Chelone glabra. 17
branching, strong, from two to three feet high, terminating in fascicled
spikes of singular cream-white flowers. Leaves smooth, pale on the
under side, opposite, numerous, crowded towards the summit of the
stems and branches, situated on petioles not exceeding an eighth of
an inch long, lanceolate, acuminate, sharply and deeply serrated, costa
and nerves very conspicuous. Flowers crowded together in dense
spikes, surrounded with clusters of large leaves. Spike becoming
elongated during florescence. Calices imbricated. Scales convex, oblong,
obtuse, of a pale yellowish-green colour margined with carmine.
Corolla resembling a snake’s head with the mouth gaping; hence the
common name; ventricose, of a cream-white colour in the inflated portion
and towards the base; apex discoloured with dingy green, mottled
with reddish spots. Stamens included, very villous. Grows along the
margins of rivulets and meadow drains, in watery thickets, and on the
banks of grassy water courses, very common throughout the Union.
Flowers from July till October, and I have often met with luxuriant
flowering specimens during that revival of vegetation which takes
place in our autumn, as late as November.
Pursh does not consider this a distinct species from the Chelone
obliqua, which is surprising to me. They cannot be confounded,
consistently with our present rules for specific discrepancy.
The name Chelone is derived from a tortoise.
VOX.. H I. 5