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Blanchan, Neltje, 1865-1918

"Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors"

Leaves: 3-foliate, usually overtopping the spathe,
their slender petioles 9 to 30 in. high, or as tall as the scape
that rises from an acrid corm. Fruit: Smooth, shining red berries
clustered on the thickened club.
Preferred Habitat - Moist woodland and thickets.
Flowering Season - April-June.
Distribution - Nova Scotia westward to Minnesota, and southward
to the Gulf States.
A jolly looking preacher is Jack, standing erect in his
particolored pulpit with a sounding-board over his head; but he
is a gay deceiver, a wolf in sheep's clothing,, literally a
"brother to dragons," an arrant upstart, an ingrate, a murderer
of innocent benefactors! "Female botanizing classes pounce upon
it as they would upon a pious young clergyman," complains Mr.
Ellwanger. A poor relation of the stately calla lily one knows
Jack to be at a glance, her lovely white robe corresponding to
his striped pulpit, her bright yellow spadix to his sleek
reverence. In the damp woodlands where his pulpit is erected
beneath leafy cathedral arches, minute flies or gnats, recently
emerged from maggots in mushrooms, toadstools, or decaying logs,
form the main part of his congregation.


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