3 o
t 2 79 ]
C O N V A L L A R I A multiflora.
Common Solomon s-S eal.
H E X A N D R I A Monogynia.
Gen. Char. Cor. 6-cleft. Berry fpotted, 3-celled.
Spec. Char. Leaves alternate, embracing the ftem,
which is round. Flovver-ftalks axillary, many-
flowered.
Syn. Convallaria, miiltiflora. Linn. Sp. P l. 4 52.
Hud/. F I. An. 14 7 . With. Bot. A rr. 3 5 5 .
Polygonatum. R a ii Syn. 263.
A N A T IV E of woods and thickets in various parts of
England, though not very common. It is often met with in
country gardens, and will even bear the fmoke of London. It
is perennial, flowering in May or early in June.
The toots are*flefhy, creeping horizontally, and are faid by
Linnteus in Flora Suecica to have been fometimes made into
bread. Stems annual, a foot or more in height, Ample, a
little curved, leafy, fmooth, round. Leaves alternate, elliptical,
ribbed, each of thofe towards the middle part of the ftem bearing
from their bofoijs a branched flower-ftalk, which fuftains
from 2 to 5 drooping flowers, of a whitilh colour tipped with
green, very flightly downy at the fummit, with a faint fmell of
bitter almonds. Stamina fhort, inferted into the tube of the
corolla, as we ought to have defcribed thofe of C. veriicillata
(tab. 128). Style flender, as long as the tube, with a 3-cleft
ftigma. Berries red, but rarely produced, the plant increafing fo
much by root.—Children fometimes eat the unripe germen, as
it has a fweetilh tafte like green peas.