superior, 4 or 5-celled, many-seeded ; style one, often declined towards one side ; stems round, scaly ; flowers in terminal ra- cemes, seldom solitary. The plants love the woods, and abound in the northern tem- perate zone. The species of this order seem to have no very distinguishing properties. Pyrola. L. 10. 1. Winter Green. A name considered as a diminutive of Pyrus, and the common name, from many of the species being evergreen. Astringent and tonic. The plants, though not very handsome, are singular and interesting ; 7 species are found in the State, and about 12 in North America. Calyx minute, 5-cleft, or 5-parted ; capsule 5-celled, and stigma 5-lobed. P. rotundifolia. L. Shin Leaf. A native of open woods in a light soil, bearing 2 or 3 roundish leaves at the base, and the PYROLACE^. 107 flowers near the summit of a stalk near a foot high ; flowers in July. The leaves are in popular use as a dressing for sores on the legs, as having one side drawing, and the other healing. P. secunda. L. One-sided Winter Green. Much smaller, and with flowers more 1 -sided, but much like the preceding ; grows in woods also ; July. P. maculata. L. Spotted Winter Green. A handsome plant, with variegated leaves ; woods ; July ; resembles the following. P. umbellata. L. Prince's Pine. In some sections of the country, this plant is known by the Indian name Pipsissaica, or Sipsissewa. A handsome evergreen, and, from the brightness of its leaves in the snows, has been called Chimaphila, or lover of lointer. Stem scarcely a foot high, with thick, leathery, wedge-form leaves along the lower half of the stem, the upper half ending in a few large, greenish-white, and purplish flowers, in a nodding co- rymb ; blossoms in July. Medicinal. Bigelovv's " Medical Botany." A decoction of the plant has been supposed to be a remedy for cancer. P. uniflora. L . Has a solitary white flower on a small short stem, with roundish leaves ; blossoms in July ; found near Salem, by Mr. Oakes, who has so successfully examined the botany of New England, and especially of this State. It is a native of Britain also, and said, by Sir J. E. Smith, to be "one of the most curious and elegant of British flowers." Loudon. P. asarifolia, Mx. Resembles P. rotundifolia^ but distinguish- ed from all the species by its large, leathery, reniform leaves. P. elliptica. Nutt. Seems to approach very near to P. ro- tundifolia, but possibly to be distinguished by its white and odo- rous flowers and rather elliptic leaves ; July ; dry woods. 108 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Several of the species are certainly but little removed from each other, if they are more than varieties. MONOTROPA. L. 10. 1. As the flowers mostly turn down, or are nodding, the plants are named from the Greek, to turn one icay. There is no green her- bage to them, but they are white, or yellowish, or rather light colored. J\I. unijlora. L. Tobacco Pipe ; the form of which, and color, it greatly resembles, though its stem is rather short, white, 4 inches high, with small, sessile, and white leaves or scales ; flowers single, large, commonly nodding ; shady woods ; June. Changes to a dark color in drying ; is a singular and handsome plant. tM. lanuginosa. Mx. Pine Sap. Resembles the preceding, but its flowers are along the stem, and several, and the stem, 4-6 inches long, is sometimes branched, and always scaly, and some- what hairy or woolly ; is enlarged under ground, and covered with scales, and its numerous radicles descend into the earth. By many the plant is considered a parasytic, deriving nourishment by its roots from the roots of other plants. ORDER 174. CAMPANULACE^. The Bell-Flower Tribe. This order has a 1 -leafed calyx united to the rudiment of the seed-vessel, and a 1-petalled corolla on the calyx, with as many stamens rising from the calyx as there are divisions of the corolla; ovary superior ; leaves commonly alternate ; plants yield a white milk. Belong chiefly to the northern parts of the earth ; beauty is their chief property. Campanula. L. 5. 1. Bell Flower. Named from the resemblance of the flower to a small bell. More than 110 species have been described, though only 3 appear in this State ; all yield beautiful flowers, grow in the borders of CAMPANULACEiE. 109 hedges and open woods, or in moist situations among grass and other plants. C. rotundifolia. L. Hair Bell, or Scotch Bell. A beautiful and slender plant, with fine blue flowers, and radical leaves, roundish ; woods ; June. As the stem leaves are long, linear, and give the plant the appeai'ance of flax, it is sometimes called Flax Bell. C. aparinoides. L. Prickly Bell. Has a slender and branch- ed stem, a foot high, with small white flowers ; June ; wet meadows. C. perfoliata. L. Clasping Bell Flower. Stem about a foot high, erect, and angular, with cordate, clasping leaves, and not perfoliate in fact ; flowers small, sessile, in the axils of the leaves. C. speculum. L. Garden Bell Flower. Has long been cultivated in gardens ; a large branching plant, bearing large, light-blue, and whitish flowers, and having large leaves ; it re- ceives its specific name from the resemblance of the flower, as you look into it, to a mirror or hand speculum, and hence called Venus' Looking Glass ; it is a splendid flower, and a native of southern Europe. C. medium. L. Common Bell Flower. Came into Eng- land from Germany in 1597, and thence to our country, under the name of Canterbury Bell ; is a very beautiful flower of differ- ent colors, commonly blue or white, single, and often double ; never can fail to be admired, while plants shall be cultivated ; is a plant very easy to be reared, and its flowers blossom for a long time. C. pyramidalis^ L., and some others, have been introduced, and are found in gardens. 110 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ORDER 175. LOBELIACE^. The Cardinal-Flower Tribe. Calyx superior, 5-lobed, or entire, with an irregular, 1-petalled corolla, 5-lobed, or 5-cleft ; stamens 5, inserted into the calyx ; ovary inferior, 1 - 3-celled ; leaves alternate. Acrid and dangerous plants, and some are very poisonous ; they abound within and near the tropics. Lobelia. L. 5. 1. Named in honor of Lobel of Lisle, physician and botanist to James the First of England. Nearly 100 species have been de- scribed ; about a dozen belong to North America, and 7 to this State ; only 3 to Europe. Stamens united into a tube towards the summit ; corolla ir- regular, cleft on the upper side towards the base. L. cardinalis. L. Cardinal Flower. Grows on the banks of streams in alluvial soil, and in alluvial meadows and low grounds, 2 or 3 feet high, leafy, and bearing a long spike of fine scarlet flowers, and hence its common name. It is a splendid plant when in flower, and is found over much of the United States ; it is easily cultivated in gardens, and forms a fine border flower. L. fulgens, W., and L. sphndens, W., both from Mexico, are the two other "grand ornaments of this genus." All are culti- vated in England, with more than 30 other species. Loudon. L. injlata. L. Indian Tobacco. The leaves contain a white, viscid juice of a very acrid taste, and very poisonous to the human system ; the plant operates as a violent emetic, and is the dangerous medicine of many who are called vegetable doctors, or botanic physicians. This species is spread extensively over the fields, and in waste grounds, varying much in height, and when over a foot high is much branched, bearing small, light-blue flowers ; the fruit-vessel enlarges, and becomes much inflated in maturity. CUCURBITACEiE. HI The driveling of horses which are pastured in August and September, is attributed to the noxious sahvating properties of this plant. L. pallida. Muhl. A common plant over fields, 1-2 feet high, slender, not branched, with quite small flowers, bluish, and the spatulate root-leaves early decaying ; June and July. L. Kalmii. L. i\.s tall as the last, but more slender ; entire leaves linear, and flowers on long foot-stalks ; fields ; much more rare than the others. L. Dortmanna. L. Common to Britain and this country ; stem a foot or more high, with pale-blue flowers, pendulous, and remotely racemed ; swamps and wet grounds ; July. L. syphilitica, L. From 1 to 3 feet high, and larger in pro- portion than the others, with sessile, ovate-lanceolate leaves, and large blue flowers on short pedicels ; swamps ; August and Sep- tember. If this plant ever had any special action upon the dis- ease after which it is named, and which is the manifest curse of divine providence upon the particular guilt of man, it appears long since to have been deprived of its influence. L. Nuttallii, R. and S., seems to occur in a few places, in swamps ; small, fihform, 2 feet high, with oblong-linear leaves. ORDER 181. CUCURBITACE^. The Gourd Tribe. Calyx 5-toothed, sometimes obsolete ; corolla with 5 divisions, scarcely distinguishable from the calyx, with strongly marked veins ; stamens 5, distinct, or cohering in 3 parcels ; stigma very thick ; ovary inferior, 1 -celled, and the fruit fleshy, succulent, showing the scar of the calyx, and having flat seeds ; stem suc- culent, climbing by means of tendrils or rooting by them ; leaves palmate, or with palmate ribs, succulent ; flowers white, red, yellow, usually diclinous, or with stamens and pistils in different flowers, sometimes monochnous. 112 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Many useful plants are in this order, some for food, some for medicine ; some are poisonous. Chiefly natives of the tropics. CUCURBITA. L. 19. 15. From a word that means a vessel, from the use to which the shell of the fruit of some species was anciently applied, as the gourd. The 13 species are chiefly of Indian and African origin ; none indigenous to this part of the country. C pepo. L. Pompion, or Pumpkin. From the Levant. C. ovifera. L. Egg Squash. From Astracan. C. verrucosa. L. Club Squash. From the Levant. C. melopepo, L. Flat Squash. From the Levant. C. lagenaria. L. Gourd, Calabash. From India. C. citrullus. L. Water Melon. From the South of Europe. Of most of these species, there are several varieties, differing in some character of importance. Of the Water Melon, some are large, and with large seeds, and of reddish or white color within ; others are small, and have small seeds, and some citron- like, and yet retaining their peculiarities with much constancy. Of the Squash, each kind has endless varieties ; and, unless they are cultivated separately, there can be no dependence upon the variety that may be hoped for from the seed. The Pompion, or Pumpkin, for so it is written in England as well as in the United States, is more certain, and the varieties are more permanent. The seven-year pumpkin is a great curiosity, for its unchanging nature ; I have seen one which appeared fully sound and unaltered, which was more than three years old, and had stood upon a shelf exposed to all the common changes of the air. The common pumpkin is the standard variety, and too useful to need remark. Its seeds are distinctly diuretic, and, in some de- gree, the fleshy part of the fruit. One variety grows to an enormous CUCURBITACEiE. 113 size ; and that from Ohio is remarkably sweet. In England the pumpkin is cultivated to considerable extent. " When the fruit is ripe, they cut a hole on one side, and having taken out the seeds, till the void space with sliced apples, adding a Httle sugar and spice, and then, having baked the whole, eat it with butter, under the name of pumpkin pie." Loudon. This English pie is very different from the pumpkin pie of New England, so necessary to Thanksgiving, that a Yankee, it is said, cannot be without it, and that in one town the good people actually post- poned the day of Thanksgiving till the needed molasses should arrive for its composition. Our pumpkin pie is likely to be a permanent manufacture and article of consumption in the season, and not to be displaced by any substitute. CucuMis. L. 19. 15. Has a similar derivation with the preceding genus, and its 17 species chiefly belong to the eastern continent. We are familiar only with 2 species, both natives of India. C. sativus. L. Cucumber. Too well known to need de- scription, and, by cultivation, now showing nearly a dozen varie- ties, half that number being common in the gardens. C. melo. L. Muskmelon. The reason of the English name is obvious to all who have tasted this fruit. The specific name is derived from the Greek word for apple, from the shape of some varieties of this melon, as that of C. colocynthis, which has the " size and color of the orange." One variety of the Muskmelon is commonly called canteleup, or, as often written, cantelope, a very delicious fruit. There are many varieties cultivated, as the yellow, long, netted, green, citron, nutmeg, egg, &,c. MOMORDICA. L. 19. 15. Has its name from the Latin to chew, from the chewed appear- ance of the seeds ; has about a dozen species, nearly all belong- ing to India. M. echinata. Muhl. Balsam Apple. Wild Cucumber. 1& 114 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Found on the banks of streams, on the Connecticut and Housa- tonic Rivers ; a cHmbing vine, with cordate, 5-lobed leaves, and tendrils ; fruit 2-4 inches long, thick, covered with prickles, echinate, and having 4 large, long, and thick seeds ; blossoms in August. SicYOs. L. 19. 15. One of the Greek names for Cucumber ; a few species further South. S. angulatus. L. Single-seeded Cucumber. Grows also on the banks of streams ; often cultivated, as it will run far, and form a dense and large arbor ; a climbing, small vine, with whitish flowers, and greenish ; bears several fruits in one cluster, each about an inch or more long, and containing one very large seed ; blooms from June to September ; leaves large, cordate, angu- lar, toothed. The powerful cathartic of the shops, known as Elaterium, is merely the inspissated juice of the fruit, known under the title of squirting cucumber^ JVI. elaterium, L., because the ripe fruit throws out its juice and seeds with much force ; this is a native of the South of Europe, and sometimes found in our more ex- tensive gardens. ORDER 182. PLANTAGINE^. The Rib-Grass Tribe. Only one genus in this order belongs to Massachusetts. The plants are commonly without a stem, that is, they have only a flower-stalk, their leaves are radical, and their flowers in a long spike. The calyx and corolla are distinct, the former being 4- leafed, and the latter 4-parted ; the flowers unattractive. Plantago. L. 4. 1. P. major. L. Common Plantain. One of the plants that seem to follow man in the temperate climes, so that where he rears a hut or tills the soil, it appears to cheer him on his way. The Indians called it the White Marl's Foot, Leaves somewhat PLUMBAGINE.^. 115 mucilaginous, and formerly used as an application to sores. Small birds feed on its seeds, and probably some insects. Com- mon over Europe ; introduced into the United States, and the following species also. P. lanceolata. L. Ribwort. Has long and narrow leaves, strongly nerved, with a short dense spike of flowers, and is usually taller than the other ; stem often near 2 feet high ; upland mead- ows and fields ; indigenous to Britain. P. maritima. L. Sea Plantain. Grows on salt marshes, with short fleshy leaves, very variable in length, as well as in abundance of flowers. Found along our coast ; but said to grow on mountains also in Europe ; indigenous to both continents. ORDER 183. PLUMBAGINE^. The Leadwort Tribe. Named from Plumbago, an important genus, which had the reputation anciently of curing a disease of the eyes called plum- bum ; but of the genus no species belongs to New England. The plants of the order have very opposite qualities ; a species of some importance is in this State. Statice. L. 5. 5. S. limonum. L. Marsh Rosemary. Grows in salt marshes ; rather showy, quite branching, full of small flowers ; radical leaves, shorter than the stem. The root yields an important astringent, and is much used by physicians ; Bigelow's " Medical Botany." About 30 species of Statice are cultivated in England, and are considered quite ornamental plants. The species just mentioned is indigenous to England as well as this country. Statice has its name from a Greek word, to stop, because it stops certain diseases. Loudon. 116 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ORDER 184. DIPSACEiE. The Scabious Tribe. In this order, the flowers form a head or tuft, aggregated into a mass more or less dense, and surrounded with calyx-Hke leaves, called an involucre, while the proper, inner calyx is connected with the germ, and bears the corolla inserted towards its top. DiPSACus. L. 4. 1. Teasel. Named from the Greek, to thirst, on account of the water, which is commonly found in the axils of the leaves, and which has been considered a cosmetic. Loudon. D. sylvestris. L. Wild Teasel. Grows 2 — 5 feet high, branching, bearing large terminal heads of flowers ; chaff stiff and straight, and leaves opposite, and nearly growing together at the base ; blossoms in July ; in light soil, in Sheffield, Berkshire County. Whoever has travelled on the Great Western Canal in midsummer to October, must have remarked the abundance of this plant along the banks of the canal west of Utica, for more than 100 miles. It is supposed that it was introduced from England. JD. fuUonum. L. Fuller's Teasel. Cultivated for the sake of the heads, which are used for raising the nap on cloth, by means of the hooked chaff of the mature head ; leaves opposite. The plant is usually a profitable culture. A native of Britain. ORDER 18G. COMPOSITE. The Compound Flowers. This is a natural and large assemblage of plants, having com- pound flowers, formed of many florets in one head or mass, and stands on a broad base or receptacle, surrounded by a leafy invo- lucre, and having the anthers of the 5 filaments united in a tube. Thistle, Dandelion, Mayweed, Burdock, are well known instan- ces. The calyx, if there is any, adheres to the seed, and often terminates upwards in a membrane, or chaff, bristle, horn, hair, or the like ; the corolla is simply tubular, or else ligulate or strap- like, long and flat, as in the Sunflower, or funnel-shaped, and, in COMPOSITE. 117 both these cases, notched or toothed ; ovary Inferior, with a single style usually forked into 2 stigmas ; florets often have chaffy, or scaly, or hairy bracts at their base, generally perfect and monocli- nous, but a few are diclinous ; leaves alternate or opposite, com- monly simple. Great numbers of this order occur in this State, and are spread over the world. In France and Germany, they form about one eighth of the flowering plants ; in North America one sixth, and between the tropics nearly one half. Humboldt. Many of this order have valuable properties, while a great proportion of them have not yet been applied to any useful purpose. Their flowers form much of the beauty of the later summer and autumn, and for this reason many are cultivated. The order is distinguished into 3 families or subdivisions, by Lindley, and variously subdivided by other authors. It may not be necessary for this survey, to follow any subdivisions. Arctium. L. 17. 1. •^. lappa. L. Burdock. A well-known plant in waste grounds, indigenous to Britain, whence it was introduced into this country. It has its name from the Greek, meaning a bear, on ac- count of its rough fruit, and its specific name from the Celtic, a hand, because its fruit lays hold of all that comes in contact with it. It is a dock-hke looking plant, and, from its burs, is appropri- ately called Burdock. Its leaves have been a common applica- tion among the people for draughts upon the feet, and the soften- ing of some tumors. Its leaves, soon after flowering, contain a large proportion of potash. Leontodon. L. 17. 1. L. taraxacum. L. Dandelion. Another common plant about houses, and over fields, introduced from Britain. The leaves are radical, and cut into segments or large teeth standing backwards like the teeth of the lion, whence its name, from the two Greek words of this signification ; the English name is a cor- ruption of the French, and has the same meaning. Used as a diuretic. The extract has obtained some reputation in medicine. In the spring, the herbage is often used for greens, as it is pleasant lis PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. and healthful. The expressed juice of the leaves is often drunk as a remedy in dyspepsia. 4 other species are found in Europe. Forms a very profitable crop near cities. Krigia. L. 17. 1. Dwarf Dandelion. K. Virginica. L. A small, humble plant, much resembling a neglected dandelion ; grows in fields and open woods ; blos- soms from May to August, with a scape often only 2-3 inches high. K. amplexicauKs. Nutt. Has a stem a foot high, divided into branches, and yet like a scape or radical flower-stalk ; flowers large, orange-yellow, terminating the branches ; has little interest ; blossoms in June. This is a North American genus, and was named after Dr. Krieg, a German botanist, who collected plants in this country. Apargia. W. 17. 1. , t^. autumnalis. W. False Hawkweed. Has single yellow flowers on a scape, with radical leaves, toothed or pinnatified ; resembles Dandelion ; a mere weed ; flowers from July to Sep- tember. Introduced from Europe, where about a dozen other species are found. CiCHORIUM. L. 17. 1. C. intybus. L. Succory. Endive. An elegant plant, 2 or 3 feet high, roughish, with large blue flowers, mostly in pairs along the stem ; roadsides and pastures ; July to September ; leaves runcinate. The blanched leaves are eaten as a winter-sallad. In France, it is said, the roots of one variety are dried and ground with coffee, to give it a more exquisite flavor. Loudon. C. endivia. L. The Endive of the English, brought from the East Indies ; cultivated for its blanched leaves ; much like Celery. COMPOSITE. 119 Lactuca. L. 17. 1. Lettuce. Three species indigenous to this State ; two, integrifolia, and sanguinea, Big., chiefly about Boston, and first described by Dr. Bigelow ; another, villosa, has also been found. L. elongata. Tall or Wild Lettuce. A large, strong plant, often 6 or more feet high, about fences in cultivated fields, with long and large runcinate leaves, clasping the stem. Totally dif- ferent from Fireiveed. In the gardens are cultivated several varieties of L. sativa, L., Common Lettuce. As a sallad, few plants compare with these varieties. As food, it is a rather soporiferous but healthful vege- table. The genus is named from the milky juice of the leaves, in which is contained some opium. Indeed, this drug, little inferior to the opium of the poppy, has been obtained in England and in this country by incisions in the plants. Cultivation lessens the quantity of the juice. L. elongata yields it in great quantity and perfection. About 20 species are indigenous to Britain, or cultivated there. Prenanthes. L. 17. 1. The name is derived from the Greek for drooping Jloicer, a common character of the species. 4 species, natives of this country, are found in this State ; con- tain a white juice, and resemble Wild Lettuce. P. alba. L. White Lettuce. About fields, 4-5 feet high. P. allissima. L. Tall, often 6 feet high, in woods. None of the species of any use in New England. P. cordata^ Ph., and P. virgata, Mx., are distinguished, the former by yellowish, the latter by pale-purple flowers. One species, P. serpentaria^ Ph., which grows in the Southern States, and is called Lion's Foot, is used for the cure of the bite of the rattlesnake ; it does not greatly differ from P. alba. 120 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. SONCHUS. L. 17. 1. Name derived from the Greek, for soft or hollow^ as the plants have a soft and feeble as well as hollow stem. Four species are found in the State. S. oleraceus. L. Sow Thistle. Grows in gardens and waste grounds about houses and barns ; about 3 feet high, smooth, brit- tle, easily crushed, with clasping leaves, runcinate, and with spiny teeth ; a late plant, flowers in August and September. Has prop- erties similar to Dandehon ; eaten by rabbits, but rejected by most animals ; odor unpleasant. Introduced from Britain. /S. leucophceus. L. A similar plant. S. acuminatus. W. Has small, numerous, blue flowers ; on low grounds, and rare ; August. S. Floridanus, W., is used as a remedy for the poison of the rattlesnake, and is called Gall of the Earth. Pursh. Tragopogon. W. 17. 1. T. porrifolium. W. Vegetable Oyster, or Goat's Beard. The genus is named from the Greek, for GoaVs Beard, on ac- count of the long, hairy beard of the seeds, and the species from the resemblance of the leaf of the young plant to that of the leek or onion ; introduced from England, and cultivated for its roots, which, prepared in certain modes, have the odor and flavor of the oyster. On the continent of Europe, the long tapering roots are used for food, like the parsnip. It is sown in the spring, and the roots are used in the following winter and spring ; blossoms the second season. The plants, from the self-sown seeds of August, blossom the next season. COMPOSITiE. 121 HiERAciUM. L. 17. 1. Hawkweed. Five species, H. venosum., L., Gronovii, L., Kalmii, L., maria- num, W., and paniculatum, W., are common in the borders of fields and woods, all natives of this country. The genus has about 80 species, of which nearly seven-tenths are indigenous to Europe, and one tenth to North America. Very few of them appear to have much of either utility or beauty. H. venosum. L. Stem 2 feet high, naked and branching, with long radical leaves, strongly marked with dark-red veins. It seems to have been a notion, that the hawk strengthened its vision by the juice of some of these plants ; hence the English name, and also the generic name from the Greek for a hawk. Loudon. LlATRIS. L. 17. 1. L. scariosa. W. Gay Feather. A splendid plant, when its long raceme is in full blossom ; flowers of a bright-blue, on a simple stem, with long leaves, narrowed at both ends ; blossoms in August ; Danvers. Cultivated in gardens for its beauty. L. spicata. W. Another beautiful species ; a cultivated but more rare plant ; flowers purple. This is an American genus of near 20 species, usually found in more southern latitudes. The origin of the generic name is not known ; the English name is truly characteristic. The spe- cies are considered an antidote for the bite of the rattlesnake, and L. scariosa is often called Rattlesnake's ^Master. Vernonia. L. 17. 1. An American genus of 10 species ; one in India. Named after William Vernon, who collected plants in America. V. JVoveboracensis. W. Flat Top. Stem 3-5 feet high, branching at the top, and the flowers spread out on branches, so as to be nearly flat and level, with numerous scabrous leaves ; flowers small and dark-purple ; wet places. 16 122 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Carduus. L. 17. 1. A numerous genus, from which a large number of species was separated under the generic name, Cnicus, by Willdenow. Both names are derived from words which mean points or prickles, as the plants are usually full of prickles or spears. Of more than 100 species, the far greater portion belong to Europe, about a dozen to North America, and 7 are found in Massachusetts. They are here ranked undjer Carduus, and have little beauty ; most are weeds, and some very troublesome. C. discolor, Muhl., and C. lanceolatus, W., are the Common Thistles of our fields, the latter being found in waste places and along fences, and much more abundant than the other ; its heads of flowers are rather smaller and with more tapering cones. The latter was introduced from Europe, but the former is a native of this country, and has been cultivated in some of the great gardens of England. C. glutinosus. Big. One of the handsomest species ; in damp, rich soils ; August, and biennial. Big. C. altissimus. W. Tall Thistle. Another native of this country, 6-10 feet high, not very rough ; meadows ; August. C. horridulus, Ph., and C. pumilus, Nutt., are found in the vicinity of Boston. Big. C. arvensis. L. Canada Thistle. From its being propa- gated from Canada southwards ; the common field thistle in Eu- rope, as well as Canada and the Northern States. Within the memory of men now living, this plant came into the northern part of Vermont and New York, and has since spread to the south part of New England and New York. In 1818 it had not been seen by Nuttall in Pennsylvania, and was not in the " Plants of Chester County, Pennsylvania," published by Dr. Darlington, in 1826. By some it has been supposed, that its seeds were wafted across the Atlantic from the North of Europe by winds. COMPOSITE. 123 but far more probably the seeds have been brought with other seeds, or in hay or straw. In Europe it is the same vexatious plant as in this country. It is propagated by its roots as well as by seeds. The roots extend many feet in depth, as well as far in a horizontal direction, and send out many runners. The only effectual eradication of the plant is cutting it down annually before it blossoms, till the vital energy of the roots is exhausted. Its course southwards is sure, and nothing but chmate will arrest its progress over the land. Its numerous seeds afford food to many smaller birds and animals. C. pectinatus. W. Comb-Thistle. With purple flowers, and comb-like pinnatifid leaves, without prickles, rarely cultivated in gardens. Onopordum. L. 17. 1. 0. acanthium. L. Cotton Thistle. As its leaves resemble those of Acanthus, its specific name was derived from it ; a native of Britain, not very extensively spread over this State ; stem 4-6 feet high, with broad, long, spinous leaves, sessile, running down the stem and forming wings to it, and being covered with a matted, cottony substance, giving a hoary appearance to the plant ; seeds large, and not blown about by the seed-down ; at Pittsfield and Lanesborough, in Berkshire County, as well as in the eastern part of the State. If it were not so rough, it would be a noble plant, as it is a curious one. Carthamus. L. 17. 1. Common Saffron. From the Arabic, to paint, on account of its coloring matter. C tinctorius. L. The common Saffron of the gardens, used by the Chinese for beautiful colors of their silks, and in parts of Europe for coloring soups and puddings, cakes and bread ; its flowers medicinal also ; native of Egypt. C. cceruleus. L. Blue Saffron. Is sometimes cultivated. EUPATORIUM. L. 17. 1. An extensive genus, of near 80 species, chiefly found in 124 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. America, and not one in Europe ; named from Eupator, king of Pontus, who first used an Asiatic species in medicine. 11 species are credited to this State, 6 of which are widely spread over it ; the others are not very common, and have not much interest. E. ovatum. Big. A new species ; a large and rough plant, 3-4 feet high ; in low grounds, at Sudbury. Big. E. perfoliatum. L. Thoroughwort. Boneset. A well- known plant in fields, with opposite leaves growing together at their base, or pierced by the stem, woolly. Its medicinal prop- erties render it a valuable plant. Bigelow's " Medical Botany." E. purpureum, L. and E. verticillatum, L., often called Queen of the Meadow, and Joe Pye Weed. Grow 3-5 feet high, with whorled leaves, both bearing level-topped corymbs of purple flowers, and on low grounds. The latter is the rougher plant, less purple on its stem, and with its stem less frequently hollow. A decoction of the roots is often used in the western part of the State as a remedy for the painful disease, the gravel ; said to have been recommended to the whites by an Indian of the name above. E. ageratoides. W. Rather elegant in its form, and delicate in its white flowers, beautifully corymbed ; about hedges, and in open woods, in rather moist grounds. Besides these, there are the E. aromaticum, L., teucrifolium^ L., hyssopifolium, L., sessili- folium, L., and maculatum^ L. MiKANIA. W. 17. 1. M. scandens. W. Climbing Thoroughwort. Named after Professor Mikan, of Prague. Loudon. Stem smooth, twining, with glabrous and opposite leaves on long petioles ; resembles the last genus ; in the middle and east- ern part of the State ; wet places ; flowers in August. Big. CONYZA. L. 17. 2. From the Greek, a gnat or Jiea, as it was thought to drive away COMPOSITE. 125 these insects ; the name in English and in French, is founded on the same tradition. It contains many species, spread over the world. C. camphorata. Muhl. Marsh Fleabane. Stem 20 inches high, with pubescent leaves, thick and erect, branching and bear- ing corymbs of purple flowers ; grows in the western part of the State, as well as on salt marshes. The bruised leaves have an aromatic, not pleasant odor. Gnaphalium. L. 17. 2. Cudweed. More than 100 species ; 10 found in this country, and 7 in this Commonwealth ; not of much consequence ; the name was an- ciently applied to a plant not certainly determined. G. margaritaceum. L. Life Everlasting. A common downy or woolly plant, over fallow fields, about 2 feet high, bearing many very white or pearly flowers, remaining through winter to spring. It has a slight odor, which is rather agreeable. The heads and some of the leaves are collected by the Shakers in Hancock to manufacture into mattresses, which are said to be pleasant and healthful. G. polycephalum. L. Wild Lavender. Sweet Life Ever- lasting. About the height of the other, and in similar situations, but is a greener plant, with many terminal flowers ; whole plant of a pleasant odor. G. decurrens. Ives. Strong-scented Everlasting. Much resembles the last, but its leaves are sessile, and running down the stem, downy on the under side ; odor too strong to be pleas- ant : woods and fields. G. plantagineum. L. Mouse-Ear Everlasting. Rises early in the spring from a few inches to a foot in height, and flowers for a long time ; an insignificant plant, in cold grounds, abundant. Three other species, G. uliginosmn, L., G. Germanicum, Sm., and G. purpureum, A., are less common, and of no importance. 126 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The first of these is a brownish, dirty, insignificant plant, low, and even prostrate in the dust, beside roads ; common every- where. Artemisia. L. 17. 2. Wormwood. Named perhaps after Artemisia, queen of Mausolus. Many species of the genus, chiefly on the eastern continent. Jl. abrotanum. L. Southernwood. An exotic of our gar- dens from the South of Europe, named from its supposed virtue in prolonging life, from the Greek, against mortality ; now con- sidered to possess feeble medicinal properties. A. absynthium. L. Garden Wormwood. Another well- known exotic from Europe ; its name is from the Greek, un- pleasant ; said to be tonic, antispasmodic, and anthelmintic ; also considered efficacious on wounds and bruises. Used to boil with clothes to take out stains and iron rust, probably from its contain- ing oxalic acid. Naturalized in many places. In New Ashford, Berkshire County, it fills the street for many rods, and a few years ago loads of it were cut and distilled for obtaining the oil of wormwood. It has compound hoary leaves. ^. vulgaris. L. Mugwort. A native of Britain, and not often cultivated. A. Canadensis. Mx. Wild Wormwood. A small plant, with a stem somewhat woody ; leaves of many segments, and numerous flowers. Found in the vicinity of Amherst College, and on the beach at Plumb Island. Anthemis. L. 17. 2. A. cotula. L. Mayweed. From the Greek for a ^otwcr ; a low plant, too common on the roadsides and about houses to need description ; has some medicinal virtues ; native of Britain. ^. nobilis. L. From Britain ; affords the common chamo- mile flowers. COMPOSITE. 127 Chrysanthemum. L. 17. 2. Is named from its yellow flowers ; many species ; some without yellow flowers. C leucanthemum. L. White Weed. Ox-Eye Daisy. The specific name is from its white flowers, so that the whole name means white-Jioioercd yellow-Jioicer. The English name well char- acterizes the appearance of the flower. A troublesome plant, spread over the fields and meadows of many portions of this State, to the great annoyance of the farmer, as it much diminishes the crop of grass, and is not itself much relished by cattle or horses. The only method to eradicate it is, early mowing before the seed is ripened, and, to be sure, as soon as it begins to blossom. In a few years, this course must greatly diminish it. A native of Britain. C. parthenium. L, Feverfew. An exotic from Europe, often found in gardens. C. coronarium. L. The common Chrysanthemum of gardens, affording beautiful flowers, a native of Sicily. In Europe C. Sinense, L., from China, is much cultivated as one of the most beautiful of autumnal flowers. It is also cul- tivated in this State. Achillea. L. 17. 2. Named from its fancied powerful properties, after Achilles, a physician. Of near 50 species, nearly all belong to Europe and the Levant. A. millefolium. L. Yarrow. Naturalized, and common by fences and in fields ; is a plant of little consequence. 3 or 4 species are found in North America. The leaves are simple, but greatly divided, so as to look like many ; hence the specific name. Jl. ptarmica,h., Goose Tongue, with leaves lanceolate, acumi- nate, and sharply serrate ; introduced ; has been found in Dan- vers, by Mr. Oakes. 128 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Tanacetum. L. 17. 2. Tansey. T. vulgare. L. Naturalized in many places. Its stalk and leaves make it a handsome plant, and its deep yellow corymbs of flowers increase its beauty. The variety crispum has more beauti- ful crisped or curled leaves. Aromatic and very bitter ; formerly used to make rum more palatable, though it is hoped it will no longer be abused, with mint, in forming intoxicating juleps. The plant is stimulant, carminative, and sudorific ; a native of Britain. Inula. L. 17. 2. A genus whose species is spread over the world ; 24 species are native or cultivated in England. /. helenium. L. Elecampane. A large plant, with long and wide leaves, and numerous flowers of yellow color, common by roadsides. The root is tonic and expectorant, and seems to operate favorably upon the lungs when affected by colds. It is said to have been the active ingredient in a quack medicine, which found an extensive sale a few years ago. It is sometimes given to horses, cut up and mingled with oats, to relieve the disease commonly called heaves. Inulin is a peculiar vegetable compound found in the root, to the action of which its medicinal power is attributed. Townsend recommends an electuary of the roots with sulphur and honey, as beneficial to diseased lungs. The officinal name, Enula campana, originated the vulgar name, Elecampane. Loudon. I. falcata. Ph. A low plant, woolly, with sessile, acute, spreading leaves, and very small, bright, yellow flowers ; in pine woods ; New Bedford and Nantucket. TUSSILAGO. L. 17. 2. From the Latin, to drive away cough, from its supposed efficacy in diseases of the lungs ; in modern times its medicinal virtues are not highly esteemed. T. farfara. W. Garden Colt's Foot. Named from the COMPOSIT.E. 129 resemblance of the leaf to the shape of the base of a colt's foot ; and, as the woolly leaves resemble those of a Poplar, called Far- farus, the specific name obtained. A single flower grows on a short, leafless, scaly stalk ; leaves radical, broad and large ; blos- soms early in the spring, before the leaves appear. A native of Britain, naturalized in many places. Expectorant ; its leaves were smoked in ancient times as a cure for diseases of the lungs. T. frigida. L. Wild Colt's Foot. Leaves triangular, heart-shaped, unequally toothed, and downy underneath ; produc- ing a corymb of white flowers, with a pale purplish disk ; has been found in the mountain woods in Massachusetts. Big. T. palmata. Ait. Has flowers in a corymb, with roundish, heart-shaped leaves, half 7-lobed, thick, downy beneath ; Sunder- land ; indigenous in North America. Bellis. L. 17. 2. Daisy. From a word meaning beautiful or pretty, and so true of the common daisy. B. perennis. L. A beautiful, white or purple-flowered plant, with leaves obovate and crenate ; a single flower on a scape ; partially naturalized in Pittsfield. Eaton. A native of Britain, of which there are several varieties. Tagetes. L. 17. 2. Named from Tages, a heathen, Tuscan divinity. T. erecta. W. African Marygold. Is from Mexico ; has pinnate leaves, an angled calyx, and yellow flowers. T. patula. W. French Marygold. Also from Mexico ; has pinnate leaves, a smooth calyx, and yellow flowers. Both are rather beautiful, and cultivated for their beauty ; chiefly an American genus. 17 130 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Zinnia. W. 17. 2. Named after John Godfrey Zinn, who published a catalogue of plants in the garden of Gottingen. Loudon. An American genus of 5 species. Z. violacea, W., and Z. verticillata, W. Blood Marygold. Beautiful plants from Mexico, introduced within a few years into our gardens. Starkea. W. 17. 2. Named after the Rev. Mr. Starke, a botanist of Silesia ; only one species, a native of the island of Jamaica. *S. umbellata. W. Lately introduced into flower-gardens, for its beauty. The leaves are opposite, nerved, and downy be- neath, and the flowers are in umbelliferous heads. Erigeron. L. 17. 2. Fleabane. From the Greek for spring and old man, because some species become old early in the season, which is not the fact with any of our species. About 50 species are spread over Europe and North and South America ; 7 are common in this State ; all weeds. As some species have a strong aromatic scent, which is always offensive to insects, and avoided by most of them, we see the origin of the English name. E. belli difolium. W. Plantain-leafed Fleabane. Stem 2-3 feet high, with purplish blue flowers ; though named daisy-leafed, it has little beauty of foliage compared with that plant. E. Canadense. L. An unsightly plant, 2-4 feet high, with small flowers, growing over the fields, with a strong, aromatic, offensive odor ; astringent, and used sometimes by farriers to stop the flowing of blood from wounded horses ; spreads rapidly on every side ; August. E. iniegrifolium. Big. Grows beside roads and woods, 2 COMPOSITiE. 131 feet high, slightly pubescent ; leaves lanceolate, nerved, entire, slightly clasping ; June to August. The other four species, heterophyllum, L., Philadelphicum, L., purpureum, L., and strigosum^ L., have little interest. Senecio. L. 17. 2. So called, like the last, for the early maturity of some of the species. Mostly mere weeds ; about 140 species spread over Europe and the adjoining countries, and the Cape of Good Hope ; about 14 species in this country, only 5 in this State, and 2 of them rather rare. r S. aureus, W., and /S. obovatus, W. Ragwort. Grow in wet places, 2-3 feet high, with yellow blossoms, rather showy. The decoction of these is sometimes successfully used for llie cure of the salt-rheum, by washing the eruption with it. S. vulgaris. L. Groundsel. Introduced from Europe ; emollient and resolvent, and used in Europe as a remedy for spitting of blood. Loudon. S. hieracifoUus. L. Fireweed. The well-known plant that springs up where a clearing is made in the forest by burning up logs and brush ; a large plant, with unsightly flowers, and large succulent leaves. In travelling the Great Canal, in the State of New York, you pass large neglected fields of half-cleared lands, which are overrun by this weed. Cultivation eradicates it with the greatest ease, although it appears to yield a multitude of seeds. The plant has a nauseous odor. /S. baIsamit(B. W. A small plant with radical leaves, oblong, serrate, petiolate, and the stem leaves lyrate or pinnatifid ; June, in dry pastures ; Stoneham. Big. Helenium. L. 17. 2. An American genus of few species ; named from a species of Inula, Elecampane, whose cosmetic properties the famous Helen is fabled to have used. 132 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. H. autumnale. L. Sneezevvort. False Sun Flower. Stem 2 feet high, branched, finely winged by the sessile leaves which run down the stem ; bright-yellow flowers nearly in a level co- rymb ; bitter ; fields ; August. Dahlia. L. 17. 2. Named after a pupil of Linnaeus, A. Dahl ; a genus from Mexi- co, of 3 species ; grows in sandy meadows ; is the most popular, perhaps, of all the autumnal flowers. D. superjlua. L. Cultivated in the greatest perfection by cuttings of the roots ; leaves and stem rather coarse, but the flowers are large, single and double, and of a great variety of color, endure long also ; the roots require to be preserved from the frost in a dry place, and early divided and planted ; grows in loamy soils. Aster. L. 17. 2. Star Flower. Both the names derived from the radiating, or star-like appear- ance of the compound corollas. A great many species, about 100, belong to the genus ; some are doubtless only varieties ; a great proportion of them belong to North America and the Cape of Good Hope, a few only to Europe ; 52 are credited by Beck to the Northern and Middle States ; 20 are described by Bigelow as in the vicinity of Boston ; and 31 are credited to this State in the " Geology of Massachusetts." They grow in all situations, along fences and hedges, in woods, on dry and wet soils, in valleys and on mountains. They are a great addition to the beauty of autumnal vegetation, as they grow in great profusion, have a fine green foliage, and bear a multitude of flowers, even to the coming of frosts that destroy all vegetation. They appear to delight in the cooler summers, and not to be hastened to matiu'ity in the hotter summers. Useful properties, as food, medicine, or for manufacture, have been discovered in very few of them. A. cyaneus. HofF. Blue Aster. A beautiful species ; stem 2 feet high, erect and smooth ; upper part branching, and bearing separate, blue or purplish flowers ; leaves long, sessile, clasping, COMPOSITE. 133 rather narrower towards the base. Edges of fields and woods ; August. Jl. imniceus. L. Purple Aster. Stem often reddish, not straight, and rather angular, 2-3 feet high, with long leaves taper- ing to both ends, and slightly clasping, bearing its large and beau- tiful blue flowers on the ends and sides of the branches, hairy and rough. Fields and woods in rather wet soils ; September. A fine species. A. prenanthoides. W. Much like the last ; flowers about equal, but whitish-blue ; leaves shaped like a spatula, or wider in the middle, and tapering to both ends, but more towards the stem, clasping ; less rough than the preceding, but in hke situations ; September. A. acuminafus. Mx. Sharp-leaved Aster. Stem a foot or more high, simple, erect, flexuous, angular, with broad leaves tapering long towards the base, towards the upper side toothed, and fully acuminate at the end ; flowers in a panicle, rather spreading, middle-sized, white in the rays ; on mountains ; Au- gust to October. Very different from the preceding. A. linarifolius. W. Flax-leafed Aster. Stem about a foot high, stiff, roughish, decumbent, covered with long, stiff, narrow leaves, that give the plant a flax-like appearance at a little distance, and bearing a (e\v single, purplish flowers, on short foot-stalks ; open woods, on hills and high plains in light soils ; blossoms in September and October. It is altogether a curious-looking plant ; flowers with white rays of a middle size. A. diffusus. Ait. Branched Star Flower. A very branch- ing and spreading plant, 1-2 feet high, unsightly, bearing a multi- tude of small white flowers ; September ; in woods and by road- sides, on hills. A. conyzoides. W. Resembles some species of Conyza ; 134 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1-2 feet high, branching considerably, more leafy below ; flowers smallish, white, with the scales of the calyx yellowish, and finely green on their tips, giving a variegated appearance to the flower ; in clearings and by fences ; July. A. cordif alius. L. Heart-shape-leafed Star Flower. Stem often 2 feet or more high, erect, branching, rather smooth, with deeply heart-shaped leaves, acutely toothed, and on rather long- winged leaf-stalks, especially on the lower part of the plant, and bearing numerous whitish-purple flowers ; open woods, in light, dry soils ; September. A fine species. t^. corymbosus. Ait. Closely allied to the preceding, and equally handsome, with heart-form leaves below, and ovate above, and many whitish-blue flowers in corymbs ; woods ; July. w3. macrophyllus, Ait., and ^. paniculatus, Ait. Nearly re- lated to the two preceding, but clearly different ; grow in similar situations, and flower in September and October. <^. Tradescanti. W. Stem 4-6 feet high, erect, smooth, with long, narrow leaves, tapering to the base and sessile, branch- ing at the summit, and full of purplish-white flowers. Grows beside fences in wet situations, and is an elegant species with middle-sized flowers ; September. •^. recurvatus. W. Seems to be only a variety of this, form- ing a tall, bending, or arched stem, with wider leaves ; in similar situations. A. J^ovce-JlnglicB. L. New England Aster. The most beautiful of our species ; erect, 2 — 5 feet high, branching, leafy ; leaves lanceolate, sessile, and slightly lobed or auriculate at the base ; flowers numerous, terminal, nearly level-top-corymbed, deep purple, larger than the common size ; fields, in moist or dry soils, and beside fences ; August to October ; the plant has a fine aromatic odor. Used by Dr. O. Partridge of Stockbridge, with gratifying sue- COMPOSITE. 135 cess, in the cure of the salt-rheum. It was prescribed originally by an Indian, and called by the people, bee-Jlouer, because it is in September so sought for by the honey-bee. It is easily culti- vated in gardens, and has great beauty. ^. phlogifolius. L. A fine species, 2 feet high, with some- what glaucous leaves, and red or flame-colored petals, whence its name ; woods ; August to November. *5. diver sifolius. Mx. Resembles the preceding species, but is distinct from it ; in similar situations. Jl. amplexicmdis. Mx. Differs a little from the two preceding. A. subulatus. Mx. A smooth plant ; stem 2-3 feet high, with spreading branches, and small purplish flowers ; leaves linear- subulate, acute ; salt marshes ; August to November ; Marsh- field and Boston. *^. spectabilis. Ait. Named for its beauty, though it is inferior to several ; stem 2 feet high, bearing large blue flowers in a co- rymb ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, clasping, and rougbish ; swamps ; August and September. In the vicinity of New Bedford. A. muUiflorus. W. Stem 2-3 feet high, diflAisely branched, pubescent, with crowded flowers in terminal racemes ; branches horizontal ; leaves linear, entire, smoothish ; fields ; August. A. miser. L. Nearly allied to the last, but is a poorer look- ing plant, as if neglected ; small flowers. The variety, A. diver- genSj is a very common, but ill-looking plant. Several other species, A. amygdalinus, Mx., cornifolius, Muhl., dumosus, L., ericoides, W., Icevis, Willd., muta'Alis^ W., J\^ovi- Belgii, L., rigidus, W., salictfolius, W., solidagineus, Mx., iim- bellatus, Ait., and doubtless others, are of equal consequence with many already mentioned. A. Chinensis. L. The China Aster of gardens. Remai'ka- 136 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ble for its large and double flowers of many colors ; by cultivation greatly improved in the last fifteen years. Several of our native species, are now found a valuable addition in gardens ; their flowers will probably increase in size and beauty. In England, more than 100 species are native or cultivated ; and 75 species from North America have been introduced and propagated, in the zeal of the florists and botanists to be familiar with living plants. The native plants pass in England under the name of Christmas daisies, on account of the lateness of their blossoms, and are not esteemed very ornamental. Loudon. SoLiDAGO. L. 17. 2. Golden Rod. From its healing power over wounds, its name is taken from a Latin word, to unite. The genus has about 50 species, nearly four fifths of which belong to North America. All have yellow flowers except one, but are of very little beauty. They give variety to autumnal vegetation, but are coarse plants, and do not well bear inspection in detail. Twenty species are ascribed to this State. A part bear erect flowers, and another part have their flowers in one-sided panicles. Forty-three species from North America are cultivated in England. S. odora. Ait. Sweet-scented Golden Rod. Stem 2-3 feet high, pubescent above, with long and narrow leaves, sessile ; flowers numerous on many branches. An aromatic oil gives to the plant a pleasant odor ; this is sometimes distilled from it. I have not noticed this species in the western part of this State. Medicinal ; Bigelow's " Medical Botany." S. altissima. L. A tall, large, erect, stiff, hairy plant, cover- ed with long, sessile leaves, and with a large, branching top of one-sided yellow flowers ; August ; hedges and fields. /S. Canadensis. L. Has a downy stem and lanceolate leaves, broader than the last, and rough, with a large, branched top of one-sided flowers ; stem 2-5 feet high ; August. COMPOSITE. 137 "a. L. 2. 1. Duck-weed. Duck-meat. Stamens 2, near the pistil ; utricle 1 - 5-seeded ; floating. L. minor. L. Leaves 2 or 3, scale-like, entire, small, smooth, with a single undivided fibre or root passing into the water but not into the earth. Often covers many rods of ponds. L. polyrhiza. L. Water Flax-seed. Often mixed with the other ; rather larger, firmer union of leaves, which send out several fibrous roots ; abundant. L. trisulca. L. Floating like the others ; leaves half an inch long, thin, mostly pellucid, with a single root on the under side, sending out a stem from a slit in the leaf, and thus producing another leaf, and proliferous in this manner, and appearing like leaves strung along or attached to a filamentose stem. All these species of Lemna, originating in seed, are propagated by leaves produced from leaves already formed ; flowers very minute, very rarely seen, appearing in spathe-like openings in the side of the leaves ; a very curious genus of plants, but of little known use. GLUMACEiE. 227 TRIBE II. GLUMACEiE, (Or plants bearing glumes or chaff.) By Linnaeus the chaff of the glumiferous plants was considered as the calyx, or corolla, or both, because it corresponded in place to these organs in other plants. Although these organs are associated with the other common parts of the flower, they are not now considered as the same, but as bracts, imbricated or lying over each other. We are familiar with these glumaceous organs in the chaff of rye, wheat, oats, barley, &c. These glumiferous plants are disposed in two orders ; 1. ihe Gramine^, or Proper Grasses, and 2. the Cyperoide^e, or Sedge Grasses. By the common observer, both are blended under the general name of the Grasses. In both these orders, the essential organs of fructification are, generally, found in each flower, though these organs are occasion- ally on different plants, or dificrent parts of the same plant. Among the Sedge Grasses, the genus Carex, of which more than 160 species have been found in North America, never has the stamens and pistils, the essential organs, situated in one flower, but the plants are moncecious or dioecious. The Proper Grasses have cylindrical or hollow stems, with a large portion of silex deposited in the outer coat of the stem, as in wheat, rye, reed, cane, &c. The stems are sometimes so sihceous as to strike fire with steel. Their seeds contain a large quantity of farinaceous matter, which renders them nutritious as the food of man and of various animals. That the seed of wheat, rye, rice, &c., are so exclusively used for food, is because those seeds are larger, and the plants are more readily cultivated, and yield a greater quantity of seed to the same space of land, and not because others do not contain farina to the same extent. In the Sedge Grasses, the stems are not fistular or hollow, as in the others, but are angulai", solid, or with a pith extending through them. The seeds, too, are mostly destitute of the farinaceous nutriment found in the other order of the glume plants. The Sedges, though many species are eaten by cattle as fodder, are not relished by them except in their young state, and are 228 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. even then neglected for the more common kinds of the Proper Grasses. The Proper Grasses are arranged in about 80 genera, and form near 340 species. The Sedge Grasses are in 14 genera, and more than 250 species. Both orders are most extensively dif- fused from the equator to the limits of perpetual snow, on hills and mountains and valleys, in woods and ditches, and ponds and open fields, and sands and marshes of the seashore. The Proper Grasses are more abundant in the temperate and northern regions, while the Sedges become more abundant as we approach the trop- ics, and within the tropics. Of the latter, too, the Carices and Scirpi, which are numerous at the North, become less abundant towards the equator. The species of both orders in North America are nearly 600. This wide diffusion of the plants, which are of the last importance to man and beast, cannot be con- templated without a direct reference of the mind to the munificent goodness of the great Creator. Of the most important grasses, some are known to have been introduced from the eastern continent, and many more are supposed to have been so, while others were found originally in this country. Thus, rice was introduced from Asia, and the sugar-cane from India, while Zea, our Indian corn or maize, is a native of America. The grasses may be considered, 1. As food for man. Rice, maize, wheat, rye, barley, and oats, are the principal articles of food over five districts of the earth, from south to north. In the torrid zone, rice and maize are great sources of food. Their cultivation extends into the temperate zone, where wheat is associated with them. At length rice disappears, and the wheat prevails associated with maize ; and more to the north, rye pre- sents itself. Wheat and maize chiefly disappear in higher latitudes, and rye prevails, attended by barley and oats, till the latter forms the chief article for bread. In Russian America, at latitude 57°, rye and barley are ripened ; while on the east side of the con- tinent they do not grow in so high a latitude. In Sweden and Norway, Scotland and Siberia, oats and barley are cultivated far- thest to the north. More inhabitants are supported on the globe by rice, than by GLUMACE^. 229 any other vegetable, and perhaps as many as by most of the others together. The range of latitude through which rice is found, is considerably less than that of maize. With very few exceptions, the seed of the proper grasses, so far as is known, is healthful. A very troublesome weed in Eng- land, a grass, Lolium temuhntum., and one or two species of Bromus, are said to have poisonous seed. Various other grasses merit a moment's notice. Millet is cultivated for its seed in Europe, and Eleusine coracana, on the Coromandel coast. Sugar, and its kindred articles, are obtained from the grass Saccharum. Others also contain much sugar, as one species of Holcus ; and, by fermentation of the seeds of several grasses, much sugar is developed. Some grasses are finely aromatic, as Sweet Vernal Grass, and Holcus odoratus, both which contain benzoic acid, which exhales from them ; also Cyperus odoratns. In adverting to the use of the grasses for the food of man, it should be remarked, that the Potato, Buckwheat, Yams, Mani- hot. Batatas, Bananas, Breadfruit, several Palms, and some es- culent species of Arum, by means of which so many millions are supported, belong to other orders of the vegetable kingdom. The same remark should be made in respect to Pea, Bean, Cab- bage and Turnip, Pumpkin and Squash, and various other plants. 2. The use of the grasses in the arts and conveniences of living. The broom-corn has become an article of necessity. The Arundo arenaria^ and Carex arenaria, are of great use by their roots, in making firm the sandy shore of the sea, and the former is often wrought into ropes, threads, mats, bags, and lately into paper in this State. Every form of straw hat, from the finest Leghorn, and its equally fine imitation from the other grasses, to the coarsest kind, reminds us of this delicate use of the straw^ of rye, wheat, red-top, &c. The papyrus of the Egyptians, was from a sedge grass, Cyperus papyrus^ L. Several of the grasses are used in the manufacture of chairs and mats, for wicks of can- dles, for the stuffing of sofas, and the like. The starch of wheat, and the gluten of rye and wheat, as paste, are of great conse- quence in several arts. 230 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS.^ 3. Food for animals, domestic animals only. The use, too, of the herbage, not of the seed, is here to be considered, in re- spect to cattle, horses, sheep, &c., or as pasturage and hay. The cultivated grasses are chiefly employed for this purpose. The two varieties of red clover, the species of white, as well as Russia clover. Lucerne, &c., belong to other orders. In our fields are chiefly cultivated several kinds of Poa, Agrostis, or red and white top, Phleum or Timothy grass, Alopecurus or true Fox-tail grass, in small quantity, Festuca, Aira, Panicum, Cinna, 'Wild Oats and Wild Rye, Briza, DactyUs or Orchard grass, Andropogon, several species of Cyperus, and 10 — 30 species of Carex, found in most large meadows. On the salt marshes are various kinds of coarse grass, among which a species of reed- grass is prominent. In the Southern States are many species of Cyperus, and of Andropogon or Broom-grass, the latter being widely spread over the low country, and giving the dry and life- less appearance of an arid soil in winter. 4. In respect to the beauty the grasses give to fields and woods. While the useful is the most important, the pleasing is not to be ne- glected. If, then, we cast our eyes over the waving fields of sum- mer, it is the multitude of the grasses which delights us. Though the flow^ers of the grasses present no attractions, yet, associated as they are with the very support and comforts of life, no splen- dor of flowers of the other orders would long be compared with the beauty of the fields, which wave in the winds their rich treas- ures, for the support of *' the cattle on a thousand hills," and of "man, who goeth forth to his work till the evening," the lord of all these lower works. In the tropical regions, some of the grasses reach a great mag- nitude, as some of the reeds are 50-60 feet high, and 6 or S inches in diameter. Like the tree-ferns of the same region, these are tree-grasses. The leaves are more expanded also, and the appearance more like that of some other orders, and the flowers become larger and more beautiful. In and near the torrid zone, the grasses grow more as separate individuals, and the number is proportionably less. The thick, dense, grassy turf, which cov- ers the Northern and Middle States, disappears at the South. AVhat is gained in the magnitude of the grasses, is lost in the GRAMINEiE. 231 beauty of the green that covers the earth at the North as a splen- did carpet. The difference between the grass fields of the North and South, in this respect, is very great, and vastly in favor of the beauty of the North. The beautiful meadows of Europe are far more common in the middle and northerly part, than in the south of it. In either of the continents, this is counteracted in part by elevation, as the higher districts of more Southern climes resemble the less elevated regions at the North. The rich ver- dure of the grass fields, the green turf of New England, is un- known in the West Indies, although their vegetation is more luxuriant. The inhabitants talk, indeed, of the green of their fields with all propriety ; but it bears no comparison with the rich grassy carpet of the North. The beauty of the Western prairies requires only an allusion, for us to connect it with the endless variety and multitude of the grasses, as well as other plants. In our forests, these grasses form the beauty of the ground- work, as they spring up in abundance on all the open spots, on the sides of sunny hills, beside the running streams, and around and over the marshes, and wherever the underwood has been by any means removed. On the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and through the forests watered by the great rivers of the North, around Hudson's Bay and the Great Lakes, and to the very sum- mits and snows of the Rocky Mountains, the enterprising ex- plorers have found the grasses, spreading over the face of nature their usefulness and beauty. About one fourteenth of all the flowering plants are grasses ; so profusely has the beneficent Author of nature provided for the wants and pleasure of man. ORDER 261. GRAMINE^. The Grass Tribe. Stamens and pistils commonly in the same flower, enclosed by imbricated bracts ; exterior bracts or glumes commonly 2, and unequal, alternate ; next interior bracts, or paleae, the corolla of Linnaeus, 2, alternate, the down simple ; the inmost bracts or scales, at the base of the simple ovary, 2, or 3, or none, distinct or united ; stamens 1 -6, usually 3 ; styles 1 - 3, usually 2, with 232 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. feathery stigmas ; stem or culm cylindrical, hollow, except at the joints ; leaves alternate, with a divided or split sheath. Of the plants of this order, 121 species, under 46 genera, are credited to Massachusetts in the "Geology" of the State, by Professor Hitchcock. These are more than one third of all the grasses then known to be growing in North America. The origi- nal genera of the grasses have been greatly cut up and divided, partly from a more careful examination of the characters and habits of the plants, and in part from imaginary, or unessential, or artificial characters. The species credited to this State are correct, and few published additions have been made to them. Many of the cultivated grasses, however, were not introduced into the Catalogue in the " Geology." Agrostis. L. 3. 2. Bent-grass. Glume naked, 2-valved, 1 -flowered, with the valves longer than the 2 membranous paleje or interior chaff, which enclose a single seed. Named from the Greek for field, and hence applied by the Greeks to most grasses, on account of the place of growth. ./3. vulgaris. L. The well-known Red-top. ^. alba. L. The White-top Grass. This and the preceding have been introduced from Europe ; but the former is spread over hill and dale, in pastures and meadows, being one of those most extensively diffused. The fine green sward or turf of New Eng- land, is greatly composed of this grass, as it forms the beautiful green carpet spread in spring and autumn over the alluvial meadows. The White-top is far less abundant than the other. Both are to be added to the 10 species in the " Geology." The former grows with great closeness, so that it yields a large swath in the meadows, though it is not a tall grass. It throws out abun- dance of leaves from the roots and along the lower part of the culm, and forms an excellent hay for cattle, but is too fine a grass for horses. It is often called English Grass. The Fiorin Grass, so highly commended in Ireland, seems to be only a variety of Jl. alba. In England, it has not succeeded GRAMINE^. 233 according to the expectations excited by its praises. Indeed, Jl. vulgaris does not appear to be a grass so highly valued in Eng- land as in this country. The 10 species of the " Geology," are far less abundant than these 2, which are valuable for pasturage. Agrostis stolonifera, Fiorin Grass, is recently introduced. ,^. polymorpha. Huds. Fiorin Grass. A variety of A. alba, and the same as Jl. decumbens, Muhl., according to Torrey. A. lateriflora. Mx. Grows 2 feet high or more, with swel- ling knots or joints, branching, with lateral and terminal panicles of rather dense flowers. ^. sobolifera, Muhl., which is much like the preceding, is probably to be added as one of our grasses about fields and borders. A. longifolia. Torrey. Is 2 - 4 feet high, erect, simple, with leaves often 2 feet long, tapering into a fine extremity ; sheath smooth ; panicle terminal and lateral, with compressed flowers. Deerfield. A. sylvatica. Torrey. Is 2-3 feet high, erect, branched and difiuse, with a slender filiform panicle ; glumes shorter than the paleae, with awns longer than the flower. Hills of Berkshire County. While it resembles A. lateriflora., and is A. diffusa, Muhl., it is chiefly to be noticed for its spreading branches. The other species are Jl. canina, W., clandestina, Spreng., tenuiflora, Willd., Virginica, L, PoLYPOGON. Des. 3. 2. Taken from Agrostis, and named from the Greek for many beards ; as the glumes and the lower paleae terminate in a bristle. P. glomeratus. W. Has an erect, compressed stem, and close or not spreading branches, and a panicle, dense, inter- rupted, and conglomerated ; bog meadows ; August and Sep- tember. 30 234 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Trichodium. Mx. 3. 2. From the Greek for a hair, on account of the smallness of the stem. Glume 2-valved, larger than the single palea ; stigma near- ly sessile. T. laxiflorum. Mx. Tickle -grass. Spread on dry and rather poor pastures ; often 2 feet high, slender, leafy towards the base, and dividing into very slender and leafless branches ; May ; June. Should be kept down by feeding, as its stem otherwise becomes too wiry for cattle to eat ; forms a hand- some turf ; July. T. scabrum. Muhl. A foot or more high, often geniculate, or bent like a knee at the joints ; branched, and quite diffuse in its panicle ; glume serrated and rough on the keel ; dry woods ; August ; not abundant. Agrostis scabra, Willd. AiRA. L. 3. 2. .i3. fiexuosa. L. Hair-grass. The only species now belong- ing to the genus ; an erect, elegant grass, as it stands waving in the air ; not abundant, grows in tufts in the valleys and on hills. On the east side of Saddle Mountain, at an elevation of more than 2000 feet above the base, it grows in large tufts. It is too hard a grass to be useful as food for cattle, except when young ; June. Trisetum. Pers. 3. 2. Taken from Aira, and named from the 3 awns or beards of the palea, 2 at the tip, and 1 from the middle of the back ; the glume includes 3-5 flowers, and is as long as they are. T. palustre. Tor. Grows in wet meadows, and has a con- tracted, nodding panicle ; June ; rather rare. T. purpurascens. Torrey. Grows in mountain meadows, 2 feet high, leafy, somewhat branched ; leaves narrow ; not abuu' dant. GRAMINE^. 235 Uralepsis. Nutt. 3. 2. U. aristulata. Nutt. Taken also from Aira. Glumes 2, shorter than the florets, including 2-3 flowers; paleae 2, very- unequal, villous on the margins ; florets standing on short stems in the glumes ; panicle simple. The culms are cespitose or growing in dense clusters, with axillary and terminal panicles, scarcely extending beyond the sheaths ; sea-coast, and sandy fields ; New Bedford ; August. The plant secretes a viscid, sour matter, of strong taste. Torrey. KcELERiA. Pers. 3. 2. Glume 2-3-flowered, 2-valved, beardless ; valves shorter than the lowest floret ; paleas 2 ; spikelets compressed. Named after Professor Koehler of Mayence, a writer on the Grasses ; rather handsome plants. Loudon. K. Pennsylvanica. DC. Grows in rocky woods, 2 feet high, with a long panicle, flat leaves, and soft, pubescent sheaths ; May and June. K. truncata. Tor. Is 2 feet high, slender, with a branching panicle, loose ; paleae smooth ; dry woods ; June. Var. major. Tor. Has a large spreading panicle, and broad- linear, long leaves. Both species taken from Aira, and not very abundant. Alopecurus. L. 3. 2. Fox-tail Grass. Named from the Greek for fox and tail, from the resemblance of its spike of flowers to the tail of that animal. The common Timothy Grass has a similar appearance, and is often so called, though its spike does not so much resemble the tail of a fox ; and it is a very different plant, and should not trespass on the appro- priate name of this plant. Only 3 species of Alopecurus are known in this country ; j3. pratensis^ L., Meadow Fox-tail Grass, is found in rather more wet situations than ^i. geniculatus, L. ; both are somewhat pro- cumbent. .5. aristulatusj Mx., has very short awns ; grows near Boston. They afford good food for cattle. 236 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Phleum. L. 3. 2. P. pratense. L. Timothy Grass. Called by the English Cat's-tail Grass, after the name of an unknown Greek plant, and Timothy, after Timothy Hanson, says Loudon, who carried it to England from New York in 1780. Indigenous to this country; it has become a very important grass for culture, yielding a great abundance of food for the cropping of horses and cattle till the stalks rise, and then a great amount of hay ; excellent, especially for horses. As a grass, it contains much nutriment, and is well known, and not too highly valued. Phalaris. L. 3. 2. Said to be derived from the Greek for brilliant, on account of its shining seeds. P. arundinacea. L. Ribbon-grass. Beautiful in its varie- gated striped leaves, of which there is an endless variety, so that no two leaves have been found ahke. A native of Britain. P. Americana. Ell. Much resembles the preceding, grows in wet situations, 3-5 feet high, in large cespitose aggregations, often covering many square yards. Too hard a grass for food, except when young. Scarcely difiers from the preceding except in the color of the leaves. P. canariensis. Canary Grass. From Britain ; cultivated, as the Canary bird is very fond of its seed. It is a handsome grass in the gardens. Anthoxanthum. L. 3. 2. A. odoratum. L. Sweet Vernal Grass. A common, but not abundant grass in meadows and fields, growing in small tufts, very pleasant in odor from the Benzoic acid in it. Cut in its young state, it makes tolerable hay. Supposed to be introduced from Britain, and named from the Greek for yellow Jlower, from the color of the spikes ; flowers in June. One species is found in Morocco, and another in Spain. GRAMINEiE. 237 AvENA. L. 3. 2. Oat. Origin of the name uncertain ; perhaps from the Cehic, to eat. Loudon. A. saliva. L. The common Oat, so valuable for food for horses and other animals, and forming the material for bread among so many people in the North of Europe, and for some other preparations for food. " Fourteen pounds of grain yield eight pounds of meal." Loudon. Several varieties are culti- vated. One, whose flower-stalks are less diffuse, and somewhat twisted, bearing a greener colored fruit, is thought to yield very abundantly. In Europe some other species are cultivated as food for horses. ^. sterilis. L. Animal Oat. Cultivated in gardens as a curiosity, as its spikes with their long awns are sensitive to changes in the moisture of the air. Placed in the hand, they creep about, having a remote resemblance to some animal. From Barbary, and quite singular in this hygrometric property. A. jiavescens. L. Yellow Oat Grass. Recently introduced. A. mollis. Mx. Wild Oat. A small grass of no con- siderable importance, found in open woods, and along hedges ; flowers in June. Danthonia. DC. 3. 2. D. spicata. DC. Wild Oats. Named after the French botanist, Danthoine. Loudon. Taken from Avena ; is common in pastures and open woods, a foot high or more ; has some resem- blance to the common Oat, though its flowers are much more compact ; eaten well by cattle, but commonly grows rather sparsely. Arrhenatherum. p. de B. Tall Oat-Grass. A. avenaceum. P. de B. A tall grass, introduced from Europe, and natui-ahzed in some places. Big. Taken from Avena. 238 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. A. Pennsylvanicum. Tor. Grows in the same situations as Danthonia, in Berkshire County. These grasses are not of great consequence. CiNNA. L. 3. 2. C. arundinacea. L. Reedy Grass. Named from the Greek to burn or heat^ from supposed effects of a plant upon cattle. Loudon. This is a slender, delicate grass, erect, lax, with lax branches of flowers, in moist woods ; appears to be sought for by cattle ; common, but not abundant ; June. Arundo. L. 3. 2. Reed Grass. Derived, perhaps, from the Celtic for water. Loudon. Glume 2-valved, beardless, unequal, naked ; paleae membranous, 2, with bristles at the' base, lower one mucronate ; flowers in spikelets. A. Canadensis. Mx. Widely spread over wet grounds in this State ; larger than the last ; 3-5 feet high, erect, stiff; in its young state eaten by cattle. A. coarctata. Tor. Grows about salt marshes. A. phragmites. L. Common Reed. The specific name is from the Greek for hedge or separation (Loudon), probably from the use of it ; common to Europe and this country. Grows about ponds and in marshes, 6-10 feet high, large, with broad and long leaves, and with a large, spreading panicle of flowers and fruit, so as to resemble Indian corn at a distance. In Brazil, the reeds grow from 30 — 60 feet high. The common Cane fishing-pole, imported from France, Spain, Italy, &c., where it grows in abundance, is Jl. donax. PsAMMA. P. de B. 3. 2. P. arenaria. P. de B. Has been taken from Arundo ; grows 2 — 4 feet high, of a sea-green color ; leaves wide and rather short ; close, erect plant ; found in the sands of the sea- f GRAMINE^. 239 shore, where it sends out its thick hard roots forming a mat of roots to resist the action of the waves, and the motion of the dry sands, and becomes a very important article. It is widely diffused over the world. In the Hebrides it is formed into " mats for pack-saddles, bags, hats," &c. Lind. It is from this grass that paper has been extensively manufactured at Dorchester, and no little credit is due the enterprising manufac- turer. It is only wonderful that this grass, on account of its well known strong fibres, had not been long before so employed. In England it is called mat-grass, and the Greek word for sand gives it the generic name. Andropogon. L. 3. 2. Forked Grass. From the Greek for man and beard, from the fancied resem- blance of the hairs on the flowers to the beard. London. A. furcatum. Muhl. Forked Spike. Forked Beard-Grass. Grows in cespitose clusters, with the roots densely interwoven, 4-6 feet high, in sandy soil, along hedges, and in alluvial meadows. The other species, Jl. macrourum, Mx., nutans, L., Beard- Grass, purpurascens, Muhl., Virginicum, L., attract little atten- tion ; little used as food for cattle. At the South, they are numerous and abundant, and give to the fields the dry appearance, so difierent from the green carpet of the North. Aristida. L. 3. 2. The 3 species of this genus, dichotoma, Mx., gracilis, Ell., purpurascens, Poir., have little interest. Stipa. L. 3. 2. Feather Grass. Named from the Greek for silky or feathery. The 2 species, avenacea, L., Canadensis, Lmk., are not abundant. Trichochloa. DC. 3. 2. From the Greek for hair and grass, Hair Grass. T. capillaris. DC. A beautiful grass, taken from Stipa, with flowers in a large panicle ; sandy woods ; Deerfield ; .Tune. 240 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. The panicle of flowers is long and capillary, very slender, pur- ple and glossy ; waves beautifully in the air. Briza. L. 3. 2. Quaking-Grass. From the Greek for balance, from the balancing state of the spikelets. Loudon. B. media. L. Is a foot or more high, with few flowers on spreading, small, purple branches ; introduced in the vicinity of Boston. Big. It is not a grass that promises to be of much utility as food for cattle. Bromus. L. 3. 2. " A name given by the Greeks to a sort of wild oat." Loudon. This is a genus of plants of little use or of injurious influence. B. secalinus. L. Chess, or Cheat, or Rye Broom-Grass. This is the well-known chess of the wheat field, especially when the grain, as rye or wheat, is winter-killed. This has given origin to the notion, that wheat in this case changes into this plant ; a notion about as probable as that tobacco changes into cotton. It is singular, however, that the chess should often be so abundant where the rye or wheat is cut off". It is an annual plant. If the farmer does not intend to raise chess, he must have his seed- wheat free from it, and his ground destitute of the seed. When the seed is ground with the wheat, the flour is much injured, and seems to have narcotic powers. Loudon. Three species of Bromus, ciliatus, L., purgans, L., and pu- bescens, Muhl., are not in sufficient quantity to receive much at- tention. The seeds of B. mollis, L., are said to be deleterious. Loudon. Dactylis. L. 3. 2. D. glomerata. L. Orchard Grass. From the Greek for finger, from the imaginary resemblance of its heads of flowers to the fingers. Loudon. This is a beautiful and well-known grass, 2 or 3 feet high, with a spreading, one-sided top, and much larger towards the bottom, in GRAMINE.E. 241 shaded meadows and fields ; has a rapid growth, and is considered a valuable grass in England when young. It is not supposed to be indigenous to this country. It can in no way compare with Timothy Grass for grazing, or the value of the crop. Festuca. L. 3. 2. Fescue-Grass. Fest is the Celtic for food or pasture^ and may be the root of this name [Loudon) ; or it may be from Jetu for feslu^ a straw. Webster. Glume 2-valved, unequal, many-flowered ; inner chaff 2, lan- ceolate, and the outer one awned at the tip, or sharp-pointed ; spikelets rather flat. jF. pratensis. Huds. Meadow Fescue-Grass. Has a branch- ed, spreading panicle of linear and acute spikelets, with linear leaves ; grows in meadows and fields ; culm 1—2 feet high ; in- troduced from England. In this country this is not considered a very valuable grass. Curtis mentions it as one of the six grasses in England for laying down pastures or meadows ; it should be cut when in flower, as it loses, like most grasses, a considerable portion of its nutriment by ripening. Loudon. F. ovina. L. Sheep's Fescue. Is recently introduced as a valuable grass. F. elation. L. Much like F. pratensis, considerably larger, grows in more wet meadows, and is eagerly cropped by cattle in its young state ; of about the same value. F. duriuscula. L. Considered a fine grass in England for hay or pasture ; not very common in this State, but corning into notice. The two other species, nutans, W., and tenella, W., have little value. F. tenella, W., is a low, beautiful, rather stiff grass. Note. The six grasses mentioned by Curtis, are Anthoxan- thum odoralum, Alopecurus pratensis, Poa pratensis and Poa 31 242 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. trivialis, Cynosurus cristatus, and Festuca pratensis ; all but Cy- Hosurus common in this State, and many of them far inferior for culture here to our Timothy Grass. Glyceria. R. Br. 3. 2. G. Jluitans. R. Br. Floating Fescue. This was taken from Festuca, and is closely allied to F. elatior ; grows in wet places, and stagnant water, and its long, narrow leaves float on the sur- face. The herbage, roots, and seed are grateful to various animals. The generic name is from the Greek for sweet, from the pleasantness of the herbage to cattle. G. acutijiora, Torrey, was found at Deerfield by Dr. Cooley ; much Hke the other, but a smaller grass. Cynosurus. L. 3. 2. Named from the Greek for dog's tail, from the form of the spike of flowers. About 20 species are spread over the eastern continent, though but few in one section. C. cristatus. L. Dog's-tail Grass. Is common in the meadows of Europe, and is rather a favorite grass of the English. The seed of it is now sold to agriculturists, and the value of the grass in this country will soon be ascertained. It yields much more bulk of grass in seed-time, than in flowering ; but its nutri- ment is far greater when cut in flowering-time, even as 17 to 10. It delights in a dry soil ; fitted for good pasturage. Sinclair. Uniola. L. 3. 2. U. spicata. L. Spike Grass. Named from the ttmon of the glumes. Loudon. An American genus found about salt marshes. HoLcus. L. 3. 2. H. lanatus. L. Woolly Soft Grass. Velvet Grass. Culm 2-3 feet high, with a downy covering, very soft ; in meadows at Watertown. Big. Introduced. Named from the Greek to draw, on the old notion that the leaves would draw out thorns from the flesh. Loudon. A grass little desired by any animals. GR AMINES. 243 This is one of the grasses, that have polygamous flowers, some- times both stamens and pistils in the same flowers, and at others not. HiEROCHLOA. Gmelin. 3. 2. Glume 2-valved, 3-flowered ; lateral florets bear 3 anthers only, central floret is perfect, with 2 stamens commonly. Taken from Holcus, whose glumes are 2-flowered, and have dissimilar florets. ' H. borealis. R. and S. Seneca Grass. Panicle rather 1 -sided, somewhat spreading ; 18 inches high ; wet meadows ; May. Sweet-scented American plant, spread widely over the country, but not of much utility. HoRDEUM. L. 3. 2. Barley. Inflorescence a spike or long dense head of flowers ; spikelets 3 at each joint of the head, 1 -flowered, commonly all perfect. Several species are cultivated. H. vulgare. L. The common barley. H. hexastichon. L. The head six-rowed. H. distichon. L. The spike two-rowed. A well-known use of barley is for malting, for the produc- tion of beer ; a drink, which is the bane of England, and is far too often a nauseous compound in this country, ruinous to appe- tite, and health, and good looks. Beer-drinkers have a loath- some appearance. Barley flour forms much valued hot cakes for breakfast. Pot barley is a preparation of the seed by grinding off the husk. In the pearl or hulled barley, the seed is left finely round and white ; it is much used in soups and in medicinal drinks. Loudon. Its use is comparatively familiar in this country. H. jubcUum. L. Wild Barley. Squirrel-tailed Grass. Culm slender, smooth, about 2 feet high, with rather shoit leaves ; awns 244 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. long and fine, so that the spikes appear hairy and smooth ; in marshes ; Boston ; June. Big. This grass is widely spread over North America. Elymus. L. 3. 2. Lime Grass. Wild Rye. Derived from the Greek to cover, from the use of one species in coarse fabrics. Loudon. The 4 species of this grass in this State, E. Canadensis, L., hyslrix, L., villosus, Muhl., and Virginicus, L., are not abundant, and are of little utility. They usually grow on the sandy banks of streams, or in sandy woods. Most of them are fine-looking plants. E. glaucifolius, W., is a tall grass, often 4-5 feet high, glaucous color, and, with its long, recurved, and waving spikes, ever attracts attention. It is a variety of jE. Canadensis, L., according to Torrey ; but this seems rather doubtful. At any rate, this noble plant ought to be the species. Panicum. L. 3. 2. Panic Grass. Probably named from the Latin for bread, from the use of some species. It is a pretty large genus. At least 16 species, agros- toides, Muhl., anceps, Mx., capillare, L., eland esiinum, L., crus- galli, L., dichotomum, L., depauperatum, Muhl., discolor, Muhl., geniculatum, Muhl., hispidum, Muhl., involulum, T., latifolium, L., macrocarpon, Torrey, nervosum, Muhl., nitidum, Lmk., vir- gatum, L., are found in this State. The species are found in pastures and cultivated fields. They are of little consequence for cattle. The culms are stiff and hard, often hairy, and cattle do not appear to relish them after they have come to any size. The Cock's-foot Grass, introduced from Europe, and common in gardens, and about yards, seems to follow man in his dispersions over this country. Two new species were found at Deerfield by Dr. Cooley, and named by Dr. Torrey. P. miliaceum, L., Millet, is sometimes found in gardens. Setaria. p. de Beauv. Bottle Grass. Named from the Latin for bristle, as the involucre is composed of bristles ; taken from Panicum. Four species of this grass, viridis, glauca, Italica, verlieillala, GRAMINE.^. 245 P. de B., are pretty common. One of them, often called Fox- tail Grass, from its long and large bristly spike, is common about . gardens and fields, and seems to follow man. )S. viridisj is found in the vicinity of Boston. DiGiTARiA. Walter. 3. 2. Crab Grass. Finger Grass. Named from its finger-like form of spikes. The 2 species were ranked with the Panic Grasses. They grow in dry and sandy soils. The common one, D. sanguinalis. Scop., has a reddish or purplish culm, rather prostrate, spreads rapidly over the fields. The seeds are employed for food in Poland. The other is called ^/i/ormw, Ell., from its thread-like culm and spikes. Eleusine. Gaertner. 3. 2. Wire Grass. From Eleusis, a name of Ceres, the goddess of grasses. Loudon. Glumes 5-7-flowered, obtuse, equal ; scales truncate. E. Indica. Lmk. Spread widely over Europe, Asia, Africa, and America ; common in cultivated grounds ; not much used by animals. Culm 1—2 feet high, compressed, declined; spikes straight, erect, in pairs or fours ; July. PoA. L. 3. 2. Meadow Grass. From the Greek for herb ; one of the most important grasses for the support of cattle. More than 30 species are native or cultivated in England, and 24 are credited to the Northern States, and 18 species to this State. Spikelets oblong, hnear, compressed, many-flowered, from 3 — 20 ; glumes shorter than the florets ; inner chafl" or paleae sometimes woolly at the base ; scales smooth ; panicled, branched. P. pratensis. L. Common Spear Grass. This well-known and abundant meadow grass forms a great proportion of the turf or greensward of pastures and meadows ; found in all situations, except as an aquatic. To this should be added P. trivialis, L., and P. annua^ L., as another part of turf grasses. The latter is small, low, forming a dense mat by walls, in yards, along the streets and fields, springing up early in the spring, and flowering 246 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. early and long. It makes beautiful patches everywhere, and is deservedly receiving more attention. P. compressa, L. Is the Blue Grass, or Blue Spear Grass, named from its compressed and much-flattened stem, and bluish- green color ; much less common, does not form turf, though it grows in clusters, and might, perhaps, when cultivated, be valua- ble, but seems to delight in the borders of woods and moist situa- tions along banks. Seems to be loved by cattle. P. nervata. W. Meadow Spear Grass. The Foul Meadow of many farmers, 3 or 4 feet high, erect, with a recurved panicle in its older state, waving beautifully in the wind, and having a fine appearance. It is a much coarser grass than the preceding, and is not so well relished by cattle, though it is readily eaten as hay in winter. Some other coarse grasses go to make up all that is called Foul JMeadoio. P. eragrostis. L. Branching Spear Grass. A large and beautiful grass, with a diffuse panicle of flowers and fruit ; color bright-green ; not common ; sandy soil. P. Canadensis. Torrey. Another large and beautiful grass, about orchards and fields ; not abundant. P. nemoralis. L. Inhabits wet open woods ; a large, tall, rank grass, with a long, finely arched panicle of fruit ; too coarse for food, except when young ; Berkshire County ; June. P. maritima. Huds. A beautiful grass about salt marshes. Big. A foot high ; branches in pairs. P. capillaris. L. A beautiful, slender grass in its panicle, which is large, loose, and spreading. P. dentata. Torrey. Has a loose panicle ; wand-like branch- es ; spikelets 5-flowered ; lower palea 5-nerved and 5-toothed at the apex ; swamps ; June. GR AMINES. 247 P. palustris. Muhl. Has a diffuse panicle ; florets a little webbed at the tip ; 2-3 feet high, erect ; in wet meadows ; June. The other species, aqualica, T., elongata, T., hirsuta^ Mx., ohtusa^ Muhl., pectinacea^ Mx., reptanSj Mx., like several of the preceding, have little utility. Tricuspis. p. de Beauv. Spikelets roundish, swollen, many-flowered, 5-7 ; lower palea bifid-toothed ; seed 2-horned. T. seslerioides. Torrey. Formerly considered a Poa, a large and splendid grass, often 5 feet high, with a large spreading pan- icle, purplish, in wet meadows ; falsely called Red-top, and far in- ferior for utility in New England. It is said to yield two crops a season in the mountain meadows of Pennsylvania, and to be an excellent grass. It must be cut early to be eatable by cattle, and then may become a valuable grass. Leaves are large, and long, and smootli. This is the Poa quinquefida of Pursh, and seems to be very close to that genus. Paspalum. L. 3. 2. Paspalon Grass. The two species, ciliatifolium^ Mx., and setaceum, Mx., do not appear extensively diffused ; it is the Greek name for millet. Loudon. MuHLENBERGiA. Schreb. 3. 2. Named in honor of Muhlenberg, to whom the Botany of this country is greatly indebted, a pupil of Linnaeus, and distinguished as a scientific man, an ardent lover of nature, with a character every way estimable. Two species, diffusa, Schreb., and erecla, Schreb., are found in this State ; small slender grasses, of httle value, early losing their seed, and called Drop-seed Grass ; not abundant, good food for cattle. As the name of the great Linnaeus was given to a small and neglected plant, so that of Muhlenberg is honored by one of the poor grasses. 248 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Spartina. Schreb. 3. 1. Rough Grass. Three species, cynosuroides, W., glabra, IMiihl., and juncea, W., are in this State ; coarse and rough grasses, somewhat sedge- like, about marshes ; all in the vicinity of Boston. Two of the species are large, 3-5 feet high. ZlZANIA. L. 19. 1. Derived from a Greek name of another and very different plant. This is a native of America, and found about all the northern Lakes. Glume none ; seed 1, enveloped in the plaited paleae. Z. aquatica. Lamb. Water Oats. Wild Rice. Culm 4-6 feet high, jointed, large, with a wide-spreading panicle of flowers tapering to the apex, and large leaves ; seeds half an inch long, smooth and blackish, abundant, and resembling rice in their properties, as they form fine flour. It is suggested by Dr. Bige- low, that it might be profitably cultivated to render " large tracts of inundated ground and stagnant water " useful, as horses are fond of it, and as it yields an abundant crop. The seeds are collected and eaten by the Indians around the great Lakes ;and, though they are the most valuable part of the plant, they fall off" early and easily, so as to render it difliicult to collect them. Pinkerton says, " this plant seems intended by nature to become the bread-corn of the north." Loudon. The plant has been in- troduced into England, and grows, as in this country, around ponds. In the eastern part of this State, it grows on the sides of ponds and slow streams. Big. It must of course form valuable food for the wild geese, and many other animals at the North. Milium. L. 3. 2. JM. pungens. Torrey. This is the Dwarf Millet Grass, to be added to those in the " Geology." Erect, slender, 12-18 inches high, simple, stiff"; radical leaves 6-8 inches long, a line wide, acute ; panicle few-flowered. The GRAMINE.E. 249 glumes are 2, beardless ; inner chafi' oblong, shorter than the glume, awnless. Grows about Deerfield on dry hills, and in the vicinity of Bos- ton ; May. Leersia. Sw. 3. 2. Cut Grass. Named after the botanist Leers. L. oryzoidef, Sw., and L. Vitginica^ W., are both indigenous to this country, and one of the two is found also in the Levant. The two species are found in ditches and about wet places by sluggish waters ; grow 2 or more feet higii, with a light-green stem, and yellowish-white flowers, which have only one floral envelope ; leaves rough backwards, es- pecially on one of the species, so as to convince one of the ap- propriate name, cut-grass ; common, but not abundant. Oryzopsis. Mx. 3. 2. Mountain Rice. Named from the resemblance of the seeds to rice, the name of which is Oryza. 0. ai^perifoUa. Mx. Found in woods in light soil, 1 -2 feet high, with long, deep-green leaves at the root, erect and stiff, and green through the winter ; panicle simple, flexuous ; seed white, about as large as rice, and farinaceous ; April and May. Whether it will be profitable for cultivation, as Pursh proposed, on account of its fine white flour, can be ascertained only by trial. PiPTATHERUM. Beauv. 3. 2. This was taken from the last, which it resembles considerably. P. nigrum. Torrey. Blackseeded Millet Grass. Flowers in a simple panicle, rather racemed ; inner chaff black and hairy, with a long awn ; 2 - 3 feet high ; leaves long, hnear-lanceolate ; few-flowered ; seed black, a little larger than the rice. LoLiUM. L. 3. 2. From the Celtic name of the plant. Loudon. Glume 1-valved to the lower fruit, and 2-valved to the upper ; lower palea with a bristle or awn at the end ; scales v.ith 2 unequal teeth. 32 250 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. L. perenne. L, Darnel Grass. Culm 18 inches high, smooth, with broad-linear leaves ; spike 6 inches long, with spikelets 7 — 9-flowered ; meadows and roads ; cultivated for hay in Eng- land. L. temulentiim. L. Is attributed to New England by Dr. Torrey ; a troublesome weed, having poisonous seed ; introduced. L. Italicum. Ray Grass. Recently introduced and recom- mended. Triticum. L. 3. 2. Derived from the Latin for wear^ because worn or ground into an eatable substance. As embracing wheat, this genus contains one of the most important vegetables. T. repens. L. Quake, or Quack, or Couch Grass. Some- times, from its resemblance to wheat, it is called Wheat Grass. This is a troublesome grass of gardens and fields, difiicult to eradicate, as it sends out many and long roots, creeping under ground, exceedingly tenacious of life. It grows 2 or more feet high, with an erect culm, stiff, leafy, terminating in crowded spike- lets. It is probably from Europe. T. (Bstivum. L. Summer Wheat. T. hybernum. L. Winter Wheat. T. turgidum,lj., and T. Poloincum, Ij., and T. compositum, L., Egyptian Wheat. These are perhaps varieties of one or two species. Besides these, there are many varieties of wheat, as white, red, bearded, beardless, woolly, &c., seeming to run into each other. Even the Egyptian wheat, with its branched spikes, has changed to the single spike in England. Loudon. The last three species, just mentioned, are said to be from Egypt ; also T. spelta, W., and T. nionococcum^ L., which deserve attention. As wheat is so important an article of food, and extends over GRAMINE^. 251 so many degrees of latitude, it is important to know the varieties best suited to the chmate, and the soil most adapted to the plant. The former must be ascertained by trial ; the latter is pretty well known already. The wheat-growing countries are not among the primary formation of Geology, but in the transition and secondary. In the first, siliceous or argillaceous soils prevail ; in the second and third, calcareous and argillaceous, and the latter is of a much richer character than the former. To make wheat a good crop in primitive countries, there must be good and continued manuring ; and a very great improvement would be the addition of lime to the soil in some form, either as marl or lime itself, so that the carbonate of lime shall be in the earth. This seems to be shown by the advantages which result from lime as a manure, and from the fact, that the soil of secondary countries, so pro- ductive of wheat in the temperate latitudes, contains much car- bonate of lime. For illustration, turn to the valley of the Gene- see, where the earth effervesces powerfully with acids, and where lime, and sulphate of lime, and muriate of lime are found com- monly in the waters. A great improvement will doubtless be found in the increase of lime in our soils. There must, indeed, be silex, for this earth seems to be necessary for the hardness of the cuticle, of which glass may be formed by melting the ashes. Wheat is said to yield more flour, and its flour to contain more nutritious matter, than any other grain. It yields also a large proportion of starch, considered of the best kind. The straw of wheat is wrought into hats, &c. The Dunstable hats are made from the wheat raised on the chalky soil near that place in England. The Leghorn hats are formed of a short and small wheat raised for that purpose on the Arno, between Leg- horn and Florence, and the straws are not split for this object. Loudon. In this State, some beautiful bonnets have been formed from some species of Poa and Agrostis. Secale. L. .3. 2. Rye. Supposed to be from the Latin to cut, and that from the Celtic for sickle (Loudon). It sometimes grows in our neglected fields ; it cannot be called naturalized ; native country, the North of Asia and Europe. 252 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. S. Cereale. L. Has its specific name from Ceres, the fabled goddess of agriculture. Next to wheat, it is the most important grain for this latitude, as it yields the next best flour in any consider- able quantity ; it likes a colder climate, and is still more important at the North. It delights in a soil more siliceous, and is better adapted than wheat to much of the soil of this Commonwealth. It contains more gluten and less fecula or starch than wheat. Gluten, as paste, is an article of importance in some arts. Rye is not much cultivated in England, as the soil is better adapted to wheat ; in New England it is a grain of great value. The two varieties, summer and winter rye, are supposed to belong to one species. The heads of rye sometimes become diseased, and ergot, large, long, black grains are produced instead of the seed. Some have considered ergot a mere disease ; others have called it a fungus. De CandoUe named it Sclerotium clavus (Acinulac, Fries). At any rate, it is a poisonous substance, and exerts a pernicious influence on breeding animals, and especially upon sheep. The ewes should not be sufiered to eat this refuse part of rye for some time before bearing their young, if, indeed, at all, as many lambs are thus lost. Sorghum. L. 19. 1. S. saccharatum. L. Broom Corn. The value of this article, and the extent of its cultivation, are well known ; said to have come from India ; too rough, and large, and hard, for food of cattle. For the manufacture of brooms it is a grass of the first necessity, and in some parts of the State an article of very profitable cultivation. 8. vulgar e. L. CofleeCorn. Grand Millet. Sometimes culti- vated in gardens as a curiosity, or for feeding hens, &c. ; not con- sidered of great value, probably because we have other grasses of more value for the same object. In Arabia and Asia Minor, it is much cultivated, and considered an important article for the food of man ; also in China and in the West Indies. It yields fine white flower ; in Arabia is called Durra or Dora. The generic name is said to be derived from the Indian name of the plant. Its tops are used also for brooms. Loudon. GRAMINE.^. 253 Zea. L. 19. 3. Indian Corn. The Greek name of some kind of corn, from the Greek word to live, on account of its nutriment. Z. mays. L. Maize. Cultivated, but indigenous to Ameri- ca. It is more abundant at the South, larger, and more produc- tive, and its flour is whiter and more excellent. The necessity of hot weather to ripen this grain in this latitude, is well known, and verified by the heat of the last summer (1839), when the corn was, to a considerable extent, ripened at an early day in Septem- ber, even in Berkshire County. It is probable that seed which would vipen earlier, or had become better adapted to the climate, was planted, and the favorable season early matured it. There are many varieties of Indian Corn, of which Maize is the South American name ; all of which may be reduced to one species. Some are far more hardy than the others. One of this kind is mentioned by Nuttall as cultivated by the western and northern Indians, and called "Early Mandan Corn." Some grow and ripen in England. The value of this grass is immense. Its stalks and leaves are excellent fodder for cattle. Indian corn was introduced into England in 1562. The spe- cies Z. Curagun, W., Cross Corn, from Valparaiso, and which parches into a cross-like form, is probably cultivated in some parts of the State. As our corn is liable to be affected and sometimes cut off by a too early frost, it is important to obtain seed from a more north- ern section, which will be far more likely to ripen here. Though it may bear a smaller ear, the advantage is obvious. But, when the crop is injured by the frost, it was clearly ascertained a few years since, that more corn was ripened by cutting it up from the roots and placing it upright in small collections, than by leaving it to stand. In the latter case, the juice of the plant seems to be drawn to the root, in the former, to be carried into the kernels on the ear, and to bring more of them to maturity. The smut of Maize is Uredo zecB, Schw., a fungus of danger- ous properties. Only a httle is produced in our country, and it is avoided by animals. It is said to have a deleterious effect on those that eat it. 254 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. ORDER 262. CYPERACE^. The Sedge Tribe. This is an extensive assemblage of plants, out of the tropics especially, which flourish greatly in the temperate regions. A considerable number is found in this State, being those which are common to the Northern States. Glume or bract commonly solitary, imbricated with perfect flowers, sometimes monoecious, rarely dicecious ; stamens vary from 1 - 12 ; ovary 1 -seeded, often with bristles rising from its base ; style single, 2 or 3-dIvided ; stems with joints, also many without joints. The Cyperacese have the general appearance of the grasses, and are usually confotmded with them. In the young state, some of them are food for cattle, though they contain much less nutritious matter than the proper grasses. They are found in every variety of situation. Of the 247 species, credited to North America by Dr. Tor- rey, 125 are credited to this State in the " Geology " ; though some, perhaps, of the latter, are considered not distinct species in the former enumeration. Besides the elucidation of the grasses by Dr. Muhlenberg, there has been an elaborate Monograph of the Rhynchospora by Dr. Gray, in the " Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York," and also of the Cyperaceae by Dr. Torrey, in the same work. The value of these works can be appreciated only by the systematic botanist. Several genera have been more or less changed ; but in this Report the older divisions will be re- tained. Some new species have been found. DuLicHiuM. Richard. 3. 1. Spikes somewhat branched, axillary ; spikelets linear-lanceo- late ; glumes 2-rowed, sheathing, with a long style ; nut with bristles at the base. i>. spathaceum. Pers. Galingale. Leaves spreading in three directions, on a roundish culm, and somewhat tapering, and with spreading spikelets from sheaths which are spathe-like, and end in CYPERACEiE. 255 short leaves ; a common, large, leafy, tough grass, abomiding about pools and sluggish waters ; August ; scarcely eaten by cattle. Cyperus. L. 3. 1. A genus of plants of little beauty or apparent utility, though the species are pretty numerous. Eleven species are found in this State. Spikelets compressed, distinct, 2-ro\ved ; style falling off early ; nut Ij without bristles. C. Jlavescens. L. Yellow Sedge Grass. Culm 4-10 inches liigh, with upper leaves tall as the culm ; flowers umbel-like with short and unequal rays ; grows about marshes in this country and Europe ; plant yellowish. C. strigosus. L. Grows in low grounds, often more than a foot high, and with an umbel nearly simple ; spikelets of many flowers ; August and September. C. mariscoides, Ell., in Bigelovv's Flora. Considered to be C. jiliculmis, Vahl., by Dr. Torrey ; and C. castaneus, Big., to be a variety of C Jlavescens. C. poceformis. Ph. Abounds in cold, wet, sandy places, on the declivities of elevations, and beside roads, with a stem 3-6 inches high, with reddish-brown, flat spikelets ; forms a dense, close-matted covering of the earth, preventing the washing of the sand. C. Grayii, Tor., in Mon. Cyp., sp. 21. Was found by Mr. Oakes in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Torrey. C. diandrus, T., C. J\uttalii, T., C. dentatus, T., C. inflex- us, Muhl., are also found. The species of Cyperus are far more numerous at the South, and are generally not employed in agriculture or the arts. The roots are rather succulent, and contain a pleasant mucilage. Lind. 256 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Eriophorum. L. 3. 1. Cotton Grass. The name is derived from the Greek for bearing wool, as the spikes of flowers and fruit produce many long, woolly hairs, which make the plants conspicuous at some distance. They grow in wet or marshy situations, and some of them in the deepest and coldest marshes, like those in Stockbridge, Becket, Peru, Wen- ham, &c. In such marshes are E. alpinwn, L., the E. Hud- sonianum, Mx., and E. vaginatum, L. Besides these, are the more common species, E. cespitosum, Ph., E. Virginicuni, L., E. polystachyunij L., and E. angustifolium , Richard, which have 40-60 long white hairs in each flower. None of these plants, which are widely spread over the country, are very abun- dant, or applied to any important purpose. A few more species are found in Arctic America. RHrNCHOSPORA. Valil. 3. I. From the Greek for beak and seed, as the seeds are beaked. Loudon. Four species occur in this State. They are nearly related to the preceding, and grow about wet places, rising a foot or more high, rather rare plants, of little consequence. The species are R. alba, Vahl., R. glomerata, Vahl., R. macrostachya, Torrey, now made the genus Ceratoschcenus by him ; and R. fusca, Roem. and Schult., according to Mon. Cyp., Torrey. The species are far more numerous and abundant in the Middle and Southern States. SCHCENUS. L. 3. 1. From the Greek for cord, as the plants were twisted into cord- age. Loudon. S. mariscoides. Muhl. Bog Rush. Another of the kindred plants, credited to this State by Dr. Bigelow ; found in "Fresh Pond," and also in " Belchertown and Leverett." Culm 2 feet high, smooth, or rough with dots, furrowed, leafy ; umbel terminal ; leaves channeled ; seed naked, rounded ; July ; in bogs. CYPERACE^. 257 FUIRENA. Rottb. 3. 1. Glumes awned, imbricated into a spike ; petaloid, or perianth 3-valved, cordate, awned. F. squarrosa, Mx., var. pumila, Torrey, " Mon. Cyp."p. 291. Culm 3-6 inches high ; spikes or heads of flowers thick, with long involucre leaves ; pond in Tewksbury, B. D. Greene, Esq. A newly discovered plant, not announced till the publication of the " Mon. Cyp." by Dr. Torrey. PsiLOCARYA. Torrey. 3. 1. A new genus, and well named. F. suipoides, Torrey, " Mon. Cyp." p. 359. Culm smooth and leafy ; leaves 6-8 inches long, and grassy ; flowers in cymes ; heads of flowers rather acute. A new plant, collected by Dr. Little of Boston, the locality not precisely known in Massachusetts. It was found also by T. A. Greene, Esq., at New Bedford. SciRPUs. L. 3. 1. Club-rush. From the Celtic for rush. More than 40 species of this genus are found in the United States, and more than half are credited to New England. In this State are 21 species, accord- ing to the Geology. A few species are united in the " Mon. Cyp." of Torrey. The plants are rush-like, rather abundant in water or wet situa- tions, commonly without leaves, and with sheathes at the base, varying greatly in size and appearance, not often used for fodder for cattle in this country. In Scotland, S. cespitosus is the food for cattle from March to May. Loudon. Glumes imbricated into a close spike ; seed or nut naked, or with bristles at the base. S. acicularis, L., embraces also /S. trichodes, Muhl., and S. capillaceus, Mx., which he credited to New England, and is a 33 258 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. small and slender plant on the borders of ponds, in dense cespi- tose patches and tufts ; a dehcate plant. . Saddle Mount ; borders of fields ; abounds in New York and Kentucky. 67. C. binervis, Sm. Near Boston ; B. D. Greene, Esq. 68. C. Greenii, D. Lr honor of B. D. Greene, Esq., who discovered it near Boston. 69. C. Jiexuosa, Schk. Wet places. 70. C. sylvatica, Huds. Moist open woods. 71. C. scabrata, Schvv. Beside brooks. 72. C. xanthophysa, Wahl. Mountain swamps. — folliculata, L. Dr. Gray. 73. C. setifolia, D., C. alba, L., var. setifolia, D. Woods. 74. C miliaris, Mx., C. Oakesiana, D. Tewksbury Pond. Group 12. Pistillate spikes pedunculate, and scarcely sheathed. 75. C. miliacea, Muhl. Moist meadows. 76. C hystericina, Willd. Marshy places. 77. C. pseudo-cyperus, L. The culm ends in 1 barren spike, CYPERACE^. 267 small and slender ; 3 fertile spikes, long, cylindric, pendulous, and densely flowered, with long stiff leaves directly under the spikes, and long leaves rough on their edges towards the root ; color yellowish-green ; in dense tufts, beside ponds or slow streams. 78. C. limosa^ L. Marshes in Stockbridge, Becket, &c. var. irrigua^ Wahl. Do. rarijlora, Wahl. Do. Becket. livida^ Wahl. Do. do. oblonga, Wahl. Do. do. 79. C. pallescens, L. Meadows dry or moist. 80. C. umbellata, Schk. Dry fields. var. vicina, D. Do. D. Staminate spikes 2 or more. Group 13. Pistillate spikes sessile or pedunculate, and sometimes staminate at their summit. ,81. C. trichocarpa, Muhl. Beside slow streams, var. turbinata, D. Ponds. 82. C. filiformis, Good. Marshes ; rush-like leaves. 83. C. pellita, Muhl. Do. leaves flat. 84. C. lacustris, Willd. Marshes and ponds. 85. C. retrorsa, Schw. Pondholes. 86. C. SchiDeinitzii, D. Wet places ; sandy. 87. C. vesicaria^ L. Marshes. 88. C. ampullacea, Good. Marshes. 89. C. bidlata, Schk. Beside marshes. var. cylindracea^ D. Do. 90. C. longirostris, Torrey. Light soil of banks and hedges ; discovered at Sheffield, Berkshire County, and since found in many other places, Westfield, Amherst, &c. 91. C. polymorpha, Muhl. Westfield ; dry fields. Most of the specimens have 2 or more staminate spikes, and the summit of the pistillate partially staminate. The species of this genus seem to have few useful properties. The leaves of large species are used in Italy to bind wine-flasks, and by chair-makers and coopers, as the rwh and cat-tail. Loudon. 268 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Their multitude of seeds doubtless yields food to many insects and smaller animals. In other respects, too, they, as well as other plants of little apparent value, must be exerting a favorable influ- ence in the great economical purposes of the Creator. In conclusion, it cannot be expected that all the plants, indi- genous or cultivated, have been mentioned. Enough have passed under review to convince us of the vegetable riches of this Com- monwealth, and to lead to gratitude for the munificent bounty of their great Author, CHESTER DEWEY, INDEX. Page I Page Acaly^ha, . . . 72 1 Aristida, . . 239 Achillea, . 127 1 Aristolochia, 52 Acnlda, 98 Aristolo^chi^, 51 Aconitum, 28 Aroi'de,t,, 219 A'corus, 222 Arrhenatherum, 237 Actffi'a, 21 Arrow-head, 189 Adder Tongue, 216 Artemisia, 126 Adonis, 28 Artichoke, 139 ^ihusa, 18 A^rum, , . . . 220 Agrimonia, 58 A'rcm Tribe, 219 Agrimony, 58 Arundo, 238 Agrostemma, 86 A'sarum, 52 Agrostis, 232 AsCLEPIA^DEa;, . 145 Aira, 234 Asclepias, 145 Aletris, 208 Asparagus, 208 Alisma, 188 AsPHODE^LEa:, 207 Alisma^ce^:, . 188 Asphodelus, 207 A'llium. . 2(19 A'fiter, 132 Alopecurus, . 235 Atragene, 22 Althae'a, . 42 A'tropa, 171 Amaranth, 95 Avena, 237 , Globe, 96 Avens Root, 58 Amaranth Tribe, 95 Amarantha'ce^, 95 Ballota, . 179 Amaranthus, 95 Balm, 183 Amarylli'des:, 193 Balsam, . . . . 76 Amary'llis, 193 Apple, 113 Ambrosia, . 142 Balsami'ne^, 75 Ammannia, 50 Baneberry, 21 Amphicarpa, 61 Barbarea, 36 Anagallis, 153 Barley, . 243 Anchusa, 184 , Wild, . 243 Andropogon, 239 Baptisia, 61 Anemone, 23 Bartsia, . 163 Angelica, 18 Basil, 183 Angiospk'rm^, . 13 Bean, 63 An'themis, 126 Beard-tongue, 160 Anthoxanthum, . 236 Bedstraw, . 143 Antirrhinum, 158 Beet, 97 Apargia, . 118 Beggar Ticks, . 137 A^pios, A^pium, . A plectrum, 61 Bellis, 129 20 199 Bell Flower, Bell Flower Tribe, . 108 108 Apocy'nejE, , 146 Bell Wort, . 211 Apocynum, 146 Berberi'de^, 41 Aquilegia, 22 Beta, 97 A'rabis, 38 Bidens, 137 Aralia, 13 Bindweed Tribe, . 150 Ara^lia Tribe, 13 Bindweed, . • • ] 02, 150 Aralia'ce^, 13 BiRTHwoRT Tribe, 51 A'rctium, 117 Bishop Weed, 19 Arenaria, 90 Bitter-sweet, . 165 Arethusa, 199 Blackberry, . t . 59 270 INDEX. Bladderwort, Bhizing Star, Bllluin, Bloodroot, Blue Curls, Blue-eyed Grass, BcElimerla, Borage, Borage Tribe, Boragi'ne^, Borago, Brassica, Briza, Brooinrape, Buck Bean, Buckwheat, Buckwheat Tribe, Bugloss, , Small, , Viper's, Bulrush, Bulrush Tribe, Burdock, Burnet Tribe, Burnet, ■ , Saxifrage, Burr Marjiiold, Reed,' . Bush Clover, . Trefoil, Buttercups, Butterfly Weed, Cabbage, Ca'cte^:, Cactus, Cakile, Calendula, Calla, Callitriche, CALLITRICHl'NEa; Calopogon, Caltfia, Camelina, Campanula, CAMPANULA^CEiC Campion, Cancer Root, Candy Tuft, Cannabis, Caper Tribe, CAPPERl'OEiE, Capsicum, Cardamine, Cardinal Flower Cardinal Flower, Carduus, Carex, Carrot, Carthamus, Caryophy'llejE, Cassia, Castor-oil Bean, Catchfly, Tribe, Page 155 Catnep, 205 Cat Tail,