withers away.

Of the three kinds of blossoms, one raises its stigma on a long style
reaching to the top of the flower; a second form reaches its stigma only
half-way up, and the third keeps its stigma in the bottom of the tube.
The visiting bee gets his abdomen, his chest, and his tongue dusted with
pollen from long, middle-length, and short stamens respectively. When he
visits another flower, these parts of his body coming in contact with
the stigmas that occupy precisely the position where the stamens were in
other individuals, he brushes off each lot of pollen just where it will
do the most good.




LILY FAMILY _(Liliaceae)_


American White Hellebore; Indian Poke; Itch-weed

_Veratrum viride_

_Flowers_--Dingy, pale yellowish or whitish green, growing greener with
age, 1 in. or less across, very numerous, in stiff-branching,
spike-like, dense-flowered panicles. Perianth of 6 oblong segments; 6
short curved stamens; 3 styles. _Stem:_ Stout, leafy, 2 to 8 ft. tall.
_Leaves:_ Plaited, lower ones broadly oval, pointed, 6 to 12 in. long;
parallel ribbed, sheathing the stem where they clasp it; upper leaves
gradually narrowing; those among flowers small.