_Polygonatum biflorum_
_Flowers_--Whitish or yellowish green, tubular, bell-shaped, 1 to 4, but
usually 2, drooping on slender peduncles from leaf axils. Perianth
6-lobed at entrance, but not spreading; 6 stamens, the filaments
roughened; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Simple, slender, arching, leafy, 8 in. to 3
ft. long. _Leaves:_ Oval, pointed, or lance-shaped, alternate, 2 to 4
in. long, seated on stem, pale beneath and softly hairy along veins.
_Rootstock:_ Thick, horizontal, jointed, scarred. (_Polygonatum_ = many
joints.) _Fruit:_ A blue-black berry.
_Preferred Habitat_--Woods, thickets, shady banks.
_Flowering Season_--April-June.
_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Florida, westward to Michigan.
From a many-jointed, thick rootstock a single graceful curved stem
arises each spring, withers after fruiting, and leaves a round scar,
whose outlines suggested to the fanciful man who named the genus the
seal of Israel’s wise king. Thus one may know the age of a root by its
seals, as one tells that of a tree by the rings in its trunk.