_Lily-of-the-Valley Family_
Resembling the lilies, sometimes with naked but usually leafy stems,
and simple or branched, frequently creeping rootstocks, flowers usually
small and variously disposed on the stem, either scattered in the
axils of the leaves or in terminal clusters, or occasionally solitary
on a naked stem; either 4- or 6-parted, regular, perfect; stamens 6.
Plant producing but one flower. =Clintonia.=
Plant producing several flowers.
Flowers in a raceme or panicle. =Vagnera.=
Flowers in an umbel or solitary.
Flowers terminal on the branches. =Disporum.=
Flowers axillary.
Perianth narrowly campanulate. =Streptopus.=
Perianth rotate. =Kruhsea.=
[Sidenote: =Clintonia uniflora= (Schult.) Kunth. _Clintonia._]
More or less hairy throughout, with 1 to 3 or 4 dark green leaves,
4—8 inches long and 1—2 inches wide, oblong-lanceolate with an abrupt
tip, and tapering at the base to sheathing petioles, from a creeping
underground stem 2—3 inches long. Flower-stem shorter than the leaves
with one or rarely two blossoms which are pure white, very open,
6-parted; sepals and petals ¾—1 inch long, oblanceolate, obtuse;
stamens 6, shorter than the petals, anthers yellow.
In rich, moist woods throughout the region.
[Illustration: Lilium montanum A. Nelson. (½ Nat.) Red Mountain-Lily.]
[Illustration: Kruhsea streptopoides (Ledeb.) Kearney. (½ Nat.)
Kruhsea.]
[Sidenote: =Vagnera stellata= (L.) Morong. _Star-flowered Solomon’s
Seal._]
Glaucous throughout, 8—20 inches high, smooth or with a few short
hairs, leafy from a stout fleshy root; leaves alternate, 2—5 inches
long, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, with a clasping base,
smooth and bright green above, glaucous and minutely hairy beneath.
Flowers white, several forming a rather open terminal head. 1—2 inches
long; petals and sepals narrow, ¼ to ⅜ of an inch long; stamens 6,
about half their length, anthers nearly white.
Common throughout the region in moist words and thickets; flowering
through June and July.
[Sidenote: =Vagnera amplexicaulis= (Nutt.) Greene. _False Solomon’s
Seal._]
Tall, stout, and leafy, 18—30 inches high, from a fleshy rootstock;
stem striate and slightly hairy especially near the top; leaves
alternate, sessile or short-petioled, ovate or oblong, 3—7 inches
long, 1½—3 inches broad, short, acuminate, often with a twisted tip.
Flowers small, yellowish-white in a close terminal head 1½—3½ inches
long; petals and sepals minute, about ¹/₁₆ of an inch long; stamens 6,
the filaments petaloid and about ⅛ of an inch long, anthers yellowish
white.
Common throughout the region in the moist rich woods; flowering during
June.
[Sidenote: =Streptopus amplexifolius= (L.) DC. _Tall Twisted-stalk._]
Plant 1—3 feet high, from a short, stout rootstock, covered with
numerous fibrous roots; stem glaucous, usually branching below the
middle, smooth above and covered with stiff hairs below. Leaves
alternate, ovate-lanceolate, 2—5 inches long, 1—2 inches wide,
acuminate, smooth, bright green above, glaucous beneath, heart-shaped
and clasping at the base. Flowers numerous, 1 or 2 on a stem at the
back of each of the upper leaves, stem bent or twisted about the
middle; sepals and petals greenish-white or yellowish, narrowly
lanceolate about ½ an inch long, spreading and turned back at the tips;
berry ½—¾ of an inch in diameter, globose, yellow or bright scarlet.
A rather striking plant throughout the region in the moist rich woods
among rocks; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Streptopus curvipes= A. M. Vail. _Smaller Twisted-stalk._]
Plant 6—24 inches high, smooth except the flower-stalks and
margins of the leaves, simple or slightly branched from a slender
creeping rhizome, with a few fibrous rootlets at the nodes. Leaves
yellowish-green, sessile, oval or oblong-lanceolate, 1—3 inches long,
acuminate at the tip and rounded or more or less clasping at the
base, the margins more or less scatteringly glandular-hairy. Flowers
few at the backs of the upper leaves, solitary on glandular-hairy,
curved stalks ¼—¾ of an inch long; sepals and petals pale purple or
rose colour, darker spotted on the inner surface, slender, slightly
more than ¼ of an inch long; anthers beaked, the beaks slender; berry
globose, about ⅜ of an inch in diameter, bright red.
In the damp woods in the Selkirks, frequent, growing in colonies and
spreading largely by the creeping rhizomes.
[Sidenote: =Kruhsea streptopoides= (Ledeb.) Kearney. _Kruhsea._]
Smooth and simple, 3—6 inches high, from an extensively creeping
rhizome, with a few fibrous roots at each node. Leaves 4—8, bright
green and shining on both surfaces, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 1—2
inches long, the upper merely sessile, the lower clasping at the base.
Flowers few, about ¼ of an inch in width, stellate and solitary on very
slender, curved stalks about ⅜ of an inch long in the axils, at the
backs of the upper leaves; sepals and petals deep wine-colour at the
base, with yellowish-green reflexed tips; stamens 6, anthers ovoid,
2-lobed, yellow and prominent, slightly below the centre of the sepals
and petals; ovary broadly urn-shaped; style none; berry nearly globose
at maturity and bright red.
Known only in the Selkirks where it occurs in colonies of considerable
size in the rich woods at Glacier; flowering in the middle of June.
[Sidenote: =Disporum Oreganum= (S. Wats.) B. and H. _Disporum._]
Stem 1—3 feet high, much branched and finely hairy above. Leaves
yellowish-green when young, becoming darker with age, ovate or oblong,
acuminate, distinctly heart-shaped at the base, 2—4 inches long,
hairy, especially beneath. Flowers appearing as the leaves unfold
greenish-yellow or nearly white, drooping 1 or 2 together at the ends
of the branches; sepals and petals spreading half an inch or more in
length, lanceolate and narrowed at the base into a broad claw; stamens
exserted, anthers yellow; style simple, larger than the stamens; berry
ovate, half an inch in diameter, smooth or nearly so when ripe, bright
red and few-seeded.
In moist rich woods throughout the region, most abundant on the
western slope of the Rockies and in the Selkirks; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Disporum majus= (Hook). Britton. _Large Flowered Disporum._]
Plant 1—2 feet high with few branches, hairy when young. Leaves ovate
or oblong-lanceolate, acute or short, acuminate, rounded at the base.
Flowers greenish-yellow or nearly white, 1—3 together at the ends of
the branches; sepals and petals not spreading, half an inch or less in
length, narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, stamens about equalling the
sepals and petals; style slightly longer than the stamens, 3-cleft;
berry a little less than half an inch in diameter, depressed, globose,
and roughened with short papillæ.
In rich woods, most abundant on the eastern slopes of the Rockies;
flowering early in June.