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diff --git a/old/wfwkn10.txt b/old/wfwkn10.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c5537e3..0000000 --- a/old/wfwkn10.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10057 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wild Flowers Worth Knowing -by Neltje Blanchan et al - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the -copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing -this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. - -This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project -Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the -header without written permission. - -Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the -eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is -important information about your specific rights and restrictions in -how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a -donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** - - -Title: Wild Flowers Worth Knowing - -Author: Neltje Blanchan et al - -Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8866] -[This file was first posted on August 16, 2003] - -Edition: 10 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, WILD FLOWERS WORTH KNOWING *** - - - - -E-text prepared by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders - - - -Editorial note: The "zip" version of this book (wfwkn10.zip) includes - numerous images to accompany the text. - - - -WILD FLOWERS WORTH KNOWING - -ADAPTED BY - -ASA DON DICKINSON - -From _Nature's Garden_ - -BY NELTJE BLANCHAN - -_1917_ - - - - - -PREFACE - - -A still more popular edition of what has proved to the author to be a -surprisingly popular book, has been prepared by the able hand of Mr. Asa -Don Dickinson, and is now offered in the hope that many more people will -find the wild flowers in Nature's garden all about us well worth -knowing. For flowers have distinct objects in life and are everything -they are for the most justifiable of reasons, _i.e._, the perpetuation -and the improvement of their species. The means they employ to -accomplish these ends are so various and so consummately clever that, in -learning to understand them, we are brought to realize how similar they -are to the fundamental aims of even the human race. Indeed there are few -life principles that plants have not worked out satisfactorily. The -problems of adapting oneself to one's environment, of insuring healthy -families, of starting one's children well in life, of founding new -colonies in distant lands, of the cooperative method of conducting -business as opposed to the individualistic, of laying up treasure in the -bank for future use, of punishing vice and rewarding virtue--these and -many other problems of mankind the flowers have worked out with the help -of insects, through the ages. To really understand what the wild flowers -are doing, what the scheme of each one is, besides looking beautiful, is -to give one a broader sympathy with both man and Nature and to add a -real interest and joy to life which cannot be too widely shared. - -Neltje Blanchan. - -_Oyster Bay, New York, January_ 2, 1917. - -_Editor's Note_.--The nomenclature and classification of Gray's New -Manual of Botany, as rearranged and revised by Professors Robinson and -Fernald, have been followed throughout the book. This system is based -upon that of Eichler, as developed by Engler and Prantl. A variant form -of name is also sometimes given to assist in identification.--A.D.D. - - - - -CONTENTS - -Preface, and Editor's Note - -WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY _(Alismaceae)_ - Broad-leaved Arrow-head - -ARUM FAMILY _(Araceae)_ - Jack-in-the-Pulpit; - Skunk Cabbage - -SPIDERWORT FAMILY _(Commelinaceae)_ - Virginia or Common Day-flower - -PICKEREL-WEED FAMILY _(Pontederiaceae)_ - Pickerel Weed - -LILY FAMILY _(Liliaceae)_ - American White Hellebore; - Wild Yellow, Meadow, - Field or Canada Lily; - Red, Wood, Flame or Philadelphia Lily; - Yellow Adder's Tongue or Dog-tooth "Violet"; - Yellow Clintonia; - Wild Spikenard or False Solomon's Seal; - Hairy, True or Twin-flowered Solomon's Seal; - Early or Dwarf Wake-Robin; - Purple Trillium; - Ill-scented Wake-Robin or Birth-root; - Carrion flower - -AMARYLLIS FAMILY _(Amaryllidaceae)_ - Yellow Star-grass - -IRIS FAMILY _(Iridaceae)_ - Larger Blue Flag, Blue Iris or Fleur-de-lis; - Blackberry Lily; - Pointed Blue-eyed Grass, Eye-bright or Blue Star - -ORCHIS FAMILY _(Orchidaceae)_ - Large Yellow Lady's Slipper, Whippoorwill's Shoe or Yellow Moccasin - Flower; - Moccasin Flower or Pink, Venus' or Stemless Lady's Slipper; - Showy, Gay or Spring Orchis; - Large, Early or Purple-fringed Orchis; - White-fringed Orchis; - Yellow-fringed Orchis; - Calopagon or Grass Pink; - Arethusa or Indian Pink; - Nodding Ladies' Tresses - -BUCKWHEAT FAMILY _(Polygonaceae)_ - Common Persicaria, Pink Knotweed or Jointweed or Smartweed - -POKEWEED FAMILY _(Phytolaccaceae)_ - Pokeweed, Scoke, Pigeon-berry, Ink-berry or Garget - -PINK FAMILY _(Caryophyllaceae)_ - Common Chickweed; - Corn Cockle, Corn Rose, Corn or Red Campion, or Crown-of-the-Field; - Starry Campion; - Wild Pink or Catchfly; - Soapwort, Bouncing Bet or Old Maid's Pink - -PURSLANE FAMILY _(Portulacaceae)_ - Spring Beauty or Claytonia - -WATER-LILY FAMILY _(Nymphaeaceae)_ - Large Yellow Pond or Water Lily, Cow Lily or Spatterdock; - Sweet-scented White Water or Pond Lily - -CROWFOOT FAMILY _(Ranunculaceae)_ - Common Meadow Buttercup, Tall Crowfoot or Cuckoo Flower; - Tall Meadow Rue; Liver-leaf, Hepatica, Liverwort or Squirrel Cup; - Wood Anemone or Wind Flower; - Virgin's Bower, Virginia Clematis or Old Man's Beard; - Marsh Marigold, Meadow-gowan or American Cowslip; - Gold-thread or Canker-root; - Wild Columbine; - Black Cohosh, Black Snakeroot or Tall Bugbane; - White Bane-berry or Cohosh - -BARBERRY FAMILY _(Berberidaceae)_ - May Apple, Hog Apple or Mandrake; - Barberry or Pepperidge-bush - -POPPY FAMILY _(Papaveraceae)_ - Bloodroot; - Greater Celandine or Swallow-wort - -FUMITORY FAMILY _(Fumariaceae)_ - Dutchman's Breeches; - Squirrel Corn - -MUSTARD FAMILY _(Cruciferae)_ - Shepherd's Purse; - Black Mustard - -PITCHER-PLANT FAMILY _(Sarraceniaceae)_ - Pitcher-plant, Side-saddle Flower or Indian Dipper - -SUNDEW FAMILY _(Dioseraceae)_ - Round-leaved Sundew or Dew-plant - -SAXIFRAGE FAMILY _(Saxifragaceae)_ - Early Saxifrage; - False Miterwort, Coolwort or Foam Flower; - Grass of Parnassus - -WITCH-HAZEL FAMILY _(Hamamelidaceae)_ - Witch-hazel - -ROSE FAMILY _(Rosaceae)_ - Hardhack or Steeple Bush; - Meadow-Sweet or Quaker Lady; - Common Hawthorn, White Thorn, Red Haw or Mayflower; - Five-finger or Common Cinquefoil; - High Bush Blackberry, or Bramble; - Purple-flowering or Virginia Raspberry; - Wild Roses - -PULSE FAMILY _(Leguminosae)_ - Wild or American Senna; - Wild Indigo, Yellow or Indigo Broom, or Horsefly-Weed; - Wild Lupine, Sun Dial or Wild Pea; - Common Red, Purple, Meadow or Honeysuckle Clover; - White Sweet, Bokhara or Tree Clover; - Blue, Tufted or Cow Vetch or Tare; - Ground-nut; - Wild or Hog Peanut - -WOOD-SORREL FAMILY _(Oxalidaceae)_ - White or True Wood-sorrel or Alleluia; - Violet Wood-sorrel - -GERANIUM FAMILY _(Geraniaceae)_ - Wild or Spotted Geranium or Crane's-Bill; - Herb Robert, Red Robin or Red Shanks - -MILKWORT FAMILY _(Polygalaceae)_ - Fringed Milkwort or Polygala or Flowering Wintergreen; - Common Field or Purple Milkwort - -TOUCH-ME-NOT FAMILY _(Balsaminaceae)_ - Jewel-weed, Spotted Touch-me-not or Snap Weed - -BUCKTHORN FAMILY _(Rhamnaceae)_ - New Jersey Tea - -MALLOW FAMILY _(Malvaceae)_ - Swamp Rose-mallow or Mallow Rose - -ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY _(Hypericaceae)_ - Common St. John's-wort - -ROCKROSE FAMILY _(Cistaceae)_ - Long-branched Frost-weed or Canadian Rockrose - -VIOLET FAMILY _(Violaceae)_ - Blue and Purple Violets; - Yellow Violets; - White Violets - -EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY _(Onagraceae)_ - Great or Spiked Willow-herb or Fire-weed; - Evening Primrose or Night Willow-herb - -GINSENG FAMILY _(Araliaceae)_ - Spikenard or Indian Root - -PARSLEY FAMILY _(Umbelliferae)_ - Wild or Field Parsnip; - Wild Carrot or Queen Anne's Lace - -DOGWOOD FAMILY _(Cornaceae)_ - Flowering Dogwood - -HEATH FAMILY _(Ericaceae)_ - Pipsissewa or Prince's Pine; - Indian Pipe, Ice-plant, Ghost flower or Corpse-plant; - Pine Sap or False Beech-drops; - Wild Honeysuckle, Pink, Purple or Wild Azalea, or Pinxter-flower; - American or Great Rhododendron, Great Laurel, or Bay; - Mountain or American Laurel or Broad-leaved Kalmia; - Trailing Arbutus or Mayflower; - Creeping Wintergreen, Checker-berry or Partridge-berry - -PRIMROSE FAMILY _(Primulaceae)_ - Four-leaved or Whorled Loosestrife; - Star-flower; - Scarlet Pimpernel, Poor Man's Weatherglass or Shepherd's Clock; - Shooting Star or American Cowslip - -GENTIAN FAMILY _(Gentianaceae)_ - Bitter-bloom or Rose-Pink; - Fringed Gentian; - Closed or Blind Gentian - -DOGBANE FAMILY _(Apocynaceae)_ - Spreading or Fly-trap Dogbane - -MILKWEED FAMILY _(Asclepiadaceae)_ - Common Milkweed or Silkweed; - Butterfly-weed - -CONVOLVULUS FAMILY _(Convolvulaceae)_ - Hedge or Great Bindweed; - Gronovius' or Common Dodder or Strangle-weed - -POLEMONIUM FAMILY _(Polemoniaceae)_ - Ground or Moss Pink - -BORAGE FAMILY _(Boraginaceae)_ - Forget-me-not; - Viper's Bugloss or Snake-flower - -VERVAIN FAMILY _(Verbenaceae)_ - Blue Vervain, Wild Hyssop or Simpler's Joy - -MINT FAMILY _(Labiatae)_ - Mad-dog Skullcap or Madweed; - Self-heal, Heal-all, Blue Curls or Brunella; - Motherwort; - Oswego Tea, Bee Balm or Indian's Plume; - Wild Bergamot - -NIGHTSHADE FAMILY _(Solanaceae)_ - Nightshade, Blue Bindweed or Bittersweet; - Jamestown Weed, Thorn Apple or Jimson Weed - -FIGWORT FAMILY _(Scrophulariaceae)_ - Great Mullein, Velvet or Flannel Plant or Aaron's Rod; - Moth Mullein; - Butter-and-eggs or Yellow Toadflax; - Blue or Wild Toadflax or Blue Linaria; - Hairy Beard-tongue; - Snake-head, Turtle-head or Cod-head; - Monkey-flower; - Common Speedwell, Fluellin or Paul's Betony; - American Brooklime; - Culver's-root; - Downy False Foxglove; - Large Purple Gerardia; - Scarlet Painted Cup or Indian Paint-brush; - Wood Betony or Loosewort - -BROOM-RAPE FAMILY (_Orobanchaceae_) - Beech-drops - -MADDER FAMILY (_Rubiaceae_) - Partridge Vine or Squaw-berry; - Button-bush or Honey-balls; - Bluets, Innocence or Quaker Ladies - -BLUEBELL FAMILY (_Campanulaceae_) - Harebell, Hairbell or Blue Bells of Scotland; Venus' Looking-glass - or Clasping Bellflower - -LOBELIA FAMILY (_Lobeliaceae_) - Cardinal Flower; - Great Lobelia - -COMPOSITE FAMILY (_Compositae_) - Iron-weed or Flat Top; - Joe Pye Weed, Trumpet Weed, or Tall or Purple Boneset or Thoroughwort; - Golden-rods; - Blue and Purple Asters or Starworts; - White Asters or Starworts; - Golden Aster; - Daisy Fleabane or Sweet Scabious; - Robin's or Robert's Plantain or Blue Spring Daisy; - Pearly or Large-flowered Everlasting or Immortelle, Elecampane - or Horseheal; - Black-eyed Susan or Yellow or Ox-eye Daisy; - Tall or Giant Sunflower; - Sneezeweed or Swamp Sunflower; - Yarrow or Milfoil; - Dog's or Fetid Camomile or Dog-fennel; - Common Daisy, Marguerite, or White Daisy; - Tansy or Bitter Buttons; - Thistles; Chicory or Succory; - Common Dandelion; - Tall or Wild Lettuce; - Orange or Tawny Hawkweed or Devil's Paint-brush - -COLOR KEY - -GENERAL INDEX OF NAMES - - - - -WILD FLOWERS - - - - -WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY _(Alismaceae)_ - -Broad-leaved Arrow-head - -_Sagittaria latifolia (S. variabilis)_ - -_Flowers_--White, 1 to 1-1/2 in. wide, in 3-bracted whorls of 3, borne -near the summit of a leafless scape 4 in. to 4 ft. tall. Calyx of 3 -sepals; corolla of 3 rounded, spreading petals. Stamens and pistils -numerous, the former yellow in upper flowers; usually absent or -imperfect in lower pistillate flowers. _Leaves_: Exceedingly variable; -those under water usually long and grass-like; upper ones sharply -arrow-shaped or blunt and broad, spongy or leathery, on long petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Shallow water and mud. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--From Mexico northward throughout our area to the -circumpolar regions. - -Wading into shallow water or standing on some muddy shore, like a heron, -this striking plant, so often found in that bird's haunts, is quite as -decorative in a picture, and, happily, far more approachable in life. -Indeed, one of the comforts of botany as compared with bird study is -that we may get close enough to the flowers to observe their last -detail, whereas the bird we have followed laboriously over hill and -dale, through briers and swamps, darts away beyond the range of -field-glasses with tantalizing swiftness. - -While no single plant is yet thoroughly known to scientists, in spite of -the years of study devoted by specialists to separate groups, no plant -remains wholly meaningless. When Keppler discovered the majestic order -of movement of the heavenly bodies, he exclaimed, "O God, I think Thy -thoughts after Thee!"--the expression of a discipleship every reverent -soul must be conscious of in penetrating, be it ever so little a way, -into the inner meaning of the humblest wayside weed. - -Any plant which elects to grow in shallow water must be amphibious: it -must be able to breathe beneath the surface as the fish do, and also be -adapted to thrive without those parts that correspond to gills; for -ponds and streams have an unpleasant way of drying up in summer, -leaving it stranded on the shore. This accounts in part for the -variable leaves on the arrow-head, those underneath the water being -long and ribbon-like, to bring the greatest possible area into contact -with the air with which the water is charged. Broad leaves would be -torn to shreds by the current through which grass-like blades glide -harmlessly; but when this plant grows on shore, having no longer use -for its lower ribbons, it loses them, and expands only broad -arrow-shaped surfaces to the sunny air, leaves to be supplied with -carbonic acid to assimilate, and sunshine to turn off, the oxygen and -store up the carbon into their system. - - - - -ARUM FAMILY _(Araceae)_ - - -Jack-in-the-Pulpit; Indian Turnip - -_Arisaema triphyllum_ - -_Flowers_--Minute, greenish yellow, clustered on the lower part of a -smooth, club-shaped, slender spadix within a green and maroon or -whitish-striped spathe that curves in a broad-pointed flap above it. -_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 parti-colored -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. - -Now, to drop the clerical simile, let us peep within the sheathing -spathe, or, better still, strip it off altogether. Doctor Torrey states -that the dark-striped spathes are the fertile plants, those with green -and whitish lines, sterile. Within are smooth, glossy columns, and near -the base of each we shall find the true flowers, minute affairs, some -staminate; others, on distinct plants, pistillate, the berry bearers; or -rarely both male and female florets seated on the same club, as if -Jack's elaborate plan to prevent self-fertilization were not yet -complete. Plants may be detected in process of evolution toward their -ideals just as nations and men are. Doubtless when Jack's mechanism is -perfected, his guilt will disappear. A little way above the florets the -club enlarges abruptly, forming a projecting ledge that effectually -closes the avenue of escape for many a guileless victim. A fungous gnat, -enticed perhaps by the striped house of refuge from cold spring winds, -and with a prospect of food below, enters and slides down the inside -walls or the slippery, colored column: in either case descent is very -easy; it is the return that is made so difficult, if not impossible, for -the tiny visitors. Squeezing past the projecting ledge, the gnat finds -himself in a roomy apartment whose floor--the bottom of the pulpit--is -dusted over with fine pollen; that is, if he is among staminate flowers -already mature. To get some of that pollen, with which the gnat -presently covers himself, transferred to the minute pistillate florets -waiting for it in a distant chamber is, of course, Jack's whole aim in -enticing visitors within his polished walls; but what means are provided -for their escape? Their efforts to crawl upward over the slippery -surface only land them weak and discouraged where they started. The -projecting ledge overhead prevents them from using their wings; the -passage between the ledge and the spathe is far too narrow to permit -flight. Now, if a gnat be persevering, he will presently discover a gap -in the flap where the spathe folds together in front, and through this -tiny opening he makes his escape, only to enter another pulpit, like the -trusted, but too trusting, messenger he is, and leave some of the -vitalizing pollen on the fertile florets awaiting his coming. - -But suppose the fly, small as he is, is too large to work his way out -through the flap, or too bewildered or stupid to find the opening, or -too exhausted after his futile efforts to get out through the overhead -route to persevere, or too weak with hunger in case of long detention in -a pistillate trap where no pollen is, what then? Open a dozen of Jack's -pulpits, and in several, at least, dead victims will be found--pathetic -little corpses sacrificed to the imperfection of his executive system. -Had the flies entered mature spathes, whose walls had spread outward and -away from the polished column, flight through the overhead route might -have been possible. However glad we may be to make every due allowance -for this sacrifice of the higher life to the lower, as only a temporary -imperfection of mechanism incidental to the plant's higher development, -Jack's present cruelty shocks us no less. Or, it may be, he will become -insectivorous like the pitcher plant in time. He comes from a rascally -family, anyhow. His cousin, the cuckoo-pint, as is well known, destroys -the winged messenger bearing its offspring to plant fresh colonies in a -distant bog, because the decayed body of the bird acts as the best -possible fertilizer into which the seedling may strike its roots. - -In June and July the thick-set club, studded over with bright berries, -becomes conspicuous, to attract hungry woodland rovers in the hope that -the seeds will be dropped far from the parent plant. The Indians used to -boil the berries for food. The farinaceous root (corm) they likewise -boiled or dried to extract the stinging, blistering juice, leaving an -edible little "turnip," however insipid and starchy. - - -Skunk or Swamp Cabbage - -_Symplocarpus foetidus_ - -_Flowers_--Minute, perfect, foetid; many scattered over a thick, -rounded, fleshy spadix, and hidden within a swollen, shell-shaped, -purplish-brown to greenish-yellow, usually mottled, spathe, close to the -ground, that appears before the leaves. Spadix much enlarged and spongy -in fruit, the bulb-like berries imbedded in its surface. _Leaves:_ In -large crowns like cabbages, broadly ovate, often 1 ft. across, strongly -nerved, their petioles with deep grooves, malodorous. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Swamps, wet ground. - -_Flowering Season_--February-April. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Florida, and westward to Minnesota and -Iowa. - -This despised relative of the stately calla lily proclaims spring in the -very teeth of winter, being the first bold adventurer above ground. When -the lovely hepatica, the first flower worthy the name to appear, is -still wrapped in her fuzzy furs, the skunk cabbage's dark, incurved -horn shelters within its hollow, tiny, malodorous florets. Why is the -entire plant so foetid that one flees the neighborhood, pervaded as it -is with an odor that combines a suspicion of skunk, putrid meat, and -garlic? After investigating the Carrion-flower and the Purple Trillium, -among others, we learned that certain flies delight in foul odors -loathsome to higher organisms; that plants dependent on these pollen -carriers woo them from long distances with a stench, and in addition -sometimes try to charm them with color resembling the sort of meat it is -their special mission, with the help of beetles and other scavengers of -Nature, to remove from the face of the earth. In such marshy ground as -the Skunk Cabbage lives in, many small flies and gnats live in embryo -under the fallen leaves during the winter. But even before they are -warmed into active life, the hive-bees, natives of Europe, and with -habits not perfectly adapted as yet to our flora, are out after pollen. - -After the flowering time come the vivid green crowns of leaves that at -least please the eye. Lizards make their home beneath them, and many a -yellowthroat, taking advantage of the plant's foul odor, gladly puts up -with it herself and builds her nest in the hollow of the cabbage as a -protection for her eggs and young from four-footed enemies. Cattle let -the plant alone because of the stinging acrid juices secreted by it, -although such tender, fresh, bright foliage must be especially tempting, -like the hellebore's, after a dry winter diet. Sometimes tiny insects -are found drowned in the wells of rain water that accumulate at the base -of the grooved leafstalks. - - - - -SPIDERWORT FAMILY _(Commelinaceae)_ - - -Virginia, or Common Day-flower - -_Commelina virginica_ - -_Flowers_--Blue, 1 in. broad or less, irregular, grouped at end of stem, -and upheld by long leaf-like bracts. Calyx of 3 unequal sepals; 3 -petals, 1 inconspicuous, 2 showy, rounded. Perfect stamens 3; the anther -of 1 incurved stamen largest; 3 insignificant and sterile stamens; 1 -pistil. _Stem:_ Fleshy, smooth, branched, mucilaginous. _Leaves:_ -Lance-shaped, 3 to 5 in. long, sheathing the stem at base; upper leaves -in a spathe-like bract folding like a hood about flowers. _Fruit:_ A -3-celled capsule, 1 seed in each cell. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, shady ground. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--"Southern New York to Illinois and Michigan, Nebraska, -Texas, and through tropical America to Paraguay."--Britton and Browne. - -Delightful Linnaeus, who dearly loved his little joke, himself confesses -to have named the day-flowers after three brothers Commelyn, Dutch -botanists, because two of them--commemorated in the two showy blue -petals of the blossom--published their works; the third, lacking -application and ambition, amounted to nothing, like the inconspicuous -whitish third petal! Happily Kaspar Commelyn died in 1731, before the -joke was perpetrated in "Species Plantarum." Soon after noon, the -day-flower's petals roll up, never to open again. - - - - -PICKEREL-WEED FAMILY _(Pontederiaceae)_ - - -Pickerel Weed - -_Pontederia cordata_ - -_Flowers_--Bright purplish blue, including filaments, anthers, and -style; crowded in a dense spike; quickly fading; unpleasantly odorous. -Perianth tubular, 2-lipped, parted into 6 irregular lobes, free from -ovary; middle lobe of upper lip with 2 yellow spots at base within. -Stamens 6, placed at unequal distances on tube, 3 opposite each lip. -Pistil 1, the stigma minutely toothed. _Stem_: Erect, stout, fleshy, 1 -to 4 ft. tall, not often over 2 ft. above water line. _Leaves_: Several -bract-like, sheathing stem at base; 1 leaf only, midway on flower-stalk, -thick, polished, triangular, or arrow-shaped, 4 to 8 in. long, 2 to 6 -in. across base. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Shallow water of ponds and streams. - -_Flowering Season_--June-October. - -_Distribution_--Eastern half of United States and Canada. - -Grace of habit and the bright beauty of its long blue spikes of ragged -flowers above rich, glossy leaves give a charm to this vigorous wader. -Backwoodsmen will tell you that pickerels lay their eggs among the -leaves; but so they do among the sedges, arums, wild rice, and various -aquatic plants, like many another fish. Bees and flies, that congregate -about the blossoms to feed, may sometimes fly too low, and so give a -plausible reason for the pickerel's choice of haunt. Each blossom lasts -but a single day; the upper portion, withering, leaves the base of the -perianth to harden about the ovary and protect the solitary seed. But as -the gradually lengthened spike keeps up an uninterrupted succession of -bloom for months, more than ample provision is made for the perpetuation -of the race--a necessity to any plant that refuses to thrive unless it -stands in water. Ponds and streams have an unpleasant habit of drying up -in summer, and often the Pickerel Weed looks as brown as a bullrush -where it is stranded in the baked mud in August. When seed falls on such -ground, if indeed it germinates at all, the young plant naturally -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. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Swamps, wet woods, low meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--British Possessions from ocean to ocean; southward in -the United States to Georgia, Tennessee, and Minnesota. - - "Borage and hellebore fill two scenes-- - Sovereign plants to purge the veins - Of melancholy, and cheer the heart - Of those black fumes which make it smart." - -Such are the antidotes for madness prescribed by Burton in his "Anatomie -of Melancholy." But like most medicines, so the homoeopaths have taught -us, the plant that heals may also poison; and the coarse, thick -rootstock of this hellebore sometimes does deadly work. The shining -plaited leaves, put forth so early in the spring they are especially -tempting to grazing cattle on that account, are too well known by most -animals, however, to be touched by them--precisely the end desired, of -course, by the hellebore, nightshade, aconite, cyclamen, Jamestown weed, -and a host of others that resort, for protection, to the low trick of -mixing poisonous chemicals with their cellular juices. Pliny told how -the horses, oxen, and swine of his day were killed by eating the foliage -of the black hellebore. But the flies which cross-fertilize this plant -seem to be uninjured by its nectar. - - -Wild Yellow, Meadow, or Field Lily; Canada Lily - -_Lilium canadense_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow to orange-red, of a deeper shade within, and speckled -with dark, reddish-brown dots. One or several (rarely many) nodding on -long peduncles from the summit. Perianth bell-shaped, of 6 spreading -segments 2 to 3 in. long, their tips curved backward to the middle; 6 -stamens, with reddish-brown linear anthers; 1 pistil, club-shaped; the -stigma 3-lobed. _Stem_: 2 to 5 ft. tall, leafy, from a bulbous rootstock -composed of numerous fleshy white scales. _Leaves_: Lance-shaped to -oblong; usually in whorls of fours to tens, or some alternate. _Fruit_: -An erect, oblong, 3-celled capsule, the flat, horizontal seeds packed in -2 rows in each cavity. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Swamps, low meadows, moist fields. - -_Flowering Season_--June-July. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Georgia, westward beyond the Mississippi. - -Not our gorgeous lilies that brighten the low-lying meadows in early -summer with pendent, swaying bells; possibly not a true lily at all was -chosen to illustrate the truth which those who listened to the Sermon on -the Mount, and we, equally anxious, foolishly overburdened folk of -to-day, so little comprehend. - -"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither -do they spin: - -"And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not -arrayed like one of these." - -Opinions differ as to the lily of Scripture. Eastern peoples use the -same word interchangeably for the tulip, anemone, ranunculus, iris, the -water-lilies, and those of the field. The superb scarlet Martagon Lily -_(L. chalcedonicum)_, grown in gardens here, is not uncommon wild in -Palestine; but whoever has seen the large anemones there "carpeting -every plain and luxuriantly pervading the land" is inclined to believe -that Jesus, who always chose the most familiar objects in the daily life -of His simple listeners to illustrate His teachings, rested His eyes on -the slopes about Him glowing with anemones in all their matchless -loveliness. What flower served Him then matters not at all. It is enough -that scientists--now more plainly than ever before--see the universal -application of the illustration the more deeply they study nature, and -can include their "little brothers of the air" and the humblest flower -at their feet when they say with Paul, "In God we live and move and have -our being." - -Tallest and most prolific of bloom among our native lilies, as it is the -most variable in color, size, and form, the Turk's Cap, or Turban Lily -_(L. superbum)_, sometimes nearly merges its identity into its Canadian -sister's. Travellers by rail between New York and Boston know how -gorgeous are the low meadows and marshes in July or August, when its -clusters of deep yellow, orange, or flame-colored lilies tower above the -surrounding vegetation. Like the color of most flowers, theirs -intensifies in salt air. Commonly from three to seven lilies appear in a -terminal group; but under skilful cultivation even forty will crown the -stalk that reaches a height of nine feet where its home suits it -perfectly; or maybe only a poor array of dingy yellowish caps top a -shrivelled stem when unfavorable conditions prevail. There certainly -are times when its specific name seems extravagant. - - -Red, Wood, Flame, or Philadelphia Lily - -_Lilium philadelphicum_ - -_Flowers_--Erect, tawny, or red-tinted outside; vermilion, or sometimes -reddish orange, and spotted with madder brown within; 1 to 5, on -separate peduncles, borne at the summit. Perianth of 6 distinct, -spreading, spatulate segments, each narrowed into a claw, and with a -nectar groove at its base; 6 stamens; 1 style, the club-shaped stigma -3-lobed. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. tall, from a bulb composed of narrow, -jointed, fleshy scales. _Leaves:_ In whorls of 3's to 8's, lance-shaped, -seated at intervals on the stem. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry woods, sandy soil, borders, and thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--June-July. - -_Distribution_--Northern border of United States, westward to Ontario, -south to the Carolinas and West Virginia. - -Erect, as if conscious of its striking beauty, this vivid lily lifts a -chalice that suggests a trap for catching sunbeams from fiery old Sol. -Defiant of his scorching rays in its dry habitat, it neither nods nor -droops even during prolonged drought; and yet many people confuse it -with the gracefully pendent, swaying bells of the yellow Canada Lily, -which will grow in a swamp rather than forego moisture. _La_, the Celtic -for white, from which the family derived its name, makes this -bright-hued flower blush to own it. Seedsmen, who export quantities of -our superb native lilies to Europe, supply bulbs so cheap that no one -should wait four years for flowers from seed, or go without their -splendor in our over-conventional gardens. - - -Yellow Adder's Tongue; Trout Lily; Dog-tooth "Violet" - -_Erythronium americanum_ - -_Flower_--Solitary, pale russet yellow, rarely tinged with purple, -slightly fragrant, 1 to 2 in. long, nodding from the summit of a -root-stalk 6 to 12 in, high, or about as tall as the leaves. Perianth -bell-shaped, of 6 petal-like, distinct segments, spreading at tips, -dark spotted within; 6 stamens; the club-shaped style with 3 short, -stigmatic ridges. _Leaves:_ 2, unequal, grayish green, mottled and -streaked with brown or all green, oblong, 3 to 8 in. long, narrowing -into clasping petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist open woods and thickets, brooksides. - -_Flowering Season_--March-May. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to the Mississippi. - -Colonies of these dainty little lilies, that so often grow beside -leaping brooks where and when the trout hide, justify at least one of -their names; but they have nothing in common with the violet or a dog's -tooth. Their faint fragrance rather suggests a tulip; and as for the -bulb, which in some of the lily-kin has toothlike scales, it is in this -case a smooth, egg-shaped corm, producing little round offsets from its -base. Much fault is also found with another name on the plea that the -curiously mottled and delicately pencilled leaves bring to mind, not a -snake's tongue, but its skin, as they surely do. Whoever sees the sharp -purplish point of a young plant darting above ground in earliest spring, -however, at once sees the fitting application of adder's tongue. But how -few recognize their plant friends at all seasons of the year! - -Every one must have noticed the abundance of low-growing spring flowers -in deciduous woodlands, where, later in the year, after the leaves -overhead cast a heavy shade, so few blossoms are to be found, because -their light is seriously diminished. The thrifty adder's tongue, by -laying up nourishment in its storeroom underground through the winter, -is ready to send its leaves and flower upward to take advantage of the -sunlight the still naked trees do not intercept, just as soon as the -ground thaws. - - -Yellow Clintonia - -_Clintonia borealis_ - -_Flowers--_Straw color or greenish yellow, less than 1 in. long, 3 to 6 -_nodding_ on slender pedicels from the summit of a leafless scape 6 to -15 in. tall. Perianth of 6 spreading divisions, the 6 stamens attached; -style, 3-lobed. _Leaves:_ Dark, glossy, large, oval to oblong, 2 to 5 -(usually 3), sheathing at the base. _Fruit:_ Oval blue berries on -_upright_ pedicels. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, rich, cool woods and thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution-_--From the Carolinas and Wisconsin far northward. - -To name canals, bridges, city thoroughfares, booming factory towns after -De Witt Clinton seems to many appropriate enough; but why a shy little -woodland flower? As fitly might a wee white violet carry down the name -of Theodore Roosevelt to posterity! "Gray should not have named the -flower from the Governor of New York," complains Thoreau. "What is he to -the lovers of flowers in Massachusetts? If named after a man, it must be -a man of flowers." So completely has Clinton, the practical man of -affairs, obliterated Clinton, the naturalist, from the popular mind, -that, were it not for this plant keeping his memory green, we should be -in danger of forgetting the weary, overworked governor, fleeing from -care to the woods and fields; pursuing in the open air the study which -above all others delighted and refreshed him; revealing in every leisure -moment a too-often forgotten side of his many-sided greatness. - - -Wild Spikenard; False Solomon's Seal; Solomon's Zig-zag - -_Smilacina racemosa_ - -_Flowers_--White or greenish, small, slightly fragrant, in a densely -flowered terminal raceme. Perianth of 6 separate, spreading segments; 6 -stamens; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Simple, somewhat angled, 1 to 3 ft. high, -scaly below, leafy, and sometimes finely hairy above. _Leaves:_ -Alternate and seated along stem, oblong, lance-shaped, 3 to 6 in. long, -finely hairy beneath. _Rootstock:_ Thick, fleshy. _Fruit:_ A cluster of -aromatic, round, pale red speckled berries. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist woods, thickets, hillsides. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Georgia; westward to Arizona and -British Columbia. - -As if to offer opportunities for comparison to the confused novice, the -true Solomon's Seal and the so-called false species--quite as honest a -plant--usually grow near each other. Grace of line, rather than beauty -of blossom, gives them both their chief charm. But the feathery plume of -greenish-white blossoms that crowns the false Solomon's Seal's somewhat -zig-zagged stem is very different from the small, greenish, bell-shaped -flowers, usually nodding in pairs along the stem, under the leaves, from -the axils of the true Solomon's Seal. Later in summer, when hungry birds -wander through the woods with increased families, the Wild Spikenard -offers them branching clusters of pale red speckled berries, whereas the -former plant feasts them with blue-black fruit. - - -Hairy, or True, or Twin-flowered Solomon's Seal - -_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. - - -Early or Dwarf Wake-Robin - -_Trillium nivale_ - -_Flowers_--Solitary, pure white, about 1 in. long, on an erect or curved -peduncle, from a whorl of 3 leaves at summit of stem. Three spreading, -green, narrowly oblong sepals; 3 oval or oblong petals; 6 stamens, the -anthers about as long as filaments; 3 slender styles stigmatic along -inner side. _Stem_: 2 to 6 in. high, from a short, tuber-like rootstock. -_Leaves_: 3 in a whorl below the flower, 1 to 2 in. long, broadly oval, -rounded at end, on short petioles. _Fruit_: A 3-lobed reddish berry, -about 1/2 in. diameter, the sepals adhering. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, moist woods and thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--March-May. - -_Distribution_--Pennsylvania, westward to Minnesota and Iowa, south -to Kentucky. - -Only this delicate little flower, as white as the snow it sometimes must -push through to reach the sunshine melting the last drifts in the -leafless woods, can be said to wake the robins into song; a full chorus -of feathered love-makers greets the appearance of the more widely -distributed, and therefore better known, species. - -By the rule of three all the trilliums, as their name implies, -regulate their affairs. Three sepals, three petals, twice three -stamens, three styles, a three-celled ovary, the flower growing out -from a whorl of three leaves, make the naming of wake-robins a simple -matter to the novice. - -One of the most chastely beautiful of our native wild flowers--so lovely -that many shady nooks in English rock-gardens and ferneries contain -imported clumps of the vigorous plant--is the Large-flowered Wake-Robin, -or White Wood Lily (_T. grandiflorum_). Under favorable conditions the -waxy, thin, white, or occasionally pink, strongly veined petals may -exceed two inches; and in Michigan a monstrous form has been found. The -broadly rhombic leaves, tapering to a point, and lacking petioles, are -seated in the usual whorl of three, at the summit of the stem, which may -attain a foot and a half in height; from the centre the decorative -flower arises on a long peduncle. - -Certainly the commonest trillium in the East, although it thrives as far -westward as Ontario and Missouri, and south to Georgia, is the Nodding -Wake-Robin (_T. cernuum_), whose white or pinkish flower droops from its -peduncle until it is all but hidden under the whorl of broadly rhombic, -tapering leaves. The wavy margined petals, about as long as the -sepals--that is to say, half an inch long or over--curve backward at -maturity. One finds the plant in bloom from April to June, according to -the climate of its long range. - - * * * * * - -Perhaps the most strikingly beautiful member of the tribe is the Painted -Trillium (_T. undulatum_ or _T. erythrocarpum_). At the summit of the -slender stem, rising perhaps only eight inches, or maybe twice as high, -this charming flower spreads its long, wavy-edged, waxy-white petals -veined and striped with deep pink or wine color. The large ovate leaves, -long-tapering to a point, are rounded at the base into short petioles. -The rounded, three-angled, bright red, shining berry is seated in the -persistent calyx. With the same range as the nodding trillium's, the -Painted Wake-Robin comes into bloom nearly a month later--in May and -June--when all the birds are not only wide awake, but have finished -courting, and are busily engaged in the most serious business of life. - - -Purple Trillium, Ill-scented Wake-Robin, or Birth-root - -_Trillium erectum_ - -_Flowers_--Solitary, dark, dull purple, or purplish red; rarely -greenish, white, or pinkish; on erect or slightly inclined footstalk. -Calyx of 3 spreading sepals, 1 to 1-1/2 in. long, or about length of 3 -pointed, oval petals; stamens, 6; anthers longer than filaments; pistil -spreading into 3 short, recurved stigmas. _Stem:_ Stout, 8 to 16 in. -high, from tuber-like rootstock. _Leaves:_ In a whorl of 3; broadly -ovate, abruptly pointed, netted-veined. _Fruit:_ A 6-angled, ovate, -reddish berry. - -_Preferred Habitat--Rich_, moist woods. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia westward to Manitoba, southward to North -Carolina and Missouri. - -Some weeks after the jubilant, alert robins have returned from the -South, the Purple Trillium unfurls its unattractive, carrion-scented -flower. In the variable colors found in different regions, one can -almost trace its evolution from green, white, and red to purple, which, -we are told, is the course all flowers must follow to attain to blue. -The white and pink forms, however attractive to the eye, are never more -agreeable to the nose than the reddish-purple ones. Bees and -butterflies, with delicate appreciation of color and fragrance, let the -blossom alone, since it secretes no nectar; and one would naturally -infer either that it can fertilize itself without insect aid--a theory -which closer study of its organs goes far to disprove--or that the -carrion-scent, so repellent to us, is in itself an attraction to certain -insects needful for cross-pollination. Which are they? Beetles have been -observed crawling over the flower, but without effecting any methodical -result. One inclines to accept Mr. Clarence M. Weed's theory of special -adaptation to the common green flesh-flies (_Lucilia carnicina_), which -would naturally be attracted to a flower resembling in color and odor a -raw beefsteak of uncertain age. These little creatures, seen in every -butcher shop throughout the summer, the flower furnishes with a free -lunch of pollen in consideration of the transportation of a few grains -to another blossom. Absence of the usual floral attractions gives the -carrion flies a practical monopoly of the pollen food, which no doubt -tastes as it smells. - -The Sessile-flowered Wake-Robin (_T. sessile_), whose dark purple, -purplish-red, or greenish blossom, narrower of sepal and petals than the -preceding, is seated in a whorl of three egg-shaped, sometimes blotched, -leaves, possesses a rather pleasant odor; nevertheless, it seems to have -no great attraction for insects. The stigmas, which are very large, -almost touch the anthers surrounding them; therefore the beetles which -one frequently sees crawling over them to feed on the pollen so jar -them, no doubt, as to self-fertilize the flower; but it is scarcely -probable these slow crawlers often transfer the grains from one blossom -to another. A degraded flower like this has little need of color and -perfume, one would suppose; yet it may be even now slowly perfecting its -way toward an ideal of which we see a part only complete. In deep, rich, -moist woods and thickets the sessile trillium blooms in April or May, -from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Minnesota southward nearly to the Gulf. - - -Carrion-flower - -_Smilax herbacea_ - -_Flowers_--Carrion-scented, yellowish-green, 15 to 80 small, 6-parted -ones clustered in an umbel on a long peduncle. _Stem:_ Smooth, unarmed, -climbing with the help of tendril-like appendages from the base of -leafstalks. _Leaves:_ Egg-shaped, heart-shaped, or rounded, pointed -tipped, parallel-nerved, petioled. _Fruit:_ Bluish-black berries. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist soil, thickets, woods, roadside fences. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Northern Canada to the Gulf states, westward to -Nebraska. - -"It would be safe to say," says John Burroughs, "that there is a species -of smilax with an unsavory name, that the bee does not visit, -_herbacea_. The production of this plant is a curious freak of -nature.... It would be a cruel joke to offer it to any person not -acquainted with it, to smell. It is like the vent of a charnel-house." -(Thoreau compared its odor to that of a dead rat in a wall!) "It is -first cousin to the trilliums, among the prettiest of our native wild -flowers," continues Burroughs, "and the same bad blood crops out in the -Purple Trillium or Birth-root." - -Strange that so close an observer as Burroughs or Thoreau should not -have credited the carrion-flower with being something more intelligent -than a mere repellent freak! Like the Purple Trillium, it has -deliberately adapted itself to please its benefactors, the little green -flesh-flies so commonly seen about untidy butcher shops in summer. - - - - -AMARYLLIS FAMILY _(Amaryllidaceae)_ - - -Yellow Star-grass - -_Hypoxis hirsuta (H. erecta)_ - -_Flowers_--Bright yellow within, greenish and hairy outside, about 1/2 -in. across, 6-parted; the perianth divisions spreading, narrowly oblong; -a few flowers at the summit of a rough, hairy scape 2 to 6 in. high. -_Leaves:_ All from an egg-shaped corm; mostly longer than scapes, -slender, grass-like, more or less hairy. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry, open woods, prairies, grassy waste -places, fields. - -_Flowering Season_--May-October. - -_Distribution_--From Maine far westward, and south to the Gulf of -Mexico. - -Usually only one of these little blossoms in a cluster on each plant -opens at a time; but that one peers upward so brightly from among the -grass it cannot well be overlooked. Sitting in a meadow sprinkled over -with these yellow stars, we see coming to them many small bees--chiefly -Halictus--to gather pollen for their unhatched babies' bread. Of course -they do not carry all the pollen to their tunnelled nurseries; some must -often be rubbed off on the sticky pistil tip in the centre of other -stars. The stamens radiate, that self-fertilization need not take place -except as a last extremity. Visitors failing, the little flower closes, -bringing its pollen-laden anthers in contact with its own stigma. - - - - - -IRIS FAMILY _(Iridaceae)_ - - -Larger Blue Flag; Blue Iris; Fleur-de-lis; Flower-de-luce - -_Iris versicolor_ - -_Flowers_--Several, 2 to 3 in. long, violet-blue variegated with yellow, -green, or white, and purple veined. Six divisions of the perianth: 3 -outer ones spreading, recurved; 1 of them bearded, much longer and wider -than the 3 erect inner divisions; all united into a short tube. Three -stamens under 3 overhanging petal-like divisions of the style, notched -at end; under each notch is a thin plate, smooth on one side, rough and -moist (stigma) on side turned away from anther. _Stem:_ 2 to 3 ft. high, -stout, straight, almost circular, sometimes branching above. _Leaves:_ -Erect, sword-shaped, shorter than stem, somewhat hoary, from 1/2 to 1 -in. wide, folded, and in a compact flat cluster at base; bracts usually -longer than stem of flower. _Fruit:_ Oblong capsule, not prominently -3-lobed, and with 2 rows of round, flat seeds closely packed in each -cell. _Rootstock:_ Creeping, horizontal, fleshy. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Marshes, wet meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland and Manitoba to Arkansas and Florida. - -This gorgeous flower is thought by scientists to be all that it is for -the bees' benefit, which, of course, is its own also. Abundant moisture, -from which to manufacture nectar--a prime necessity with most -irises--certainly is for our blue flag. The large, showy blossom cannot -but attract the passing bee, whose favorite color (according to Sir John -Lubbock) it waves. The bee alights on the convenient, spreading -platform, and, guided by the dark veining and golden lines leading to -the nectar, sips the delectable fluid shortly to be changed to honey. -Now, as he raises his head and withdraws it from the nectary, he must -rub it against the pollen-laden anther above, and some of the pollen -necessarily falls on the visitor. As the sticky side of the plate -(stigma), just under the petal-like division of the style, faces away -from the anther, which is below it in any case, the flower is -marvellously guarded against fertilization from its own pollen. The bee, -flying off to another iris, must first brush past the projecting lip of -the overarching style, and leave on the stigmatic outer surface of the -plate some of the pollen brought from the first flower, before reaching -the nectary. Thus cross-fertilization is effected; and Darwin has shown -how necessary this is to insure the most vigorous and beautiful -offspring. Without this wonderful adaptation of the flower to the -requirements of its insect friends, and of the insect to the needs of -the flower, both must perish; the former from hunger, the latter because -unable to perpetuate its race. And yet man has greedily appropriated all -the beauties of the floral kingdom as designed for his sole delight! - -"The fleur-de-lys, which is the flower of chivalry," says Ruskin, "has a -sword for its leaf and a lily for its heart." When that young and pious -Crusader, Louis VII, adopted it for the emblem of his house, spelling -was scarcely an exact science, and the _fleur-de-Louis_ soon became -corrupted into its present form. Doubtless the royal flower was the -white iris, and as _li_ is the Celtic for white, there is room for -another theory as to the origin of the name. It is our far more regal -looking, but truly democratic blossom, jostling its fellows in the -marshes, that is indeed "born in the purple." - -The name iris, meaning a deified rainbow, which was given this -group of plants by the ancients, shows a fine appreciation of their -superb coloring, their ethereal texture, and the evanescent beauty -of the blossom. - - -Blackberry Lily - -_Belamcanda chinensis_ (_Pardanthus chinensis_) - -_Flowers_--Deep orange color, speckled irregularly with crimson and -purple within _(Pardos_ = leopard; _anthos_ = flower); borne in -terminal, forked clusters. Perianth of 6 oblong, petal-like, spreading -divisions; 6 stamens with linear anthers; style thickest above, with 3 -branches. _Stem:_ 1-1/2 to 4 ft. tall, leafy. _Leaves:_ Like the iris; -erect, folded blades, 8 to 10 in. long. _Fruit:_ Resembling a -blackberry; an erect mass of round, black, fleshy seeds, at first -concealed in a fig-shaped capsule, whose 3 valves curve backward, and -finally drop off. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides and hills. - -_Flowering Season_--June-July. - -_Distribution_--Connecticut to Georgia, westward to Indiana and -Missouri. - -How many beautiful foreign flowers, commonly grown in our gardens here, -might soon become naturalized Americans were we only generous enough to -lift a few plants, scatter a few seeds over our fences into the fields -and roadsides--to raise the bars of their prison, as it were, and let -them free! Many have run away, to be sure. Once across the wide -Atlantic, or wider Pacific, their passage paid (not sneaking in among -the ballast like the more fortunate weeds), some are doomed to stay in -prim, rigidly cultivated flower beds forever; others, only until a -chance to bolt for freedom presents itself, and away they go. Lucky are -they if every flower they produce is not picked before a single seed -can be set. - -This Blackberry Lily of gorgeous hue originally came from China. -Escaping from gardens here and there, it was first reported as a wild -flower at East Rock, Connecticut; other groups of vagabonds were met -marching along the roadsides on Long Island; near Suffern, New York; -then farther southward and westward, until it has already attained a -very respectable range. Every plant has some good device for sending its -offspring away from home to found new colonies, if man would but let it -alone. Better still, give the eager travellers a lift! - - -Pointed Blue-eyed Grass; Eye-bright; Blue Star - -_Sisyrinchium angustifolium_ - -_Flowers_--From blue to purple, with a yellow centre; a Western -variety, white; usually several buds at the end of the stem, between 2 -erect unequal bracts; about 1/2 in. across; perianth of 6 spreading -divisions, each pointed with a bristle from a notch; stamens 3, the -filaments united to above the middle; pistil 1, its tip 3-cleft. -_Stem:_ 3 to 14 in. tall, pale hoary green, flat, rigid, 2-edged. -_Leaves:_ Grass-like, pale, rigid, mostly from base. _Fruit:_ 3-celled -capsule, nearly globose. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist fields and meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--May-August. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to British Columbia, from eastern slope of -Rocky Mountains to Atlantic, south to Virginia and Kansas. - -Only for a day, and that must be a bright one, will this "little sister -of the stately blue flag" open its eyes, to close them in indignation on -being picked; nor will any coaxing but the sunshine's induce it to open -them again in water, immediately after. The dainty flower, growing in -dense tufts, makes up in numbers what it lacks in size and lasting -power, flecking our meadows with purplish ultramarine blue on a sunny -June morning. Later in the day, apparently there are no blossoms there, -for all are tightly closed, never to bloom again. New buds will unfold -to tinge the field on the morrow. - -Usually three buds nod from between a pair of bracts, the lower one of -which may be twice the length of the upper one; but only one flower -opens at a time. Slight variations in this plant have been considered -sufficient to differentiate several species formerly included by Gray -and other American botanists under the name of _S. Bermudiana_. - - - - -ORCHIS FAMILY _(Orchidaceae)_ - - -Large Yellow Lady's Slipper; Whippoorwill's Shoe; Yellow Moccasin -Flower - -_Cypripedium pubescens (C. hirsutum)_ - -_Flower_--Solitary, large, showy, borne at the top of a leafy stem 1 to -2 ft. high. Sepals 3, 2 of them united, greenish or yellowish, striped -with purple or dull red, very long, narrow; 2 petals, brown, narrower, -twisting; the third an inflated sac, open at the top, 1 to 2 in. long, -pale yellow, purple lined; white hairs within; sterile stamen -triangular; stigma thick. _Leaves:_ Oval or elliptic, pointed, 3 to 5 -in. long, parallel-nerved, sheathing. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist or boggy woods and thickets; hilly ground. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Alabama, westward to Minnesota and -Nebraska. - -Swinging outward from a leaf-clasped stem, this orchid attracts us by -its flaunted beauty and decorative form from tip to root, not less than -the aesthetic little bees for which its adornment and mechanism are so -marvellously adapted. Doubtless the heavy, oily odor is an additional -attraction to them. - -These common orchids, which are not at all difficult to naturalize in a -well-drained, shady spot in the garden, should be lifted with a good -ball of earth and plenty of leaf-mould immediately after flowering. - -The similar Small Yellow Lady's Slipper _(C. parviflorum)_, a delicately -fragrant orchid about half the size of its big sister, has a brighter -yellow pouch, and occasionally its sepals and petals are purplish. As -they usually grow in the same localities, and have the same blooming -season, opportunities for comparison are not lacking. This fairer, -sweeter, little orchid roams westward as far as the State of Washington. - - -Moccasin Flower; Pink, Venus', or Stemless Lady's Slipper - -_Cypripedium acaule_ - -_Flowers_--Fragrant, solitary, large, showy, drooping from end of scape, -6 to 12 in. high. Sepals lance-shaped, spreading, greenish purple, 2 in. -long or less; petals narrower and longer than sepals. Lip an inflated -sac, often more than 2 in. long, slit down the middle, and folded -inwardly above, pale magenta, veined with darker pink; upper part of -interior crested with long white hairs. Stamens united with style into -unsymmetrical declined column, bearing an anther on either side, and a -dilated triangular petal-like sterile stamen above, arching over the -broad concave stigma. _Leaves:_ 2, from the base; elliptic, thick, 6 to -8 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat--Deep_, rocky, or sandy woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--Canada southward to North Carolina, westward to -Minnesota and Kentucky. - -Because most people cannot forbear picking this exquisite flower that -seems too beautiful to be found outside a millionaire's hothouse, it is -becoming rarer every year, until the finding of one in the deep forest, -where it must now hide, has become the event of a day's walk. Once it -was the commonest of the orchids. - -"Cross-fertilization," says Darwin, "results in offspring which vanquish -the offspring of self-fertilization in the struggle for existence." This -has been the motto of the orchid family for ages. No group of plants has -taken more elaborate precautions against self-pollination or developed -more elaborate and ingenious mechanism to compel insects to transfer -their pollen than this. - -The fissure down the front of the Pink Lady's Slipper is not so wide but -that a bee must use some force to push against its elastic sloping sides -and enter the large banquet chamber where he finds generous -entertainment secreted among the fine white hairs in the upper part. -Presently he has feasted enough. Now one can hear him buzzing about -inside, trying to find a way out of the trap. Toward the two little -gleams of light through apertures at the end of a passage beyond the -nectary hairs he at length finds his way. Narrower and narrower grows -the passage until it would seem as if he could never struggle through; -nor can he until his back has rubbed along the sticky, overhanging -stigma, which is furnished with minute, rigid, sharply pointed papillae, -all directed forward, and placed there for the express purpose of -combing out the pollen he has brought from another flower on his back -or head. The imported pollen having been safely removed, he still has to -struggle on toward freedom through one of the narrow openings, where an -anther almost blocks his way. - -As he works outward, this anther, drawn downward on its hinge, plasters -his back with yellow granular pollen as a parting gift, and away he -flies to another lady's slipper to have it combed out by the sticky -stigma as described above. The smallest bees can squeeze through the -passage without paying toll. To those of the Andrena and Halictus tribe -the flower is evidently best adapted. Sometimes the largest bumblebees, -either unable or unwilling to get out by the legitimate route, bite -their way to liberty. Mutilated sacs are not uncommon. But when unable -to get out by fair means, and too bewildered to escape by foul, the -large bee must sometimes perish miserably in his gorgeous prison. - - -Showy, Gay, or Spring Orchis - -_Orchis spectabilis_ - -_Flowers_--Purplish pink, of deeper and lighter shade, the lower lip -white, and thick of texture; from 3 to 6 on a spike; fragrant. Sepals -pointed, united, arching above the converging petals, and resembling a -hood; lip large, spreading, prolonged into a spur, which is largest at -the tip and as long as the twisted footstem. _Stem:_ 4 to 12 in. high, -thick, fleshy, 5-sided. _Leaves:_ 2, large, broadly ovate, glossy green, -silvery on underside, rising from a few scales from root. _Fruit:_ A -sharply angled capsule, 1 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, moist woods, especially under hemlocks. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--From New Brunswick and Ontario southward to our Southern -states, westward to Nebraska. - -Of the six floral leaves which every orchid, terrestrial or aerial, -possesses, one is always peculiar in form, pouch-shaped, or a cornucopia -filled with nectar, or a flaunted, fringed banner, or a broad platform -for the insect visitors to alight on. Some orchids look to imaginative -eyes as if they were masquerading in the disguise of bees, moths, frogs, -birds, butterflies. A number of these queer freaks are to be found in -Europe. Spring traps, adhesive plasters, and hair-triggers attached to -explosive shells of pollen are among the many devices by which orchids -compel insects to cross-fertilize them, these flowers as a family -showing the most marvellous mechanism adapted to their requirements from -insects in the whole floral kingdom. No other blossoms can so well -afford to wear magenta, the ugliest shade nature produces, the "lovely -rosy purple" of Dutch bulb growers. - - -Large, or Early, Purple-fringed Orchis - -_Habenaria fimbriata (H. grandiflora)_ - -_Flowers_--Pink-purple and pale lilac, sometimes nearly white; fragrant, -alternate, clustered in thick, dense spikes from 3 to 15 in. long. Upper -sepal and toothed petals erect; the lip of deepest shade, 1/2 in. long, -fan-shaped, 3-parted, fringed half its length, and prolonged at base -into slender, long spur; stamen united with style into short column; 2 -anther sacs slightly divergent, the hollow between them glutinous, -stigmatic. _Stem:_ 1 to 5 ft. high, angled, twisted. _Leaves:_ Oval, -large, sheathing the stem below; smaller, lance-shaped ones higher up -bracts above. _Root:_ Thick, fibrous. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, moist meadows, muddy places, woods. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Ontario; southward to North Carolina, -westward to Michigan. - -Because of the singular and exquisitely unerring adaptations of orchids -as a family to their insect visitors, no group of plants has greater -interest for the botanist since Darwin interpreted their marvellous -mechanism, and Gray, his instant disciple, revealed the hidden purposes -of our native American species, no less wonderfully constructed than the -most costly exotic in a millionaire's hothouse. - -A glance at the spur of this orchid, one of the handsomest and most -striking of its clan, and the heavy perfume of the flower, would seem to -indicate that only a moth with a long proboscis could reach the nectar -secreted at the base of the thread-like passage. Butterflies, attracted -by the conspicuous color, sometimes hover about the showy spikes of -bloom, but it is probable that, to secure a sip, all but possibly the -very largest of them must go to the smaller Purple-fringed Orchis, whose -shorter spur holds out a certain prospect of reward; for, in these two -cases, as in so many others, the flower's welcome for an insect is in -exact proportion to the length of its visitor's tongue. Doubtless it is -one of the smaller sphinx moths, such as we see at dusk working about -the evening primrose and other flowers deep of chalice, and heavily -perfumed to guide visitors to their feast, that is the great -Purple-fringed Orchid's benefactor, since the length of its tongue is -perfectly adapted to its needs. Attracted by the showy, broad lower -petal, his wings ever in rapid motion, the moth proceeds to unroll his -proboscis and drain the cup that is frequently an inch and a half deep. -Thrusting in his head, either one or both of his large, projecting eyes -are pressed against the sticky button-shaped discs to which the pollen -masses are attached by a stalk, and as he raises his head to depart, -feeling that he is caught, he gives a little jerk that detaches them, -and away he flies with these still fastened to his eyes. - -Even while he is flying to another flower, that is to say, in half a -minute, the stalks of the pollen masses bend downward from the -perpendicular and slightly toward the centre, or just far enough to -require the moth, in thrusting his proboscis into the nectary, to strike -the glutinous, sticky stigma. Now, withdrawing his head, either or both -of the golden clubs he brought in with him will be left on the precise -spot where they will fertilize the flower. Sometimes, but rarely, we -catch a butterfly or moth from the smaller or larger purple orchids with -a pollen mass attached to his tongue, instead of to his eyes; this is -when he does not make his entrance from the exact centre--as in these -flowers he is not obliged to do--and in order to reach the nectary his -tongue necessarily brushes against one of the sticky anther sacs. The -performance may be successfully imitated by thrusting some blunt point -about the size of a moth's head, a dull pencil or a knitting-needle, -into the flower as an insect would enter. Withdraw the pencil, and one -or both of the pollen masses will be found sticking to it, and already -automatically changing their attitude. In the case of the large, -round-leaved orchis, whose greenish-white flowers are fertilized in a -similar manner by the sphinx moth, the anther sacs converge, like little -horns; and their change of attitude while they are being carried to -fertilize another flower is quite as exquisitely exact. - - -White-fringed Orchis - -_Habenaria blephariglottis_ - -_Flowers_--Pure white, fragrant, borne on a spike from 3 to 6 in. long. -Spur long, slender; oval sepals; smaller petal toothed; the oblong lip -deeply fringed. _Stem:_ Slender, 1 to 2 ft. high. _Leaves:_ -Lance-shaped, parallel-veined, clasping the stem; upper ones smallest. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Peat-bogs and swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--July-August. - -_Distribution_--Northeastern United States and eastern Canada to -Newfoundland. - -One who selfishly imagines that all the floral beauty of the earth was -created for man's sole delight will wonder why a flower so exquisitely -beautiful as this dainty little orchid should be hidden in inaccessible -peat-bogs, where overshoes and tempers get lost with deplorable -frequency, and the water-snake and bittern mock at man's intrusion of -their realm by the ease with which they move away from him. Not for man, -but for the bee, the moth, and the butterfly, are orchids where they are -and what they are. - - -Yellow-fringed Orchis - -_Habenaria ciliaris_ - -_Flowers_--Bright yellow or orange, borne in a showy, closely set, -oblong spike, 3 to 6 in. long. The lip of each flower copiously fringed; -the slender spur 1 to 1-1/2 in. long; similar to White-fringed Orchis -(see above); and between the two, intermediate pale yellow hybrids may -be found. _Stem:_ Slender, leafy, 1 to 2-1/2 feet high. _Leaves:_ -Lance-shaped, clasping. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist meadows and sandy bogs. - -_Flowering Season-_--July-August. - -_Distribution_--Vermont to Florida; Ontario to Texas. - -Where this brilliant, beautiful orchid and its lovely white sister grow -together in the bog--which cannot be through a very wide range, since -one is common northward, where the other is rare, and _vice versa_--the -Yellow-fringed Orchis will be found blooming a few days later. In -general structure the plants closely resemble each other. - -From Ontario and the Mississippi eastward, and southward to the Gulf, -the Tubercled or Small Pale Green Orchis _(H. flava)_ lifts a spire of -inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers, more attractive to the eye of the -structural botanist than to the aesthete. It blooms in moist places, as -most orchids do, since water with which to manufacture nectar enough to -fill their deep spurs is a prime necessity. Orchids have arrived at that -pinnacle of achievement that it is impossible for them to fertilize -themselves. More than that, some are absolutely sterile to their own -pollen when it is applied to their stigmas artificially! With insect -aid, however, a single plant has produced more than 1,000,700 seeds. No -wonder, then, that as a family, they have adopted the most marvellous -blandishments and mechanism in the whole floral kingdom to secure the -visits of that special insect to which each is adapted, and, having -secured him, to compel him unwittingly to do their bidding. In the -steaming tropical jungles, where vegetation is luxuriant to the point of -suffocation, and where insect life swarms in myriads undreamed of here, -we can see the best of reasons for orchids mounting into trees and -living on air to escape strangulation on the ground, and for donning -larger and more gorgeous apparel to attract attention in the fierce -competition for insect trade waged about them. Here, where the struggle -for survival is incomparably easier, we have terrestrial orchids, small, -and quietly clad, for the most part. - - -Calopogon; Grass Pink - -_Calopogon pulchellus (Limodorum tuberosum)_ - -_Flowers_--Purplish pink, 1 in. long, 3 to 15 around a long, loose -spike. Sepals and petals similar, oval, acute; the lip on upper side of -flower is broad at the summit, tapering into a claw, flexible as if -hinged, densely bearded on its face with white, yellow, and magenta -hairs (_Calopogon_ = beautiful beard). Column below lip (ovary not -twisted in this exceptional case); sticky stigma at summit of column, -and just below it a 2-celled anther, each cell containing 2 pollen -masses, the grain lightly connected by threads. _Scape:_ 1 to 1-1/2 ft. -high, slender, naked. _Leaf:_ Solitary, long, grass-like, from a round -bulb arising from bulb of previous year. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Swamps, cranberry bogs, and low meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--June-July. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Florida, and westward to the -Mississippi. - -Fortunately this lovely orchid, one of the most interesting of its -highly organized family, is far from rare, and where we find the Rose -Pogonia and other bog-loving relatives growing, the Calopogon usually -outnumbers them all. _Limodorum_ translated reads meadow-gift; but we -find the flower less frequently in grassy places than those who have -waded into its favorite haunts could wish. - - -Arethusa; Indian Pink - -_Arethusa bulbosa_ - -_Flowers_--1 to 2 in. long, bright purple pink, solitary, violet -scented, rising from between a pair of small scales at end of smooth -scape from 5 to 10 in. high. Lip dropping beneath sepals and petals, -broad, rounded, toothed, or fringed, blotched with purple, and with -three hairy ridges down its surface. _Leaf:_ Solitary, hidden at first, -coming after the flower, but attaining length of 6 in. _Root:_ Bulbous. -_Fruit:_ A 6-ribbed capsule, 1 in. long, rarely maturing. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Northern bogs and swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--From North Carolina and Indiana northward to the Fur -Countries. - -One flower to a plant, and that one rarely maturing seed; a temptingly -beautiful prize which few refrain from carrying home, to have it wither -on the way; pursued by that more persistent lover than Alpheus, the -orchid-hunter who exports the bulbs to European collectors--little -wonder this exquisite orchid is rare, and that from certain of those -cranberry bogs of eastern New England, which it formerly brightened with -its vivid pink, it has now gone forever. Like Arethusa, the nymph whom -Diana changed into a fountain that she might escape from the infatuated -river god, Linnaeus fancied this flower a maiden in the midst of a -spring bubbling from wet places where presumably none may follow her. - - -Nodding Ladies' Tresses or Traces - -_Spiranthes cernua_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white or yellowish, without a spur, fragrant, nodding -or spreading in 3 rows on a cylindrical, slightly twisted spike 4 or 5 -in. long. Side sepals free, the upper ones arching, and united with -petals; the oblong, spreading lip crinkle-edged, and bearing minute, -hairy callosities at base. _Stem:_ 6 in. to 2 ft. tall, with several -pointed, wrapping bracts. _Leaves:_ From or near the base, linear, -almost grass-like. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Low meadows, ditches, and swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--July-October. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico, and westward to the -Mississippi. - -This last orchid of the season, and perhaps the commonest of its -interesting tribe in the eastern United States, at least, bears flowers -that, however insignificant in size, are marvellous pieces of mechanism, -to which such men as Charles Darwin and Asa Gray have devoted hours of -study and, these two men particularly, much correspondence. - -Just as a woodpecker begins at the bottom of a tree and taps his way -upward, so a bee begins at the lower and older flowers on a spike and -works up to the younger ones; a fact on which this little orchid, like -many another plant that arranges its blossoms in long racemes, depends. -Let us not note for the present what happens in the older flowers, but -begin our observations, with the help of a powerful lens, when the bee -has alighted on the spreading lip of a newly opened blossom toward the -top of the spire. As nectar is already secreted for her in its -receptacle, she thrusts her tongue through the channel provided to guide -it aright, and by the slight contact with the furrowed rostellum, it -splits, and releases a boat-shaped disk standing vertically on its stern -in the passage. Within the boat is an extremely sticky cement that -hardens almost instantly on exposure to the air. The splitting of the -rostellum, curiously enough, never happens without insect aid; but if a -bristle or needle be passed over it ever so lightly, a stream of sticky, -milky fluid exudes, hardens, and the boat-shaped disk, with pollen -masses attached, may be withdrawn on the bristle just as the bee removes -them with her tongue. Each pollinium consists of two leaves of pollen -united for about half their length in the middle with elastic threads. -As the pollinia are attached parallel to the disk, they stick parallel -on the bee's tongue, yet she may fold up her proboscis under her head, -if she choose, without inconvenience from the pollen masses, or without -danger of loosening them. Now, having finished sucking the newly-opened -flowers at the top of the spike, away she flies to an older flower at -the bottom of another one. Here a marvellous thing has happened. The -passage which, when the flower first expanded, scarcely permitted a -bristle to pass, has now widened through the automatic downward -movement of the column in order to expose the stigmatic surfaces to -contact with the pollen masses brought by the bee. Without the bee's -help this orchid, with a host of other flowers, must disappear from the -face of the earth. So very many species which have lost the power to -fertilize themselves now depend absolutely on these little pollen -carriers, it is safe to say that, should the bees perish, one half our -flora would be exterminated with them. On the slight downward movement -of the column in the ladies' tresses, then, as well as on the bee's -ministrations, the fertilization of the flower absolutely depends. "If -the stigma of the lowest flower has already been fully fertilized," says -Darwin, "little or no pollen will be left on its dried surface; but on -the next succeeding flower, of which the stigma is adhesive, large -sheets of pollen will be left. Then as soon as the bee arrives near the -summit of the spike she will withdraw fresh pollinia, will fly to the -lower flowers on another plant, and fertilize them; and thus, as she -goes her rounds and adds to her store of honey, she continually -fertilizes fresh flowers and perpetuates the race of autumnal -spiranthes, which will yield honey to future generations of bees." - - - - -BUCKWHEAT FAMILY _(Polygonaceae)_ - - -Common Persicaria, Pink Knotweed, or Jointweed; Smartweed - -_Polygonum pennsylvanicum_ - -_Flowers_--Very small, pink, collected in terminal, dense, narrow obtuse -spikes, 1 to 2 in. long. Calyx pink or greenish, 5-parted, like petals; -no corolla; stamens 8 _or_ less; style 2-parted. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. -high, simple or branched; often partly red, the joints swollen and -sheathed; the branches above, and peduncles glandular. _Leaves:_ Oblong, -lance-shaped, entire edged, 2 to 11 in. long, with stout midrib, sharply -tapering at tip, rounded into short petioles below. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste places, roadsides, moist soil. - -_Flowering Season_--July-October. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico; westward to Texas and -Minnesota. - -Everywhere we meet this commonest of plants or some of its similar kin, -the erect pink spikes brightening roadsides, rubbish heaps, fields, and -waste places, from midsummer to frost. The little flowers, which open -without method anywhere on the spike they choose, attract many insects, -the smaller bees (_Andrena_) conspicuous among the host. As the -spreading divisions of the perianth make nectar-stealing all too easy -for ants and other crawlers that would not come in contact with anthers -and stigma where they enter a flower near its base, most buckwheat -plants whose blossoms secrete sweets protect themselves from theft by -coating the upper stems with glandular hairs that effectually discourage -the pilferers. Shortly after fertilization, the little rounded, -flat-sided fruit begins to form inside the persistent pink calyx. At any -time the spike-like racemes contain more bright pink buds and shining -seeds than flowers. Familiarity alone breeds contempt for this plant, -that certainly possesses much beauty. The troublesome and wide-ranging -weed called lady's thumb is a near relative. - - - - -POKEWEED FAMILY _(Phytolaccaceae)_ - - -Pokeweed; Scoke; Pigeon-berry; Ink-berry; Garget - -_Phytolacca decandra_ - -_Flowers_--White, with a green centre, pink tinted outside, about 1/4 -in. across, in bracted racemes 2 to 8 in. long. Calyx of 4 or 5 rounded -persistent sepals, simulating petals; no corolla; 10 short stamens; -10-celled ovary, green, conspicuous; styles curved. _Stem:_ Stout, -pithy, erect, branching, reddening toward the end of summer, 4 to 10 ft. -tall, from a large, perennial, poisonous root. _Leaves:_ Alternate, -petioled, oblong to lance-shaped, tapering at both ends, 8 to 12 in. -long. _Fruit:_ Very juicy, dark purplish berries, hanging in long -clusters from reddened footstalks; ripe, August-October. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides, thickets, field borders, and waste soil, -especially in burnt-over districts. - -_Flowering Season_--June-October - -_Distribution_--Maine and Ontario to Florida and Texas. - -When the Pokeweed is "all on fire with ripeness," as Thoreau said; when -the stout vigorous stem (which he coveted for a cane), the large leaves, -and even the footstalks, take on splendid tints of crimson lake, and the -dark berries hang heavy with juice in the thickets, then the birds, with -increased hungry families, gather in flocks as a preliminary step to -travelling southward. Has the brilliant, strong-scented plant no -ulterior motive in thus attracting their attention at this particular -time? Surely! Robins, flickers, and downy woodpeckers, chewinks and -rose-breasted grosbeaks, among other feathered agents, may be detected -in the act of gormandizing on the fruit, whose undigested seeds they -will disperse far and wide. Their droppings form the best of fertilizers -for young seedlings; therefore the plants which depend on birds to -distribute seeds, as most berry-bearers do, send their children abroad -to found new colonies, well equipped for a vigorous start in life. What -a hideous mockery to continue to call this fruit the Pigeon-berry, when -the exquisite bird whose favorite food it once was, has been annihilated -from this land of liberty by the fowler's net! And yet flocks of wild -pigeons, containing not thousands but millions of birds, nested here -even thirty years ago. When the market became glutted with them, they -were fed to hogs in the West! - -Children, and some grown-ups, find the deep magenta juice of the -Ink-berry useful. Notwithstanding the poisonous properties of the root, -in some sections the young shoots are boiled and eaten like asparagus, -evidently with no disastrous consequences. - - - - -PINK FAMILY _(Caryophyllaceae)_ - - -Common Chickweed - -_Stellaria media (Alsine media)_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, on slender pedicels from leaf axils, also in -terminal clusters. Calyx (usually) of 5 sepals, much longer than the 5 -(usually) 2-parted petals; 2-10 stamens; 3 or 4 styles. _Stem:_ Weak, -branched, tufted, leafy, 4 to 6 in. long, a hairy fringe on one side. -_Leaves:_ Opposite, actually oval, lower ones petioled, upper ones -seated on stem. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, shady soil; woods; meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--Throughout the year. - -_Distribution_--Almost universal. - -The sole use man has discovered for this often pestiferous weed with -which nature carpets moist soil the world around is to feed caged -song-birds. What is the secret of the insignificant little plant's -triumphal progress? Like most immigrants that have undergone ages of -selective struggle in the Old World, it successfully competes with our -native blossoms by readily adjusting itself to new conditions filling -places unoccupied, and chiefly by prolonging its season of bloom beyond -theirs, to get relief from the pressure of competition for insect trade -in the busy season. Except during the most cruel frosts, there is -scarcely a day in the year when we may not find the little star-like -chickweed flowers. - - -Corn Cockle; Corn Rose; Corn or Red Campion; Crown-of-the-Field - -_Agrostemma Githago_ - -_Flowers_--Magenta or bright purplish crimson, 1 to 3 in. broad, -solitary at end of long, stout footstem; 5 lobes of calyx leaf-like, -very long and narrow, exceeding petals. Corolla of 5 broad, rounded -petals; 10 stamens; 5 styles alternating with calyx lobes, opposite -petals. _Stem,:_ 1 to 3 ft. high, erect, with few or no branches, -leafy, the plant covered with fine white hairs. _Leaves:_ Opposite, -seated on stem, long, narrow, pointed, erect. _Fruit:_ a 1-celled, -many-seeded capsule. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Wheat and other grain fields; dry, waste places. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--United States at large; most common in Central and -Western states. Also in Europe and Asia. - -"Allons! allons! sow'd cockle, reap'd no corn," exclaims Byron in -"Love's Labor's Lost." Evidently the farmers even in Shakespeare's day -counted this brilliant blossom the pest it has become in many of our own -grain fields just as it was in ancient times, when Job, after solemnly -protesting his righteousness, called on his own land to bear record -against him if his words were false. "Let thistles grow instead of -wheat, and _cockle_ instead of barley," he cried, according to James the -First's translators; but the "noisome weeds" of the original text seem -to indicate that these good men were more anxious to give the English -people an adequate conception of Job's willingness to suffer for his -honor's sake than to translate literally. Possibly the cockle grew in -Southern Asia in Job's time: to-day its range is north. - - -Starry Campion - -_Silene stellata_ - -_Flowers_--White, about 1/2 in. broad or over, loosely clustered in a -showy, pyramidal panicle. Calyx bell-shaped, swollen, 5-toothed, sticky; -5 fringed and clawed petals; 10 long, exserted stamens; 3 styles. -_Stem:_ Erect, leafy, 2 to 3-1/2 ft. tall, rough-hairy. _Leaves:_ Oval, -tapering to a point, 2 to 4 in. long, seated in whorls of 4 around -stem, or loose ones opposite. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Woods, shady banks. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--Rhode Island westward to Mississippi, south to the -Carolinas and Arkansas. - -Feathery white panicles of the Starry Campion, whose protruding stamens -and fringed petals give it a certain fleeciness, are dainty enough for -spring; by midsummer we expect plants of ranker growth and more gaudy -flowers. To save the nectar in each deep tube for the moths and -butterflies which cross-fertilize all this tribe of night and day -blossoms, most of them--and the campions are notorious examples--spread -their calices, and some their pedicels as well, with a sticky substance -to entrap little crawling pilferers. Although a popular name for the -genus is catchfly, it is usually the ant that is glued to the viscid -parts, for the fly that moves through the air alights directly on the -flower it is too short-lipped to suck. An ant catching its feet on the -miniature lime-twig, at first raises one foot after another and draws it -through its mouth, hoping to rid it of the sticky stuff, but only with -the result of gluing up its head and other parts of the body. In ten -minutes all the pathetic struggles are ended. Let no one guilty of -torturing flies to death on sticky paper condemn the Silenes! - - -Wild Pink or Catchfly - -_Silene pennsylvanica (S. caroliniana)_ - -_Flowers_--Rose pink, deep or very pale; about 1 inch broad, on slender -footstalks, in terminal clusters. Calyx tubular, 5-toothed, much -enlarged in fruit, sticky; 5 petals with claws enclosed in calyx, -wedge-shaped above, slightly notched. Stamens 10; pistil with 3 styles. -_Stem:_ 4 to 10 in. high, hairy, sticky above, growing in tufts. -_Leaves:_ Basal ones spatulate; 2 or 3 pairs of lance-shaped, smaller -leaves seated on stem. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry, gravelly, sandy, or rocky soil. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--New England, south to Georgia, westward to Kentucky. - -Fresh, dainty, and innocent-looking as Spring herself are these bright -flowers. Alas, for the tiny creatures that try to climb up the rosy -tufts to pilfer nectar, they and their relatives are not so innocent as -they appear! While the little crawlers are almost within reach of the -cup of sweets, their feet are gummed to the viscid matter that coats it, -and here their struggles end as flies' do on sticky fly-paper, or birds' -on limed twigs. A naturalist counted sixty-two little corpses on the -sticky stem of a single pink. All this tragedy to protect a little -nectar for the butterflies which, in sipping it, transfer the pollen -from one flower to another, and so help them to produce the most -beautiful and robust offspring. - - -Soapwort; Bouncing Bet; Hedge Pink; Bruisewort; Old Maid's Pink; -Fuller's Herb - -_Saponaria officinalis_ - -_Flowers_--Pink or whitish, fragrant, about 1 inch broad, loosely -clustered at end of stem, also sparingly from axils of upper leaves. -Calyx tubular, 5-toothed, about 3/4 in. long; 5 petals, the claws -inserted in deep tube. Stamens 10, in 2 sets; 1 pistil with 2 styles. -Flowers frequently double. _Stem:_ 1 to 2 ft. high, erect, stout, -sparingly branched, leafy. _Leaves:_ Opposite, acutely oval, 2 to 3 in. -long, about 1 in. wide, 3 to 5 ribbed. _Fruit:_ An oblong capsule, -shorter than calyx, opening at top by 4 short teeth or valves. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides, banks, and waste places. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Generally common. Naturalized from Europe. - -A stout, buxom, exuberantly healthy lassie among flowers is Bouncing -Bet, who long ago escaped from gardens whither she was brought from -Europe, and ran wild beyond colonial farms to roadsides, along which she -has travelled over nearly our entire area. Underground runners and -abundant seed soon form thrifty colonies. This plant, to which our -grandmothers ascribed healing virtues, makes a cleansing, soap-like -lather when its bruised leaves are agitated in water. - - - - -PURSLANE FAMILY _(Portulacaceae)_ - - -Spring Beauty; Claytonia - -_Claytonia virginica_ - -_Flowers_--White veined with pink, or all pink, the veinings of deeper -shade, on curving, slender pedicels, several borne in a terminal loose -raceme, the flowers mostly turned one way (secund). Calyx of 2 ovate -sepals; corolla of 5 petals slightly united by their bases; 5 stamens, -1 inserted on base of each petal; the style 3-cleft. _Stem:_ Weak, 6 to -12 in. long, from a deep, tuberous root. _Leaves:_ Opposite above, -linear to lance-shaped, shorter than basal ones, which are 3 to 7 in., -long; breadth variable. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist woods, open groves, low meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--March-May. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia and far westward, south to Georgia -and Texas. - -Very early in the spring a race is run with the hepatica, arbutus, -adder's tongue, bloodroot, squirrel corn, and anemone for the honor of -being the earliest wild flower; and although John Burroughs and Doctor -Abbot have had the exceptional experience of finding the claytonia even -before the hepatica--certainly the earliest spring blossom worthy the -name in the Middle and New England states--of course the rank Skunk -Cabbage, whose name is snobbishly excluded from the list of fair -competitors, has quietly opened dozens of minute florets in its incurved -horn before the others have even started. - - - - -WATER-LILY FAMILY _(Nymphaeaceae)_ - -Large Yellow Pond, or Water, Lily; Cow Lily; Spatterdock - -_Nymphaea advena (Nuphar advena)_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow or greenish outside, rarely purple tinged, round, -depressed, 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 in. across. Sepals 6, unequal, concave, thick, -fleshy; petals stamen-like, oblong, fleshy, short; stamens very -numerous, in 5 to 7 rows; pistil compounded of many carpels, its -stigmatic disc pale red or yellow, with 12 to 24 rays. _Leaves:_ -Floating, or some immersed, large, thick, sometimes a foot long, -egg-shaped or oval, with a deep cleft at base, the lobes rounded. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Standing water, ponds, slow streams. - -_Flowering Season_--April-September. - -_Distribution_--Rocky Mountains eastward, south to the Gulf of Mexico, -north to Nova Scotia. - -Comparisons were ever odious. Because the Yellow Water-lily has the -misfortune to claim relationship with the sweet-scented white species -must it never receive its just meed of praise? Hiawatha's canoe, let it -be remembered, - - "Floated on the river - Like a yellow leaf in autumn, - Like a yellow water-lily." - -But even those who admire Longfellow's lines see less beauty in the -golden flower-bowls floating among the large, lustrous, leathery leaves. - - -Sweet-scented White Water-lily; Pond Lily; Water Nymph; Water -Cabbage - -_Castalia odorata (Nymphaea odorata)_ - -_Flowers_--Pure white or pink tinged, rarely deep pink, solitary, 3 to 8 -in. across, deliciously fragrant, floating. Calyx of 4 sepals, green -outside; petals of indefinite number, overlapping in many rows, and -gradually passing into an indefinite number of stamens; outer row of -stamens with petaloid filaments and short anthers, the inner yellow -stamens with slender filaments and elongated anthers; carpels of -indefinite number, united into a compound pistil, with spreading and -projecting stigmas. _Leaves_: Floating, nearly round, slit at bottom, -shining green above, reddish and more or less hairy below, 4 to 12 in. -across, attached to petiole at centre of lower surface. Petioles and -peduncles round and rubber-like, with 4 main air-channels. _Rootstock_: -(Not true stem) thick, simple or with few branches, very long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Still water, ponds, lakes, slow streams. - -_Flowering Season--_June-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Gulf of Mexico, and westward to the -Mississippi. - -Sumptuous queen of our native aquatic plants, of the royal family to -which the gigantic _Victoria regia_ of Brazil belongs, and all the -lovely rose, lavender, blue, and golden exotic water-lilies in the -fountains of our city parks, to her man, beast, and insect pay grateful -homage. In Egypt, India, China, Japan, Persia, and Asiatic Russia, how -many millions have bent their heads in adoration of her relative the -sacred lotus! From its centre Brahma came forth; Buddha, too, whose -symbol is the lotus, first appeared floating on the mystic flower -_(Nelumbo nelumbo)_. Happily the lovely pink or white "sacred bean" or -"rose-lily" of the Nile, often cultivated here, has been successfully -naturalized in ponds about Bordentown, New Jersey, and may be elsewhere. -If he who planteth a tree is greater than he who taketh a city, that man -should be canonized who introduces the magnificent wild flowers of -foreign lands to our area of Nature's garden. - - - - -CROWFOOT FAMILY _(Ranunculaceae)_ - -Common Meadow Buttercup; Tall Crowfoot; Kingcups; Cuckoo Flower; -Goldcups; Butter-flowers; Blister-flowers - -_Ranunculus acris_ - -_Flowers_--Bright, shining yellow, about 1 in. across, numerous, -terminating long slender footstalks. Calyx of 5 spreading sepals; -corolla of 5 petals; yellow stamens and carpels. _Stem:_ Erect, branched -above, hairy (sometimes nearly smooth), 2 to 3 feet tall, from fibrous -roots. _Leaves:_ In a tuft from the base, long petioled, of 3 to 7 -divisions cleft into numerous lobes; stem leaves nearly sessile, -distant, 3-parted. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Meadows, fields, roadsides, grassy places. - -_Flowering Season_--May-September. - -_Distribution_--Naturalized from Europe in Canada and the United States; -most common North. - -What youngster has not held these shining golden flowers under his chin -to test his fondness for butter? Dandelions and Marsh Marigolds may -reflect their color in his clear skin, too, but the buttercup is every -child's favorite. When - - "Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue - Do paint the meadows with delight," - -daisies, pink clover, and waving timothy bear them company here; not -the "daisies pied," violets, and lady-smocks of Shakespeare's England. -How incomparably beautiful are our own meadows in June! But the glitter -of the buttercup, which is as nothing to the glitter of a gold dollar in -the eyes of a practical farmer, fills him with wrath when this immigrant -takes possession of his pastures. Cattle will not eat the acrid, caustic -plant--a sufficient reason for most members of the _Ranunculaceae_ to -stoop to the low trick of secreting poisonous or bitter juices. -Self-preservation leads a cousin, the garden monk's hood, even to -murderous practices. Since children will put everything within reach -into their mouths, they should be warned against biting the buttercup's -stem and leaves, that are capable of raising blisters. "Beggars use the -juice to produce sores upon their skin," says Mrs. Creevy. A designer -might employ these exquisitely formed leaves far more profitably. - -By having its nourishment thriftily stored up underground all winter, -the Bulbous Buttercup _(R. bulbosus)_ is able to steal a march on its -fibrous-rooted sister that must accumulate hers all spring; consequently -it is first to flower, coming in early May, and lasting through June. It -is a low and generally more hairy plant, but closely resembling the tall -buttercup in most respects, and, like it, a naturalized European -immigrant now thoroughly at home in fields and roadsides in most -sections of the United States and Canada. - -Commonest of the early buttercups is the Tufted species _(R. -fascicularis)_, a little plant seldom a foot high, found in the woods -and on rocky hillsides from Texas and Manitoba east to the Atlantic, -flowering in April or May. The long-stalked leaves are divided into -from three to five parts; the bright yellow flowers, with rather narrow, -distant petals, measure about an inch across. They open sparingly, -usually only one or two at a time on each plant, to favor pollination -from another one. - -Scattered patches of the Swamp or Marsh Buttercup _(R. septentrionalis)_ -brighten low, rich meadows also with their large satiny yellow flowers, -whose place in the botany even the untrained eye knows at sight. The -smooth, spreading plant sometimes takes root at the joints of its -branches and sends forth runners, but the stems mostly ascend. The large -lower mottled leaves are raised well out of the wet, or above the grass, -on long petioles. They have three divisions, each lobed and cleft. From -Georgia and Kentucky far northward this buttercup blooms from April to -July, opening only a few flowers at a time--a method which may make it -less showy, but more certain to secure cross-pollination between -distinct plants. - - -Tall Meadow-rue - -_Thalictrum polygamum (T. Cornuti)_ - -_Flowers_--Greenish white, the calyx of 4 or 5 sepals, falling early; no -petals; numerous white, thread-like, green-tipped stamens, spreading in -feathery tufts, borne in large, loose, compound terminal clusters 1 ft. -long or more. _Stem_: Stout, erect, 3 to 11 ft. high, leafy, branching -above. _Leaves_: Arranged in threes, compounded of various shaped -leaflets, the lobes pointed or rounded, dark above, paler below. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Open sunny swamps, beside sluggish water, -low meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September - -_Distribution_--Quebec to Florida, westward to Ohio. - -Masses of these soft, feathery flowers, towering above the ranker growth -of midsummer, possess an unseasonable, ethereal, chaste, spring-like -beauty. On some plants the flowers are fleecy white and exquisite; -others, again, are dull and coarser. Why is this? Because these are what -botanists term polygamous flowers, _i.e._, some of them are perfect, -containing both stamens and pistils; some are male only; others, again, -are female. Naturally an insect, like ourselves, is first attracted to -the more beautiful male blossoms, the pollen bearers, and of course it -transfers the vitalizing dust to the dull pistillate flowers visited -later. But the meadow-rue, which produces a super-abundance of very -light, dry pollen, easily blown by the wind, is often fertilized through -that agent also, just as grasses, plantains, sedges, birches, oaks, -pines, and all cone-bearing trees are. As might be expected, a plant -which has not yet ascended the evolutionary scale high enough to -economize its pollen by making insects carry it invariably overtops -surrounding vegetation to take advantage of every breeze that blows. - - * * * * * - -The Early Meadow-rue (_T. dioicum_), found blooming in open, rocky woods -during April and May, from Alabama northward to Labrador, and westward -to Missouri, grows only one or two feet high, and, like its tall sister, -bears fleecy, greenish-white flowers, the staminate and the pistillate -ones on different plants. - - -Liver-leaf; Hepatica; Liverwort; Round-lobed, or Kidney Liver-leaf; -Noble Liverwort; Squirrel Cup - -_Hepatica triloba (H. Hepatica)_ - -_Flowers_--Blue, lavender, purple, pinkish, or white; occasionally, not -always, fragrant; 6 to 12 petal-like, colored sepals (not petals, as -they appear to be), oval or oblong; numerous stamens, all bearing -anthers; pistils numerous; 3 small, sessile leaves, forming an involucre -directly under flower, simulate a calyx, for which they might be -mistaken. _Stems:_ Spreading from the root, 4 to 6 in. high, a solitary -flower or leaf borne at end of each furry stem. _Leaves:_ 3-lobed and -rounded, leathery, evergreen; sometimes mottled with, or entirely, -reddish purple; spreading on ground, rusty at blooming time, the new -leaves appearing after the flowers. _Fruit:_ Usually as many as pistils, -dry, 1-seeded, oblong, sharply pointed, never opening. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Woods; light soil on hillsides. - -_Flowering Season_--December-May. - -_Distribution_--Canada to northern Florida, Manitoba to Iowa and -Missouri. Most common East. - -Even under the snow itself bravely blooms the delicate hepatica, wrapped -in fuzzy furs as if to protect its stems and nodding buds from cold. -After the plebeian Skunk Cabbage, that ought scarcely to be reckoned -among true flowers--and William Hamilton Gibson claimed even before -it--it is the first blossom to appear. Winter sunshine, warming the -hillsides and edges of woods, opens its eyes. - - "Blue as the heaven it gazes at, - Startling the loiterer in the naked groves - With unexpected beauty; for the time - Of blossoms and green leaves is yet afar." - -"There are many things left for May," says John Burroughs, "but nothing -fairer, if as fair, as the first flower, the hepatica. I find I have -never admired this little firstling half enough. When at the maturity of -its charms, it is certainly the gem of the woods. What an individuality -it has! No two clusters alike; all shades and sizes.... A solitary -blue-purple one, fully expanded and rising over the brown leaves or the -green moss, its cluster of minute anthers showing like a group of pale -stars on its little firmament, is enough to arrest and hold the dullest -eye. Then, ... there are individual hepaticas, or individual families -among them, that are sweet scented. The gift seems as capricious as the -gift of genius in families. You cannot tell which the fragrant ones are -till you try them. Sometimes it is the large white ones, sometimes the -large purple ones, sometimes the small pink ones. The odor is faint, and -recalls that of the sweet violets. A correspondent, who seems to have -carefully observed these fragrant hepaticas, writes me that this gift of -odor is constant in the same plant; that the plant which bears -sweet-scented flowers this year will bear them next." - -Pollen-feeding flies and female hive bees frequent these blossoms on the -first warm days. Whether or not they are rewarded by finding nectar is -still a mooted question. They seem to do so. - - -Wood Anemone; Wind-flower - -_Anemone quinquefolia_ - -_Flowers_--Solitary, about 1 in. broad, white or delicately tinted with -blue or pink outside. Calyx of 4 to 9 oval, petal-like sepals; no -petals; stamens and carpels numerous, of indefinite number. _Stem:_ -Slender, 4 to 9 in. high, from horizontal elongated rootstock. _Leaves:_ -On slender petioles, in a whorl of 3 to 5 below the flower, each leaf -divided into 3 to 5 variously cut and lobed parts; also a late-appearing -leaf from the base. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Woodlands, hillsides, light soil, partial shade. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Canada and United States, south to Georgia, west to -Rocky Mountains. - -According to one poetical Greek tradition, Anemos, the wind, employs -these exquisitely delicate little star-like namesakes as heralds of his -coming in early spring, while woods and hillsides still lack foliage to -break his gusts' rude force. Pliny declared that only the wind could -open anemones! Another legend utilized by countless poets pictures Venus -wandering through the forests grief-stricken over the death of her -youthful lover. - - "Alas, the Paphian! fair Adonis slain! - Tears plenteous as his blood she pours amain; - But gentle flowers are born and bloom around - From every drop that falls upon the ground: - Where streams his blood, there blushing springs the rose; - And where a tear has dropped, a wind-flower blows." - -Indeed, in reading the poets ancient and modern for references to this -favorite blossom, one realizes as never before the significance of an -anthology, literally a flower gathering. - -But it is chiefly the European Anemone that is extolled by the poets. -Nevertheless our more slender, fragile, paler-leaved, and -smaller-flowered species, known, strange to say, by the same scientific -name, possesses the greater charm. Doctors, with more prosaic eyes than -the poets, find acrid and dangerous juices in the anemone and its kin. -Certain European peasants will run past a colony of these pure, innocent -blossoms in the belief that the very air is tainted by them. Yet the -Romans ceremonially picked the first anemone of the year, with an -incantation supposed to guard them against fever. The identical plant -that blooms in our woods, which may be found also in Asia, is planted on -graves by the Chinese, who call it the "death flower." - -Note the clusters of tuberous, dahlia-like roots, the whorl of thin, -three-lobed rounded leaflets on long, fine petioles immediately below -the smaller pure white or pinkish flowers usually growing in loose -clusters, to distinguish the more common Rue Anemone _(Anemonella -thalictroides_ or _Syndesmon thalictroides_ or _Thalictrum -anemonoides)_ from its cousin the solitary flowered wood or true -anemone. Generally there are three blossoms of the Rue Anemone to a -cluster, the central one opening first, the side ones only after it has -developed its stamens and pistils to prolong the season of bloom and -encourage cross-pollination by insects. In the eastern half of the -United States, and less abundantly in Canada, these are among the most -familiar spring wild flowers. Pick them and they soon wilt miserably; -lift the plants early, with a good ball of soil about the roots, and -they will unfold their fragile blossoms indoors, bringing with them -something of the unspeakable charm of their native woods and hillsides -just waking into life. - - -Virgin's Bower; Virginia Clematis; Traveller's Joy; Old Man's Beard - -_Clematis virginiana_ - -_Flowers_--White and greenish, about 1 in. across or less, in loose -clusters from the axils. Calyx of 4 or 5 petal-like sepals; no petals; -stamens and pistils numerous, of indefinite number; the staminate and -pistillate flowers on separate plants; the styles feathery, and more -than 1 in. long in fruit. _Stem:_ Climbing, slightly woody. _Leaves:_ -Opposite, slender petioled, divided into 3 pointed and 2 widely toothed -or lobed leaflets. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Climbing over woodland borders, thickets, roadside -shrubbery, fences, and walls; rich, moist soil. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Georgia and Kansas northward; less common beyond the -Canadian border. - -Charles Darwin, who made so many interesting studies of the power of -movement in various plants, devoted special attention to the clematis -clan, of which about one hundred species exist; but, alas! none to our -traveller's joy, that flings out the right hand of good fellowship to -every twig within reach, winds about the sapling in brotherly embrace, -drapes a festoon of flowers from shrub to shrub, hooks even its -sensitive leafstalks over any available support as it clambers and riots -on its lovely way. By rubbing the footstalk of a young leaf with a twig -a few times on any side, Darwin found a clematis leaf would bend to that -side in the course of a few hours, but return to the straight again if -nothing remained on which to hook itself. - -In early autumn, when the long, silvery, decorative plumes attached to a -ball of seeds form feathery, hoary masses even more fascinating than the -flower clusters, the name of old man's beard is most suggestive. These -seeds never open, but, when ripe, each is borne on the autumn gales, to -sink into the first moist, springy resting place. - - -Marsh Marigold; Meadow-gowan; American Cowslip - -_Caltha palustris_ - -_Flowers_--Bright, shining yellow, 1 to 1-1/2 in. across, a few in -terminal and axillary groups. No petals; usually 5 (often more) oval, -petal-like sepals; stamens numerous; many pistils (carpels) without -styles. _Stem:_ Stout, smooth, hollow, branching, 1 to 2 ft. high. -_Leaves:_ Mostly from root, rounded, broad, and heart-shaped at base, or -kidney-shaped, upper ones almost sessile, lower ones on fleshy petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Springy ground, low meadows, swamps, river -banks, ditches. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Carolina to Iowa, the Rocky Mountains, and very -far north. - -Not a true marigold, and even less a cowslip, it is by these names -that this flower, which looks most like a buttercup, will continue to -be called, in spite of the protests of scientific classifiers. -Doubtless the first of these folk-names refers to its use in church -festivals during the Middle Ages as one of the blossoms devoted to the -Virgin Mary. - - "And winking Mary-buds begin - To ope their golden eyes," - -sing the musicians in "Cymbeline." Whoever has seen the watery Avon -meadows in April, yellow and twinkling with marsh marigolds when "the -lark at heaven's gate sings," appreciates why the commentators incline -to identify Shakespeare's Mary-buds with the _Caltha_ of these and our -own marshes. - -But we know well that not for poets' high-flown rhapsodies but rather -for the more welcome hum of bees and flies intent on breakfasting, do -these flowers open in the morning sunshine. - -Some country people who boil the young plants declare these "greens" are -as good as spinach. What sacrilege to reduce crisp, glossy, beautiful -leaves like these to a slimy mess in a pot! The tender buds, often used -in white sauce as a substitute for capers, probably do not give it the -same piquancy where piquancy is surely most needed--on boiled mutton, -said to be Queen Victoria's favorite dish. Hawked about the streets in -tight bunches, the Marsh Marigold blossoms--with half their yellow -sepals already dropped--and the fragrant, pearly, pink arbutus are the -most familiar spring wild flowers seen in Eastern cities. - - -Gold-thread; Canker-root - -_Coptis trifolia_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, solitary, on a slender scape 3 to 6 in. high. -Sepals 5 to 7, petal-like, falling early; petals 5 to 6, inconspicuous, -like club-shaped columns; stamens numerous; carpels few, the stigmatic -surfaces curved. _Leaves:_ From the base, long petioled, divided into 3 -somewhat fan-shaped, shining, evergreen, sharply toothed leaflets. -_Rootstock:_ Thread-like, long, bright yellow, wiry, bitter. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Cool mossy bogs, damp woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-August. - -_Distribution_--Maryland and Minnesota northward to circumpolar regions. - -Dig up a plant, and the fine, tangled, yellow roots tell why it was -given its name. In the good old days when decoctions of any herb that -was particularly nauseous were swallowed in the simple faith that -virtue resided in them in proportion to their revolting taste, the -gold-thread's bitter roots furnished a tea much valued as a spring -tonic and as a cure for ulcerated throats and canker-sore mouths of -helpless children. - - -Wild Columbine - -_Aquilegia canadensis_ - -_Flower_--Red outside, yellow within, irregular, 1 to 2 in. long, -solitary, nodding from a curved footstalk from the upper leaf axils. -Petals 5, funnel-shaped, but quickly narrowing into long, erect, very -slender hollow spurs, rounded at the tip and united below by the 5 -spreading red sepals, between which the straight spurs ascend; numerous -stamens and 5 pistils projecting. _Stem_: 1 to 2 ft. high, branching, -soft-hairy or smooth. _Leaves_: More or less divided, the lobes with -rounded teeth; large lower compound leaves on long petioles. _Fruit_: An -erect pod, each of the 5 divisions tipped with a long, sharp beak. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rocky places, rich woodland. - -_Flowering Season_--April-July. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territory; southward to the -Gulf states. Rocky Mountains. - -Although under cultivation the columbine nearly doubles its size, it -never has the elfin charm in a conventional garden that it possesses -wild in Nature's. Dancing, in red and yellow petticoats, to the rhythm -of the breeze along the ledge of overhanging rocks, it coquettes with -some Punchinello as if daring him to reach her at his peril. Who is he? -Let us sit a while on the rocky ledge and watch for her lovers. - -Presently a big muscular bumblebee booms along. Owing to his great -strength, an inverted, pendent blossom, from which he must cling upside -down, has no more terrors for him than a trapeze for the trained -acrobat. His long tongue--if he is one of the largest of our sixty-two -species of _Bombus_--can suck almost any flower unless it is especially -adapted to night-flying sphinx moths, but can he drain this? He is the -truest benefactor of the European Columbine _(A. vulgaris)_, whose spurs -suggested the talons of an eagle _(aquila)_ to imaginative Linnaeus when -he gave this group of plants its generic name. Smaller bumblebees, -unable through the shortness of their tongues to feast in a legitimate -manner, may be detected nipping holes in the tips of all columbines, -where the nectar is secreted, just as they do in larkspurs, Dutchman's -breeches, squirrel corn, butter and eggs, and other flowers whose deeply -hidden nectaries make dining too difficult for the little rogues. -Fragile butterflies, absolutely dependent on nectar, hover near our -showy wild columbine with its five tempting horns of plenty, but sail -away again, knowing as they do that their weak legs are not calculated -to stand the strain of an inverted position from a pendent flower, nor -are their tongues adapted to slender tubes unless these may be entered -from above. The tongues of both butterflies and moths bend readily only -when directed beneath their bodies. It will be noticed that our -columbine's funnel-shaped tubes contract just below the point where the -nectar is secreted--doubtless to protect it from small bees. When we see -the honey-bee or the little wild bees--_Halictus_ chiefly--on the -flower, we may know they get pollen only. - -Finally a ruby-throated humming bird whirs into sight. Poising before a -columbine, and moving around it to drain one spur after another until -the five are emptied, he flashes like thought to another group of -inverted red cornucopias, visits in turn every flower in the colony, -then whirs away quite as suddenly as he came. Probably to him, and no -longer to the outgrown bumblebee, has the flower adapted itself. The -European species wears blue, the bee's favorite color according to Sir -John Lubbock; the nectar hidden in its spurs, which are shorter, -stouter, and curved, is accessible only to the largest bumblebees. -There are no humming birds in Europe. Our native columbine, on the -contrary, has longer, contracted, straight, erect spurs, most easily -drained by the ruby-throat which, like Eugene Field, ever delights in -"any color at all so long as it's red." - -To help make the columbine conspicuous, even the sepals become red; but -the flower is yellow within, it is thought to guide visitors to the -nectaries. The stamens protrude like a golden tassel. After the anthers -pass the still immature stigmas, the pollen of the outer row ripens, -ready for removal, while the inner row of undeveloped stamens still acts -as a sheath for the stigmas. Owing to the pendent position of the -flower, no pollen could fall on the latter in any case. The columbine is -too highly organized to tolerate self-fertilization. When all the -stamens have discharged their pollen, the styles then elongate; and the -feathery stigmas, opening and curving sidewise, bring themselves at the -entrance of each of the five cornucopias, just the position the anthers -previously occupied. Probably even the small bees, collecting pollen -only, help carry some from flower to flower; but perhaps the largest -bumblebees, and certainly the humming bird, must be regarded as the -columbine's legitimate benefactors. Caterpillars of one of the dusky -wings (_Papilio lucilius_) feed on the leaves. - - -Black Cohosh; Black Snakeroot; Tall Bugbane - -_Cimicifuga racemosa_ - -_Flowers_--Foetid, feathery, white, in an elongated wand-like raceme, 6 -in. to 2 ft. long, at the end of a stem 3 to 8 ft. high. Sepals -petal-like, falling early; 4 to 8 small stamen-like petals 2-cleft; -stamens very numerous, with long filaments; 1 or 2 sessile pistils with -broad stigmas. _Leaves:_ Alternate, on long petioles, thrice compounded -of oblong, deeply toothed or cleft leaflets, the end leaflet often again -compound. _Fruit:_ Dry oval pods, their seeds in 2 rows. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich woods and woodland borders, hillsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--Maine to Georgia, and westward from Ontario to Missouri. - -Tall white rockets, shooting upward from a mass of large handsome leaves -in some heavily shaded midsummer woodland border, cannot fail to impress -themselves through more than one sense, for their odor is as -disagreeable as the fleecy white blossoms are striking. Obviously such -flowers would be most attractive to the carrion and meat flies. -_Cimicifuga_, meaning to drive away bugs, and the old folk-name of -bugbane testify to a degree of offensiveness to other insects, where the -flies' enjoyment begins. As these are the only insects one is likely to -see about the fleecy wands, doubtless they are their benefactors. The -countless stamens which feed them generously with pollen willingly left -for them alone must also dust them well as they crawl about before -flying to another foetid lunch. - -The close kinship with the baneberries is detected at once on examining -one of these flowers. Were the vigorous plant less offensive to the -nostrils, many a garden would be proud to own so decorative an addition -to the shrubbery border. - - -White Baneberry; Cohosh - -_Actaea alba_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, in a terminal oblong raceme. Calyx of 3 to 5 -petal-like, early-falling sepals; petals very small, 4 to 10, spatulate, -clawed; stamens white, numerous, longer than petals; 1 pistil with a -broad stigma. _Stem:_ Erect, bushy, 1 to 2 ft. high. _Leaves:_ Twice or -thrice compounded of sharply toothed and pointed, sometimes lobed, -leaflets, petioled. _Fruit:_ Clusters of poisonous oval white berries -with dark purple spot on end, formed from the pistils. Both pedicels and -peduncles much thickened and often red after fruiting. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Cool, shady, moist woods. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Georgia and far West. - -However insignificant the short fuzzy clusters of flowers lifted by this -bushy little plant, we cannot fail to name it after it has set those -curious white berries with a dark spot on the end, which Mrs. Starr Dana -graphically compares to "the china eyes that small children occasionally -manage to gouge from their dolls' heads." For generations they have been -called "dolls' eyes" in Massachusetts. Especially after these poisonous -berries fully ripen and the rigid stems which bear them thicken and -redden, we cannot fail to notice them. As the sepals fall early, the -white stamens and stigmas are the most conspicuous parts of the flowers. - - - - -BARBERRY FAMILY _(Berberidaceae)_ - - -May Apple; Hog Apple; Mandrake; Wild Lemon - -_Podophyllum peltatum_ - -_Flowers_--White, solitary, large, unpleasantly scented, nodding from -the fork between a pair of terminal leaves. Calyx of 6 short-lived -sepals; 6 to 9 rounded, flat petals; stamens as many as petals or -(usually) twice as many; 1 pistil, with a thick stigma. _Stem:_ 1 to -1-1/2 ft. high, from a long, running rootstock. _Leaves:_ Of flowerless -stems (from separate rootstock), solitary, on a long petiole from, -base, nearly 1 ft. across, rounded, centrally peltate, umbrella -fashion, 5 to 7 lobed, the lobes 2-cleft, dark above, light green -below. Leaves of flowering stem 1 to 3, usually a pair, similar to -others, but smaller. _Fruit:_ A fleshy, yellowish, egg-shaped, -many-seeded fruit about 2 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, moist woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May. - -_Distribution_--Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, westward to Minnesota and -Texas. - -In giving this plant its abridged scientific name, Linnaeus seemed to -see in its leaves a resemblance to a duck's foot _(Anapodophyllum);_ but -equally imaginative American children call them green umbrellas, and -declare they unfurl only during April showers. In July, a sweetly -mawkish many-seeded fruit, resembling a yellow egg-tomato, delights the -uncritical palates of the little people, who should be warned, however, -against putting any other part of this poisonous, drastic plant in their -mouths. Physicians best know its uses. Dr. Asa Gray's statement about -the harmless fruit "eaten by pigs and boys" aroused William Hamilton -Gibson, who had happy memories of his own youthful gorges on anything -edible that grew. "Think of it, boys!" he wrote; "and think of what else -he says of it: 'Ovary ovoid, stigma sessile, undulate, seeds covering -the lateral placenta each enclosed in an aril.' Now it may be safe for -pigs and billygoats to tackle such a compound as that, but we boys all -like to know what we are eating, and I cannot but feel that the public -health officials of every township should require this formula of Doctor -Gray's to be printed on every one of these big loaded pills, if that is -what they are really made of." - - -Barberry; Pepperidge-bush - -_Berberis vulgaris_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, small, odor disagreeable, 6-parted, borne in -drooping, many-flowered racemes from the leaf axils along arching twigs. -_Stem_: A much-branched, smooth, gray shrub, 5 to 8 ft. tall, armed with -sharp spines. _Leaves_: From the 3-pronged spines (thorns); oval or -obovate, bristly edged. _Fruit_: Oblong, scarlet, acid berries. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Thickets, roadsides, dry or gravelly soil. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--Naturalized in New England and Middle states; less -common in Canada and the West. Europe and Asia. - -When the twigs of barberry bushes arch with the weight of clusters of -beautiful bright berries in September, every one must take notice of a -shrub so decorative, which receives scant attention from us, however, -when its insignificant little flowers are out. - -In the barberry bushes, as in the gorse, when grown in dry, gravelly -situations, we see many leaves and twigs modified into thorns to -diminish the loss of water through evaporation by exposing too much leaf -surface to the sun and air. That such spines protect the plants which -bear them from the ravages of grazing cattle is, of course, an -additional motive for their presence. Under cultivation, in well-watered -garden soil--and how many charming varieties of barberries are -cultivated--the thorny shrub loses much of its armor, putting forth many -more leaves, in rosettes, along more numerous twigs, instead. Even the -prickly pear cactus might become mild as a lamb were it to forswear -sandy deserts and live in marshes instead. Country people sometimes rob -the birds of the acid berries to make preserves. The wood furnishes a -yellow dye. - - - - -POPPY FAMILY _(Papaveraceae)_ - - -Bloodroot; Indian Paint; Red Puccoon - -_Sanguinaria canadensis_ - -_Flowers_--Pure white, rarely pinkish, golden centred, 1 to 1-1/2 in. -across, solitary, at end of a smooth, naked scape 6 to 14 in. tall. -Calyx of 2 short-lived sepals; corolla of 8 to 12 oblong petals, early -falling; stamens numerous; 1 short pistil composed of 2 carpels. -_Leaves:_ Rounded, deeply and palmately lobed, the 5 to 9 lobes often -cleft. _Rootstock:_ Thick, several inches long, with fibrous roots, and -filled with orange-red juice. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich woods and borders; low hillsides. - -_Flowering Season_--April-May. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to Nebraska. - -Snugly protected in a papery sheath enfolding a silvery-green -leaf-cloak, the solitary erect bud slowly rises from its embrace, sheds -its sepals, expands into an immaculate golden-centred blossom that, -poppy-like, offers but a glimpse of its fleeting loveliness ere it drops -its snow-white petals and is gone. But were the flowers less ephemeral, -were we always certain of hitting upon the very time its colonies are -starring the woodland, would it have so great a charm? Here to-day, if -there comes a sudden burst of warm sunshine; gone to-morrow, if the -spring winds, rushing through the nearly leafless woods, are too rude to -the fragile petals--no blossom has a more evanescent beauty, none is -more lovely. After its charms have been displayed, up rises the circular -leaf-cloak on its smooth reddish petiole, unrolls, and at length -overtops the narrow, oblong seed-vessel. Wound the plant in any part, -and there flows an orange-red juice, which old-fashioned mothers used to -drop on lumps of sugar and administer when their children had coughs and -colds. As this fluid stains whatever it touches--hence its value to the -Indians as a war-paint--one should be careful in picking the flower. It -has no value for cutting, of course; but in some rich, shady corner of -the garden, a clump of the plants will thrive and bring a suggestive -picture of the spring woods to our very doors. It will be noticed that -plants having thick rootstock, corms, and bulbs, which store up food -during the winter, like the irises, Solomon's seals, bloodroot, adder's -tongue, and crocuses, are prepared to rush into blossom far earlier in -spring than fibrous-rooted species that must accumulate nourishment -after the season has opened. - - -Greater Celandine; Swallow-wort - -_Chelidonium majus_ - -_Flowers_--Lustreless yellow, about 1/2 in. across, on slender pedicels, -in a small umbel-like cluster. Sepals 2, soon falling; 4 petals, many -yellow stamens, pistil prominent. _Stem:_ Weak, 1 to 2 ft. high, -branching, slightly hairy, containing bright orange acrid juice. -_Leaves:_ Thin, 4 to 8 in. long, deeply cleft into 5 (usually) irregular -oval lobes, the terminal one largest. _Fruit:_ Smooth, slender, erect -pods, 1 to 2 in. long, tipped with the persistent style. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry waste land, fields, roadsides, gardens, near -dwellings. - -_Flowering Season_--April-September. - -_Distribution_--Naturalized from Europe in eastern United States. - -Not this weak invader of our roadsides, whose four yellow petals suggest -one of the cross-bearing mustard tribe, but the pert little Lesser -Celandine, Pilewort, or Figwort Buttercup (_Ficaria Ficaria_), one of -the crowfoot family, whose larger solitary satiny yellow flowers so -commonly star European pastures, was Wordsworth's special delight--a -tiny, turf-loving plant, about which much poetical association clusters. -Having stolen passage across the Atlantic, it is now making itself at -home about College Point, Long Island; on Staten Island; near -Philadelphia, and maybe elsewhere. Doubtless it will one day overrun our -fields, as so many other European immigrants have done. - -The generic Greek name of the greater celandine, meaning a swallow, was -given it because it begins to bloom when the first returning swallows -are seen skimming over the water and freshly ploughed fields in a -perfect ecstasy of flight, and continues in flower among its erect seed -capsules until the first cool days of autumn kill the gnats and small -winged insects not driven to cover. Then the swallows, dependent on such -fare, must go to warmer climes where plenty still fly. Quaint old -Gerarde claims that the Swallow-wort was so called because "with this -herbe the dams restore eyesight to their young ones when their eye be -put out" by swallows. Coles asserts "the swallow cureth her dim eyes -with Celandine." - - - - -FUMITORY FAMILY _(Fumariaceae)_ - - -Dutchman's Breeches; White Hearts; Soldier's Cap; Ear-drops - -_Dicentra Cucullaria_ - -_Flowers_--White, tipped with yellow, nodding in a 1-sided raceme. Two -scale-like sepals; corolla of 4 petals, in 2 pairs, somewhat cohering -into a heart-shaped, flattened, irregular flower, the outer pair of -petals extended into 2 widely spread spurs, the small inner petals -united above; 6 stamens in 2 sets; style slender, with a 2-lobed stigma. -_Scape: 5_ to 10 in. high, smooth, from a bulbous root. _Leaves:_ Finely -cut, thrice compound, pale beneath, on slender petioles, all from base. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, rocky woods. - -_Flowering Season_--April-May. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to the Carolinas, west to Nebraska. - -Rich leaf mould, accumulated between crevices of rock, makes the ideal -home of this delicate yet striking flower, coarse-named, but refined in -all its parts. Consistent with the dainty, heart-shaped blossoms that -hang trembling along the slender stem like pendants from a lady's ear, -are the finely dissected, lace-like leaves, the whole plant repudiating -by its femininity its most popular name. It was Thoreau who observed -that only those plants which require but little light, and can stand the -drip of trees, prefer to dwell in the woods--plants which have commonly -more beauty in their leaves than in their pale and almost colorless -blossoms. Certainly few woodland dwellers have more delicately beautiful -foliage than the fumitory tribe. - - -Squirrel Corn - -_Dicentra canadensis_ - -_Flowers_--Irregular, greenish white tinged with rose, slightly -fragrant, heart-shaped, with 2 short rounded spurs, more than 1/2 in. -long, nodding on a slender Calyx of 2 scale-like sepals; corolla -heart-shaped at base, consisting of 4 petals in 2 united pairs, a -prominent crest on tips of inner ones; 6 stamens in 2 sets; style with -2-lobed stigma. _Scape_; Smooth, 6 to 12 in. high, the rootstock bearing -many small, round, yellow tubers like kernels of corn. _Leaves_: All -from root, delicate, compounded of 3 very finely dissected divisions. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, moist woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Virginia, and westward to the -Mississippi. - -Any one familiar with the Bleeding-heart _(Dicentra eximia)_ of -old-fashioned gardens, found growing wild in the Alleghanies, and with -the exquisite White Mountain Fringe _(Adlumia fungosa)_ often brought -from the woods to be planted over shady trellises, or with the -Dutchman's breeches, need not be told that the little squirrel corn is -next of kin or far removed from the Pink Corydalis. It is not until we -dig up the plant and look at its roots that we see why it received its -name. A delicious perfume like hyacinths, only fainter and subtler, -rises from the dainty blossoms. - - - - -MUSTARD FAMILY _(Cruciferae)_ - - -Shepherd's Purse; Mother's Heart - -_Capsella Bursa-pastoris_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, in a long, loose raceme, followed by triangular -and notched (somewhat heart-shaped) pods, the valves boat-shaped and -keeled. Sepals and petals 4; stamens 6; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ 6 to 18 in. -high, from a deep root. _Leaves:_ Forming a rosette at base, 2 to 5 in. -long, more or less cut (pinnatifid), a few pointed, arrow-shaped leaves -also scattered along stem and partly clasping it. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields, roadsides, waste places. - -_Flowering Season_--Almost throughout the year. - -_Distribution_--Over nearly all parts of the earth. - -From Europe this little low plant found its way, to become the commonest -of our weeds, so completing its march around the globe. At a glance one -knows it to be related to the alyssum and candytuft of our gardens, -albeit a poor relation in spite of its vaunted purses--the tiny, -heart-shaped seed-pods that so rapidly succeed the flowers. What is the -secret of its successful march over the face of the earth? Like the -equally triumphant chickweed, it is easily satisfied with unoccupied -waste land, it avoids the fiercest competition for insect trade by -prolonging its season of bloom far beyond that of any native flower, for -there is not a month in the year when one may not find it even in New -England in sheltered places. - - -Black Mustard - -_Brassica nigra_ - -_Flowers_--Bright yellow, fading pale, 1/4 to 1/2 in. across, 4-parted, -in elongated racemes; quickly followed by narrow, upright 4-sided pods -about 1/2 in. long appressed against the stem. _Stem:_ Erect, 2 to 7 ft. -tall, branching. _Leaves:_ Variously lobed and divided, finely toothed, -the terminal lobe larger than the 2 to 4 side ones. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides, fields, neglected gardens. - -_Flowering Season_--June-November. - -_Distribution_--Common throughout our area; naturalized from -Europe and Asia. - - "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, - which a man took and sowed in his field: which indeed is less - than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the - herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come - and lodge in the branches thereof." - -Commentators differ as to which is the mustard of the parable--this -common Black Mustard, or a rarer shrub-like tree (_Salvadora Persica_), -with an equivalent Arabic name, a pungent odor, and a very small seed. -Inasmuch as the mustard which is systematically planted for fodder by -Old World farmers grows with the greatest luxuriance in Palestine, and -the comparison between the size of its seed and the plant's great height -was already proverbial in the East when Jesus used it, evidence strongly -favors this wayside weed. Indeed, the late Doctor Royle, who endeavored -to prove that it was the shrub that was referred to, finally found that -it does not grow in Galilee. - -Now, there are two species which furnish the most powerfully pungent -condiment known to commerce; but the tiny dark brown seeds of the Black -Mustard are sharper than the serpent's tooth, whereas the pale brown -seeds of the White Mustard, often mixed with them, are far more mild. -The latter (_Brassica alba_) is a similar, but more hairy, plant, with -slightly larger yellow flowers. Its pods are constricted like a -necklace between the seeds. - -The coarse Hedge Mustard (_Sisymbrium officinale_), with rigid, -spreading branches, and spikes of tiny pale yellow flowers, quickly -followed by awl-shaped pods that are closely appressed to the stem, -abounds in waste places throughout our area. It blooms from May to -November, like the next species. - -Another common and most troublesome weed from Europe is the Field or -Corn Mustard, Charlock or Field Kale (_Brassica arvensis_) found in -grain fields, gardens, rich waste lands, and rubbish heaps. The -alternate leaves, which stand boldly out from the stem, are oval, -coarsely saw-toothed, or the lower ones more irregular, and lobed at -their bases, all rough to the touch, and conspicuously veined. - - - - -PITCHER-PLANT FAMILY _(Sarracenaceae)_ - - -Pitcher-plant; Side-saddle Flower; Huntsman's Cup; Indian Dipper - -_Sarracenea purpurea_ - -_Flower_--Deep reddish purple, sometimes partly greenish, pink, or red, -2 in. or more across, globose; solitary, nodding from scape 1 to 2 ft. -tall. Calyx of 5 sepals, with 3 or 4 bracts at base; 5 overlapping -petals, enclosing a yellowish, umbrella-shaped dilation of the style, -with 5 rays terminating in 5-hooked stigmas; stamens indefinite. -_Leaves:_ Hollow, pitcher-shaped through the folding together of their -margins, leaving a broad wing; much inflated, hooded, yellowish green -with dark maroon or purple lines and veinings, 4 to 12 in. long, curved, -in a tuft from the root. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Peat-bogs; spongy, mossy swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--Labrador to the Rocky Mountains, south to Florida, -Kentucky, and Minnesota. - - "What's this I hear - About the new carnivora? - Can little plants - Eat bugs and ants - And gnats and flies? - A sort of retrograding: - Surely the fare - Of flowers is air - Or sunshine sweet; - They shouldn't eat - Or do aught so degrading!" - -There must always be something shocking in the sacrifice of the higher -life to the lower, of the sensate to what we are pleased to call the -insensate, although no one who has studied the marvellously intelligent -motives that impel a plant's activities can any longer consider the -vegetable creation as lacking sensibility. Science is at length giving -us a glimmering of the meaning of the word universe, teaching, as it -does, that all creatures in sharing the One Life share in many of its -powers, and differ from one another only in degree of possession, not in -kind. The transition from one so-called kingdom into another presumably -higher one is a purely arbitrary line marked by man, and often -impossible to define. The animalcule and the insectivorous plant know no -boundaries between the animal and the vegetable. And who shall say that -the sundew or the bladderwort is not a higher organism than the amoeba? -Animated plants and vegetating animals parallel each other. Several -hundred carnivorous plants in all parts of the world have now been named -by scientists. - -It is well worth a journey to some spongy, sphagnum bog to gather clumps -of pitcher-plants which will furnish an interesting study to an entire -household throughout the summer while they pursue their nefarious -business in a shallow bowl on the veranda. A modification of the petiole -forms a deep, hollow pitcher having for its spout a modification of the -blade of the leaf. Usually the pitchers are half filled with water and -tiny drowned victims when we gather them. Some of this fluid must be -rain, but the open pitcher secretes much juice, too. Certain relatives, -whose pitchers have hooded lids that keep out rain, are nevertheless -filled with fluid. On the Pacific Coast the golden jars of _Darlingtonia -californica_, with their overarching hoods, are often so large and -watery as to drown small birds and field mice. Note in passing that -these otherwise dark prisons have translucent spots at the top, whereas -our pitcher-plant is lighted through its open transom. - -A sweet secretion within the pitcher's rim, which some say is -intoxicating, others that it is an anesthetic, invites insects to a -fatal feast. It is a simple enough matter for them to walk into the -pitcher over the band of stiff hairs pointing downward like the withes -of a lobster pot, that form an inner covering, or to slip into the well -if they attempt crawling over its polished upper surface. To fly upward -in a perpendicular line, once their wings are wet, is additionally -hopeless, because of the hairs that guard the mouth of the trap; and -so, after vain attempts to fly or crawl out of the prison, they usually -sink exhausted into a watery grave. - -When certain plants live in soil that is so poor in nitrogen compounds -that proteid formation is interfered with, they have come to depend more -or less on a carnivorous diet. The sundew actually digests its prey with -the help of a gastric juice similar to what is found in the stomach of -animals; but the bladderwort and pitcher-plants can only absorb in the -form of soup the products of their victims' decay. Flies and gnats -drowned in these pitchers quickly yield their poor little bodies; but -owing to the beetle's hard shell covering, many a rare specimen may be -rescued intact to add to a collection. - -A similar ogre plant is the yellow-flowered Trumpet-leaf (_S. flava_) -found in bogs in the Southern states. - - - - -SUNDEW FAMILY _(Droseraceae)_ - - -Round-leaved Sundew; Dew-plant - -_Drosera rotundifolia_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, growing in a 1-sided, curved raceme of buds -chiefly. Calyx usually 5-parted; usually 5 petals, and as many stamens -as petals; usually 3 styles, but 2-cleft, thus appearing to be twice as -many. _Scape:_ 4 to 10 in. high. _Leaves:_ Growing in an open rosette on -the ground; round or broader, clothed with reddish bristly hairs tipped -with purple glands, and narrowed into long, flat, hairy petioles; young -leaves curled like fern fronds. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Bogs, sandy and sunny marshes. - -_Flowering Season_--July-August. - -_Distribution_--Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico and westward. From Alaska -to California. Europe and Asia. - -Here is a bloodthirsty little miscreant that lives by reversing the -natural order of higher forms of life preying upon lower ones, an -anomaly in that the vegetable actually eats the animal. The dogbane, as -we shall see, simply catches the flies that dare trespass upon the -butterflies' preserves, for excellent reasons of its own; the Silenes -and phloxes, among others, spread their calices with a sticky gum that -acts as limed twigs do to birds, in order to guard the nectar secreted -for flying benefactors from pilfering ants; the honey bee being an -imported, not a native, insect, and therefore not perfectly adapted to -the milkweed, occasionally gets entrapped by it; the big bumblebee is -sometimes fatally imprisoned in the moccasin flower's gorgeous tomb--the -punishment of insects that do not benefit the flowers is infinite in its -variety. But the local Venus's flytrap (_Dionaea muscipula_), gathered -only from the low savannas in North Carolina to entertain the owners of -hothouses as it promptly closes the crushing trap at the end of its -sensitive leaves over a hapless fly, and the common sundew that tinges -the peat-bogs of three continents with its little reddish leaves, belong -to a distinct class of carnivorous plants which actually masticate their -animal food, depending upon it for nourishment as men do upon cattle -slaughtered in an abattoir. Darwin's luminous account of these two -species alone, which occupies more than three hundred absorbingly -interesting pages of his "Insectivorous Plants," should be read by -every one interested in these freaks of nature. - -When we go to some sunny cranberry bog to look for these sundews, -nothing could be more innocent looking than the tiny plant, its nodding -raceme of buds, usually with only a solitary little blossom (that opens -only in the sunshine) at the top of the curve, its leaves glistening -with what looks like dew, though the midsummer sun may be high in the -heavens. A little fly or gnat, attracted by the bright jewels, alights -on a leaf only to find that the clear drops, more sticky than honey, -instantly glue his feet, that the pretty reddish hairs about him act -like tentacles, reaching inward, to imprison him within their slowly -closing embrace. Here is one of the horrors of the Inquisition -operating in this land of liberty before our very eyes! Excited by the -struggles of the victim, the sensitive hairs close only the faster, -working on the same principle that a vine's tendrils do when they come -in contact with a trellis. More of the sticky fluid pours upon the -hapless fly, plastering over his legs and wings and the pores on his -body through which he draws his breath. Slowly, surely, the leaf rolls -inward, making a temporary stomach; the cruel hairs bind, the glue -suffocates and holds him fast. Death alone releases him. And now the -leaf's orgy begins: moistening the fly with a fresh peptic fluid, which -helps in the assimilation, the plant proceeds to digest its food. -Curiously enough, chemical analysis proves that this sundew secrets a -complex fluid corresponding almost exactly to the gastric juice in the -stomach of animals. - -Darwin, who fed these leaves with various articles, found that they -could dissolve matter out of pollen, seeds, grass, etc.; yet without a -human caterer, how could a leaf turn vegetarian? When a bit of any -undesirable substance, such as chalk or wood, was placed on the hairs -and excited them, they might embrace it temporarily; but as soon as the -mistake was discovered, it would be dropped! He also poisoned the plants -by administering acids, and gave them fatal attacks of indigestion by -overfeeding them with bits of raw beef! - - - - -SAXIFRAGE FAMILY _(Saxifragaceae)_ - - -Early Saxifrage - -_Saxifraga virginiensis_ - -_Flowers_--White, small, numerous, perfect, spreading into a loose -panicle. Calyx 5-lobed; 5 petals; 10 stamens; 1 pistil with 2 -styles. _Scape:_ 4 to 12 in. high, naked, sticky-hairy. _Leaves:_ -Clustered at the base, rather thick, obovate, toothed, and narrowed -into spatulate-margined petioles. _Fruit:_ Widely spread, purplish -brown pods. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rocky woodlands, hillsides. - -_Flowering Season_--March-May. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Georgia, and westward a thousand -miles or more. - -Rooted in clefts of rock that, therefore, appears to be broken by this -vigorous plant, the saxifrage shows rosettes of fresh green leaves in -earliest spring, and soon whitens with its blossoms the most forbidding -niches. (_Saxum_ = a rock; _frango_ = I break.) At first a small ball of -green buds nestles in the leafy tuffet, then pushes upward on a bare -scape, opening its tiny, white, five-pointed star flowers as it ascends, -until, having reached the allotted height, it scatters them in spreading -clusters that last a fortnight. - - -Foam-flower; False Miterwort; Cool wort; Nancy-over-the-Ground - -_Tiarella cordifolia_ - -_Flowers_--White, small, feathery, borne in a close raceme at the top of -a scape 6 to 12 in. high. Calyx white, 5-lobed; 5 clawed petals; 10 -stamens, long-exserted; 1 pistil with 2 styles. _Leaves_: Long-petioled -from the rootstock or runners, rounded or broadly heart-shaped, 3 to -7-lobed, toothed, often downy along veins beneath. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, moist woods, especially along mountains. - -_Flowering Season_--April-May. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Georgia, and westward scarcely to the -Mississippi. - -Fuzzy, bright white foam-flowers are most conspicuous in the forest when -seen against their unevenly colored leaves that carpet the ground. A -relative, the true Miterwort or Bishop's Cap (_Mittella diphylla_), with -similar foliage, except that two opposite leaves may be found almost -seated near the middle of its hairy stem, has its flowers rather -distantly scattered on the raceme, and their fine petals deeply cut like -fringe. Both species may be found in bloom at the same time, offering an -opportunity for comparison to the confused novice. Now, _tiarella_, -meaning a little tiara, and _mitella_, a little miter, refer, of -course, to the odd forms of their seed-cases; but all of us are not -gifted with the imaginative eyes of Linnaeus, who named the plants. -Xenophon's assertion that the royal tiara or turban of the Persians was -encircled with a crown helps us no more to see what Linnaeus saw in the -one case than the fact that the papal miter is encircled by three crowns -helps in the other. And as for the lofty, two-peaked cap worn by Bishops -in the Roman Church, a dozen plants, with equal propriety, might be said -to wear it. - - -Grass of Parnassus - -_Parnassia caroliniana_ - -_Flowers_--Creamy white, delicately veined with greenish, solitary, 1 -in. broad or over, at the end of a scape 8 in. to 2 ft. high, 1 ovate -leaf clasping it. Calyx deeply 5-lobed; corolla of 5 spreading, parallel -veined petals; 5 fertile stamens alternating with them, and 3 stout -imperfect stamens clustered at base of each petal; 1 very short pistil -with 4 stigmas. _Leaves:_ From the root, on long petioles, broadly oval -or rounded, heart-shaped at base, rather thick. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Wet ground, low meadows, swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Virginia, west to Iowa. - -What's in a name? Certainly our common grass of Parnassus, which is no -grass at all, never starred the meadows round about the home of the -Muses, nor sought the steaming savannas of the Carolinas. The European -counterpart (_P. palustris_), fabled to have sprung up on Mount -Parnassus, is at home here only in the Canadian border states and -northward. - - - - -WITCH-HAZEL FAMILY _(Hamamelidaceae)_ - - -Witch-hazel - -_Hamamelis virginiana_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, fringy, clustered in the axils of branches. Calyx -4-parted; 4 very narrow curving petals about 3/4 in. long; 4 short -stamens, also 4 that are scale-like; 2 styles. _Stem_: A tall, crooked -shrub. _Leaves_: Broadly oval, thick, wavy-toothed, mostly fallen at -flowering time. _Fruit_: Woody capsules maturing the next season and -remaining with flowers of the succeeding year (_Hama_ = together with; -_mela_ = fruit). - -The literature of Europe is filled with allusions to the witch-hazel, -which, however, is quite distinct from our shrub. Swift wrote: - - "They tell us something strange and odd - About a certain magic rod - That, bending down its top divines - Where'er the soil has hidden mines; - Where there are none, it stands erect - Scorning to show the least respect." - -A good story is told on Linnaeus in Baring-Gould's "Curious Myths of -the Middle Ages": "When the great botanist was on one of his voyages, -hearing his secretary highly extol the virtues of his divining-wand, -he was willing to convince him of its insufficiency, and for that -purpose concealed a purse of one hundred ducats under a ranunculus, -which grew by itself in a meadow, and bid the secretary find it if he -could. The wand discovered nothing, and Linnaeus's mark was soon -trampled down by the company present, so that when he went to finish -the experiment by fetching the gold himself, he was utterly at a loss -where to find it. The man with the wand assisted him, and informed him -that it could not lie in the way they were going, but quite the -contrary; so they pursued the direction of the wand, and actually dug -out the gold. Linnaeus said that another such experiment would be -sufficient to make a proselyte of him." - -Many a well has been dug even in this land of liberty where our -witch-hazel indicated; but here its kindly magic is directed chiefly -through the soothing extract distilled from its juices. Its yellow, -thread-like blossoms are the latest to appear in the autumn woods. - - - - -ROSE FAMILY _(Rosaceae)_ - - -Hardhack; Steeple Bush - -_Spiraea tomentosa_ - -_Flowers_--Pink or magenta, rarely white, very small, in dense, -pyramidal clusters. Calyx of 5 sepals; corolla of 5 rounded petals; -stamens, 20 to 60; usually 5 pistils, downy. _Stem:_ 2 to 3 ft. high, -erect, shrubby, simple, downy. _Leaves:_ Dark green above, covered with -whitish woolly hairs beneath; oval, saw-edged, 1 to 2 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Low, moist ground, roadside ditches, swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia westward, and southward to Georgia and -Kansas. - -An instant's comparison shows the steeple bush to be closely related to -the fleecy, white meadow-sweet, often found growing near. The pink -spires, which bloom from the top downward, have pale brown tips where -the withered flowers are, toward the end of summer. - -Why is the underside of the leaves so woolly? Not as a protection -against wingless insects crawling upward, that is certain; for such -could only benefit these tiny clustered flowers. Not against the sun's -rays, for it is only the under surface that is coated. When the upper -leaf surface is hairy, we know that the plant is protected in this way -from perspiring too freely. Doubtless these leaves of the steeple bush, -like those of other plants that choose a similar habitat, have woolly -hairs beneath as an absorbent to protect their pores from clogging with -the vapors that must rise from the damp ground where the plant grows. If -these pores were filled with moisture from without, how could they -possibly throw off the waste of the plant? All plants are largely -dependent upon free perspiration for health, but especially those whose -roots, struck in wet ground, are constantly sending up moisture through -the stem and leaves. - - -Meadow-sweet; Quaker Lady; Queen-of-the-Meadow - -_Spiraea salicifolia_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, or flesh pink, clustered in dense, pyramidal -terminal panicles. Calyx 5 cleft; corolla of 5 rounded petals; stamens -numerous; pistils 5 to 8. _Stem:_ 2 to 4 ft. high, simple or bushy, -smooth, usually reddish. _Leaves:_ Alternate, oval, or oblong, -saw-edged. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Low meadows, swamps, fence-rows, ditches. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Georgia, west to Rocky Mountains. -Europe and Asia. - -Fleecy white plumes of meadow-sweet, the "spires of closely clustered -bloom" sung by Dora Read Goodale, are surely not frequently found near -dusty "waysides scorched with barren heat," even in her Berkshires; -their preference is for moister soil, often in the same habitat with a -first cousin, the pink steeple-bush. But plants, like humans, are -capricious creatures. If the meadow-sweet always elected to grow in damp -ground whose rising mists would clog the pores of its leaves, doubtless -they would be protected with a woolly absorbent, as its cousins are. - -Inasmuch as perfume serves as an attraction to the more highly -specialized, aesthetic insects, not required by the spiraeas, our -meadow-sweet has none, in spite of its misleading name. Small bees, -flies, and beetles, among other visitors, come in great numbers, seeking -the accessible pollen, and, in this case, nectar also, secreted in a -conspicuous orange-colored disk. - - -Common Hawthorn; White Thorn; Scarlet-fruited Thorn; Red Haw; -Mayflower - -_Crataegus coccinea_ - -_Flowers_--White, rarely pinkish, usually less than 1 in. across, -numerous, in terminal corymbs. Calyx 5-lobed; 5 spreading petals -inserted in its throat; numerous stamens; styles 3 to 5. _Stem:_ A -shrub or small tree, rarely attaining 30 ft. in height (_Kratos_ = -strength, in reference to hardness and toughness of the wood); branches -spreading, and beset with stout spines (thorns) nearly 2 in. long. -_Leaves:_ Alternate, petioled, 2 to 3 in. long, ovate, very sharply cut -or lobed, the teeth glandular-tipped. _Fruit:_ Coral red, round or -oval; not edible. - -_Preferred Habitat--_Thickets, fence-rows, woodland borders. - -_Flowering Season_--May. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland and Manitoba southward to the Gulf -of Mexico. - - "The fair maid who, the first of May, - Goes to the fields at break of day - And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree - Will ever after handsome be." - -Here is a popular recipe omitted from that volume of heart-to-heart -talks entitled "How to Be Pretty Though Plain!" - -The sombre-thoughted Scotchman, looking for trouble, tersely observes: - - "Mony haws, - Mony snaws." - -But in delicious, blossoming May, when the joy of living fairly -intoxicates one, and every bird's throat is swelling with happy music, -who but a Calvinist would croak dismal prophecies? In Ireland, old -crones tell marvellous tales about the hawthorns, and the banshees which -have a predilection for them. - - -Five-finger; Common Cinquefoil - -_Potentilla canadensis_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, 1/4 to 1/2 in. across, growing singly on long -peduncles from the leaf axils. Five petals longer than the 5 acute calyx -lobes with 5 linear bracts between them; about 20 stamens; pistils -numerous, forming a head. _Stem:_ Spreading over ground by slender -runners or ascending. _Leaves:_ 5-fingered, the digitate, saw-edged -leaflets (rarely 3 or 4) spreading from a common point, petioled; some -in a tuft at base. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry fields, roadsides, hills, banks. - -_Flowering Season_--April-August. - -_Distribution_--Quebec to Georgia, and westward beyond the Mississippi. - -Every one crossing dry fields in the eastern United States and Canada at -least must have trod on a carpet of cinquefoil (_cinque_ = five, -_feuilles_ = leaves), and have noticed the bright little blossoms among -the pretty foliage, possibly mistaking the plant for its cousin, the -trefoliate barren strawberry. Both have flowers like miniature wild -yellow roses. During the Middle Ages, when misdirected zeal credited -almost any plant with healing virtues for every ill that flesh is heir -to, the cinquefoils were considered most potent remedies, hence their -generic name. - - -High Bush Blackberry; Bramble - -_Rubus villosus_ - -_Flowers_--White, 1 in. or less across, in terminal raceme-like -clusters. Calyx deeply 5-parted, persistent; 5 large petals; stamens and -carpels numerous, the latter inserted on a pulpy receptacle. _Stem:_ 3 -to 10 ft. high, woody, furrowed, curved, armed with stout, recurved -prickles. _Leaves:_ Compounded of 3 to 5 ovate, saw-edged leaflets, the -end one stalked, all hairy beneath. _Fruit:_ Firmly attached to the -receptacle; nearly black, oblong juicy berries 1 in. long or less, -hanging in clusters. Ripe, July-August. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry soil, thickets, fence-rows, old fields, -waysides. Low altitudes. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--New England to Florida, and far westward. - - "There was a man of our town, - And he was wondrous wise, - He jumped into a bramble bush"-- - -If we must have poetical associations for every flower, Mother Goose -furnishes several. - -But for the practical mind this plant's chief interest lies in the fact -that from its wild varieties the famous Lawton and Kittatinny -blackberries have been derived. The late Peter Henderson used to tell -how the former came to be introduced. A certain Mr. Secor found an -unusually fine blackberry growing wild in a hedge at New Rochelle, New -York, and removed it to his garden, where it increased apace. But not -even for a gift could he induce a neighbor to relieve him of the -superfluous bushes, so little esteemed were blackberries in his day. -However, a shrewd lawyer named Lawton at length took hold of it, -exhibited the fruit, advertised it cleverly, and succeeded in pocketing -a snug little fortune from the sale of the prolific plants. Another fine -variety of the common wild blackberry, which was discovered by a -clergyman at the edge of the woods on the Kittatinny Mountains in New -Jersey, has produced fruit under skilled cultivation that still remains -the best of its class. When clusters of blossoms and fruit in various -stages of green, red, and black hang on the same bush, few ornaments in -Nature's garden are more decorative. - - - -Purple-flowering or Virginia Raspberry - -_Rubus odoratus_ - - -_Flowers_--Royal purple or bluish pink, showy, fragrant, 1 to 2 in. -broad, loosely clustered at top of stem. Calyx sticky-hairy, deeply -5-parted, with long, pointed tips; corolla of 5 rounded petals; stamens -and pistils very numerous. _Stem_: 3 to 5 ft. high, erect, branched, -shrubby, bristly, not prickly. _Leaves_: Alternate, petioled, 3 to 5 -lobed, middle lobe largest, and all pointed; saw-edged lower leaves -immense. _Fruit_: A depressed red berry, scarcely edible. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rocky woods, dells, shady roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--Northern Canada south to Georgia, westward to Michigan -and Tennessee. - -To be an unappreciated, unloved relative of the exquisite wild rose, -with which this flower is so often likened, must be a similar -misfortune to being the untalented son of a great man, or the unhappy -author of a successful first book never equalled in later attempts. But -where the bright blossoms of the Virginia raspberry burst forth above -the roadside tangle and shady woodland dells, even those who despise -magenta see beauty in them where abundant green tones all discordant -notes into harmony. Purple, as we of to-day understand the color, the -flower is not; but rather the purple of ancient Orientals. On cool, -cloudy days the petals are a deep rose that fades into bluish pink when -the sun is hot. - - -Wild Roses - -_Rosa_ - -Just as many members of the lily tribe show a preference for the rule of -three in the arrangements of their floral parts, so the wild roses cling -to the quinary method of some primitive ancestor, a favorite one also -with the buttercup and many of its kin, the geraniums, mallows, and -various others. Most of our fruit trees and bushes are near relatives of -the rose. Five petals and five sepals, then, we always find on roses in -a state of nature; and although the progressive gardener of to-day has -nowhere shown his skill more than in the development of a multitude of -petals from stamens in the magnificent roses of fashionable society, the -most highly cultivated darling of the greenhouses quickly reverts to the -original wild type, setting his work of years at naught, if once it -regain its natural liberties through neglect. - -To protect its foliage from being eaten by hungry cattle, the rose goes -armed into the battle of life with curved, sharp prickles, not true -thorns or modified branches, but merely surface appliances which peel -off with the bark. To destroy crawling pilferers of pollen, several -species coat their calices, at least, with fine hairs or sticky gum; and -to insure wide distribution of offspring, the seeds are packed in the -attractive, bright red calyx tube or hip, a favorite food of many birds, -which drop them miles away. - -In literature, ancient and modern, sacred and profane, no flower figures -so conspicuously as the rose. To the Romans it was most significant when -placed over the door of a public or private banquet hall. Each who -passed beneath it bound himself thereby not to disclose anything said or -done within; hence the expression _sub rosa_, common to this day. - -The Smoother, Early, or Meadow Rose (_R. blanda_), found blooming in -June and July in moist, rocky places from Newfoundland to New Jersey and -a thousand miles westward, has slightly fragrant flowers, at first pink, -later pure white. Their styles are separate, not cohering in a column -nor projecting as in the climbing rose. This is a leafy, low bush mostly -less than three feet high; it is either entirely unarmed, or else -provided with only a few weak prickles; the stipules are rather broad, -and the leaf is compounded of from five to seven oval, blunt, and pale -green leaflets, often hoary below. - - * * * * * - -In swamps and low, wet ground from Quebec to Florida and westward to the -Mississippi, the Swamp Rose (_R. carolina_) blooms late in May and on to -midsummer. The bush may grow taller than a man, or perhaps only a foot -high. It is armed with stout, hooked, rather distant prickles, and few -or no bristles. The leaflets, from five to nine, but usually seven, to a -leaf, are smooth, pale, or perhaps hairy beneath to protect the pores -from filling with moisture arising from the wet ground. Long, sharp -calyx lobes, which drop off before the cup swells in fruit into a round, -glandular, hairy red hip, are conspicuous among the clustered pink -flowers and buds. - -How fragrant are the pages of Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakespeare with the -Eglantine! This delicious plant, known here as Sweetbrier (_R. -rubiginosa_), emits its very aromatic odor from russet glands on the -under, downy side of the small leaflets, always a certain means of -identification. From eastern Canada to Virginia and Tennessee the plant -has happily escaped from man's gardens back to Nature's. - -In spite of its American Indian name, the lovely white Cherokee Rose -(_R. Sinica_), that runs wild in the South, climbing, rambling, and -rioting with a truly Oriental abandon and luxuriance, did indeed come -from China. Would that our northern thickets and roadsides might be -decked with its pure flowers and almost equally beautiful dark, glossy, -evergreen leaves! - - - - -PULSE FAMILY _(Leguminosae)_ - - -Wild or American Senna - -_Cassia marylandica_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, about 3/4 in. broad, numerous, in short axillary -clusters on the upper part of plant. Calyx of 5 oblong lobes; 5 petals, -3 forming an upper lip, 2 a lower one; 10 stamens of 3 different kinds; -1 pistil. _Stem:_ 3 to 8 ft. high, little branched. _Leaves:_ -Alternately pinnately compounded of 6 to 10 pairs of oblong leaflets. -_Fruit:_ A narrow, flat curving pod, 3 to 4 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Alluvial or moist, rich soil, swamps, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--July-August. - -_Distribution_--New England, westward to Nebraska, south to the -Gulf States. - -Whoever has seen certain Long Island roadsides bordered with wild -senna, the brilliant flower clusters contrasted with the deep green of -the beautiful foliage, knows that no effect produced by art along the -drives of public park or private garden can match these country lanes -in simple charm. - -While leaves of certain African and East Indian species of senna are -most valued for their medicinal properties, those of this plant are -largely collected in the Middle and Southern states as a substitute. -Caterpillars of several sulphur butterflies, which live exclusively on -cassia foliage, appear to feel no evil effects from overdoses. - - -Wild Indigo; Yellow or Indigo Broom; Horsefly Weed - -_Baptisia tinctoria_ - -_Flowers_--Bright yellow, papilionaceous, about 1/2 in. long, on short -pedicels, in numerous but few flowered terminal racemes. Calyx light -green, 4 or 5-toothed; corolla of 5 oblong petals, the standard erect, -the keel enclosing 10 incurved stamens and 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Smooth, -branched, 2 to 4 ft. high. _Leaves:_ Compounded of 3 ovate leaflets. -_Fruit:_ A many-seeded round or egg-shaped pod tipped with the -awl-shaped style. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry, sandy soil. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Maine and Minnesota to the Gulf states. - -Dark grayish green, clover-like leaves, and small, bright yellow flowers -growing in loose clusters at the ends of the branches of a bushy little -plant, are so commonly met with they need little description. A -relative, the true indigo-bearer, a native of Asia, once commonly grown -in the Southern states when slavery made competition with Oriental labor -possible, has locally escaped and become naturalized. But the false -species, although, as Doctor Gray says, it yields "a poor sort of -indigo," yields a most valuable medicine employed by the homoeopathists -in malarial fevers. The plant turns black in drying. As in the case of -other papilionaceous blossoms, bees are the visitors best adapted to -fertilize the flowers. When we see the little, sleepy, dusky-winged -butterfly (_Thanaos brizo_) around the plant we may know she is there -only to lay eggs, that the larvae and caterpillars may find their -favorite food at hand on waking into life. - - -Wild Lupine; Old Maid's Bonnets; Wild Pea; Sun Dial - -_Lupinus perennis_ - -_Flowers_--Vivid blue, very rarely pink or white, butterfly-shaped; -corolla consisting of standard, wings, and keel; about 1/2 in. long, -borne in a long raceme at end of stem; calyx 2-lipped, deeply toothed. -_Stem:_ Erect, branching, leafy, 1 to 2 ft. high. _Leaves:_ Palmate, -compounded of from 7 to 11 (usually 8) leaflets. _Fruit:_ A broad, -flat, very hairy pod, 1-1/2 in. long, and containing 4 or 5 seeds. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry, sandy places, banks, and hillsides. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--United States east of Mississippi, and eastern Canada. - -Farmers once thought that this plant preyed upon the fertility of their -soil, as we see in the derivation of its name, from _lupus_, a wolf; -whereas the lupine contents itself with sterile waste land no one should -grudge it--steep, gravelly banks, railroad tracks, exposed sunny hills, -where even it must often burn out under fierce sunshine did not its root -penetrate to surprising depths. It spreads far and wide in thrifty -colonies, reflecting the vivid color of June skies, until, as Thoreau -says, "the earth is blued with it." - -The lupine is another of those interesting plants which go to sleep at -night. Some members of the genus erect one half of the leaf and droop -the other half until it becomes a vertical instead of the horizontal -star it is by day. Frequently the leaflets rotate as much as 90 degrees -on their own axes. Some lupines fold their leaflets, not at night only, -but during the day also there is more or less movement in the leaves. -Sun dial, a popular name for the wild lupine, has reference to this -peculiarity. The leaf of our species shuts downward around its stem -umbrella fashion, or the leaflets are erected to prevent the chilling -which comes to horizontal surfaces by radiation, some scientists think. -"That the sleep movements of leaves are in some manner of high -importance to the plants which exhibit them," says Darwin, "few will -dispute who have observed how complex they sometimes are." - - -Common Red, Purple, Meadow, or Honeysuckle Clover - -_Trifolium pratense_ - -_Flowers_--Magenta, pink, or rarely whitish, sweet-scented, the tubular -corollas set in dense round, oval, or egg-shaped heads about 1 in. long, -and seated in a sparingly hairy calyx. _Stem:_ 6 in. to 2 ft. high, -branching, reclining, or erect, more or less hairy. _Leaves:_ On long -petioles, commonly compounded of 3, but sometimes of 4 to 11 oval or -oblong leaflets, marked with white crescent, often dark-spotted near -centre; stipules egg-shaped, sharply pointed, strongly veined, more than -1/2 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields, meadows, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--April-November. - -_Distribution_--Common throughout Canada and United States. - -Meadows bright with clover-heads among the grasses, daisies, and -buttercups in June resound with the murmur of unwearying industry and -rapturous enjoyment. Bumblebees by the tens of thousands buzzing above -acres of the farmer's clover blossoms should be happy in a knowledge of -their benefactions, which doubtless concern them not at all. They have -never heard the story of the Australians who imported quantities of -clover for fodder, and had glorious fields of it that season, but not a -seed to plant next year's crops, simply because the farmers had failed -to import the bumblebee. After her immigration the clovers multiplied -prodigiously. - -No; the bee's happiness rests on her knowledge that only the -butterflies' long tongues can honestly share with her the brimming wells -of nectar in each tiny floret. Children who have sucked them too -appreciate her rapture. If we examine a little flower under the -magnifying glass, we shall see why its structure places it in the pea -family. Bumblebees so depress the keel either when they sip, or feed on -pollen, that their heads and tongues get well dusted with the yellow -powder, which they transfer to the stigmas of other flowers; whereas the -butterflies are of doubtful value, if not injurious, since their long, -slender tongues easily drain the nectar without depressing the keel. -Even if a few grains of pollen should cling to their tongues, it would -probably be wiped off as they withdrew them through the narrow slit, -where the petals nearly meet, at the mouth of the flower. _Bombus -terrestris_ delights in nipping holes at the base of the tube, which -other pilferers also profit by. Our country is so much richer in -butterflies than Europe, it is scarcely surprising that Professor -Robertson found thirteen Lepidoptera out of twenty insect visitors to -this clover in Illinois, whereas Muller caught only eight butterflies on -it out of a list of thirty-nine visitors in Germany. The fritillaries -and the sulphurs are always seen about the clover fields among many -others, and the "dusky wings" and the caterpillar of several species -feed almost exclusively on this plant. - -"To live in clover," from the insect's point of view at least, may well -mean a life of luxury and affluence. Most peasants in Europe will tell -you that a dream about the flower foretells not only a happy marriage, -but long life and prosperity. For ages the clover has been counted a -mystic plant, and all sorts of good and bad luck were said to attend -the finding of variations of its leaves which had more than the common -number of leaflets. At evening these leaflets fold downward, the side -ones like two hands clasped in prayer, the end one bowed over them. In -this fashion the leaves of the white and other clovers also go to -sleep, to protect their sensitive surfaces from cold by radiation, it -is thought. - - -White Sweet Clover; Bokhara or Tree Clover; White Melilot; Honey -Lotus - -_Melilotus alba_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, fragrant, papilionaceous, the standard petal a -trifle longer than the wings; borne in slender racemes. _Stem:_ 3 to 10 -ft. tall, branching. _Leaves:_ Rather distant, petioled, compounded of 3 -oblong, saw-edged leaflets; fragrant, especially when dry. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste lands, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-November. - -_Distribution_--United States, Europe, Asia. - -Both the White and the Yellow Sweet Clover put their leaves to sleep at -night in a remarkable manner: the three leaflets of each leaf twist -through an angle of 90 degrees, until one edge of each vertical blade -is uppermost. The two side leaflets, Darwin found, always tend to face -the north with their upper surface, one facing north-northwest and the -other north-northeast, while the terminal leaflet escapes the chilling -of its sensitive upper surface through radiation by twisting to a -vertical also, but bending to either east or west, until it comes in -contact with the vertical upper surface of either of the side leaflets. -Thus the upper surface of the terminal and of at least one of the side -leaflets is sure to be well protected through the night; one is "left -out in the cold." - -The dried branches of sweet clover will fill a room with delightful -fragrance; but they will not drive away flies, nor protect woollens from -the ravages of moths, as old women once taught us to believe. - - * * * * * - -The ubiquitous White or Dutch Clover (_Trifolium repens_), whose -creeping branches send up solitary round heads of white or pinkish -flowers on erect, leafless stems, from May to December, in fields, open -waste land, and cultivated places throughout our area, Europe, and Asia, -devotes itself to wooing bees, since these are the only insects that -effect cross-fertilization regularly, other visitors aiding it only -occasionally. Its foliage is the favorite food of very many species of -caterpillars and of all grazing cattle the world around. This is still -another plant frequently miscalled shamrock. Good luck or bad attends -the finding of the leaves, when compounded of an even or an odd number -of leaflets more than the normal count, according to the saying of many -simple-minded folk. - - -Blue, Tufted, or Cow Vetch or Tare; Cat Peas; Tinegrass - -_Vicia Cracca_ - -_Flowers_--Blue, later purple; 1/2 in. long, growing downward in 1-sided -spike, 15 to 40 flowered; calyx oblique, small, with unequal teeth; -corolla butterfly-shaped, consisting of standard, wings, and keel, all -oblong; the first clawed, the second oblique, and adhering to the -shorter keel; 10 stamens, 1 detached from other 9. _Stem:_ Slender, -weak, climbing or trailing, downy, 2 to 4 ft. long. _Leaves:_ Tendril -bearing, divided into 18 to 24 thin, narrow, oblong leaflets. _Fruit:_ A -smooth pod 1 in. long or less, 5 to 8 seeded. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry soil, fields, waste land. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--United States from New Jersey, Kentucky, and Iowa -northward and northwestward. Europe and Asia. - -Dry fields blued with the bright blossoms of the Tufted Vetch, and -roadsides and thickets where the angular vine sends forth vivid patches -of color, resound with the music of happy bees. Although the parts of -the flower fit closely together, they are elastic, and opening with the -energetic visitor's weight and movement give ready access to the -nectary. On his departure they resume their original position, to -protect both nectar and pollen from rain and pilferers whose bodies are -not perfectly adapted to further the flower's cross-fertilization. The -common bumblebee (_Bombus terrestris_) plays a mean trick, all too -frequently, when he bites a hole at the base of the blossom, not only -gaining easy access to the sweets for himself, but opening the way for -others less intelligent than he, but quite ready to profit by his -mischief, and so defeat nature's plan. Doctor Ogle observed that the -same bee always acts in the same manner, one sucking the nectar -legitimately, another always biting a hole to obtain it surreptitiously, -the natural inference, of course, being that some bees, like small boys, -are naturally depraved. - - -Ground-nut - -_Apios tuberosa (A. Apios)_ - -_Flowers_--Fragrant, chocolate brown and reddish purple, numerous, about -1/2 in. long, clustered in racemes from the leaf axils. Calyx 2-lipped, -corolla papilionaceous, the broad standard petal turned backward, the -keel sickle-shaped; stamens within it 9 and 1. _Stem:_ From tuberous, -edible rootstock; climbing, slender, several feet long, the juice milky. -_Leaves:_ Compounded of 5 to 7 ovate leaflets. _Fruit:_ A leathery, -slightly curved pod, 2 to 4 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Twining about undergrowth and thickets in moist or -wet ground. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Ontario, south to the Gulf states -and Kansas. - -No one knows better than the omnivorous "barefoot boy" that - - "Where the ground-nut trails its vine" - -there is hidden something really good to eat under the soft, moist soil -where legions of royal fern, usually standing guard above it, must be -crushed before he digs up the coveted tubers. He would be the last to -confuse it with the Wild Kidney Bean or Bean Vine (_Phaseolus -polystachyus_). The latter has loose racemes of smaller purple flowers -and leaflets in threes; nevertheless it is often confounded with the -ground-nut vine by older naturalists whose knowledge was "learned of -schools." - - -Wild or Hog Peanut - -_Amphicarpa monoica (Falcata comosa)_ - -_Flowers_--Numerous small, showy ones, borne in drooping clusters from -axils of upper leaves; lilac, pale purplish, or rarely white, -butterfly-shaped, consisting of standard petal partly enfolding wings -and keel. Calyx tubular, 4 or 5 toothed; 10 stamens (9 and 1); 1 pistil. -(Also solitary fertile flowers, lacking petals, on thread-like, creeping -branches from lower axils or underground.) _Stem:_ Twining wiry -brownish-hairy, 1 to 8 ft. long. _Leaves:_ Compounded of 3 thin -leaflets, egg-shaped at base, acutely pointed at tip. _Fruit:_ Hairy pod -1 in. long. Also 1-seeded, pale, rounded, underground peanut. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist thickets, shady roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--August-September. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick westward to Nebraska, south to Gulf -of Mexico. - -_Amphicarpa_ ("seed at both ends"), the Greek name by which this -graceful vine is sometimes known, emphasizes its most interesting -feature, that, nevertheless, seems to many a foolish duplication of -energy on Nature's part. Why should the same plant bear two kinds of -blossoms and seeds? Among the foliage of low shrubbery and plants in -shady lanes and woodside thickets, we see the delicate, drooping -clusters of lilac blossoms hanging where bees can readily discover them -and, in pilfering their sweets, transfer their pollen from flower to -flower. But in case of failure to intercross these blossoms that are -dependent upon insect help to set fertile seed, what then? Must the -plant run the risk of extinction? Self-fertilization may be an evil, -but failure to produce seed at all is surely the greatest one. To guard -against such a calamity, insignificant looking flowers that have no -petals to open for the enticing of insects, but which fertilize -themselves with their own pollen, produce abundant seed close to the -ground or under it. Then what need of the showy blossoms hanging in the -thicket above? Close inbreeding in the vegetable world, as in the -animal, ultimately produces degenerate offspring; and although the showy -lilac blossoms of the wild peanut yield comparatively few -cross-fertilized seeds, these are quite sufficient to enable the vine to -maintain those desired features which are the inheritance from ancestors -that struggled in their day and generation after perfection. No plant -dares depend upon its cleistogamous or blind flowers alone for -offspring; and in the sixty or more genera containing these curious -growths, that usually look like buds arrested in development, every -plant that bears them bears also showy flowers dependent upon -cross-pollination by insect aid. - -The boy who: - - "Drives home the cows from the pasture - Up through the long shady lane" - -knows how reluctantly they leave the feast afforded by the wild peanut. -Hogs, rooting about in the moist soil where it grows, unearth the hairy -pods that should produce next year's vines; hence the poor excuse for -branding a charming plant with a repellent folk-name. - -This plant should not be confused with pig-nut (_carya porcina_), which -is a species of hickory. - - - - -WOOD-SORREL FAMILY _(Oxalidaceae)_ - - -White or True Wood-sorrel; Alleluia - -_Oxalis acetosella_ - -_Flowers_--White or delicate pink, veined with deep pink, about 1/2 in. -long. Five sepals; 5 spreading petals rounded at tips; 10 stamens, 5 -longer, 5 shorter, all anther-bearing; 1 pistil with 5 stigmatic styles. -_Scape:_ Slender, leafless, 1-flowered, 2 to 5 in. high. _Leaf:_ -Clover-like, of 3 leaflets, on long petioles from scaly, creeping -rootstock. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Cold, damp woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia and Manitoba, southward to North Carolina. -Also a native of Europe. - -Clumps of these delicate little pinkish blossoms and abundant leaves, -cuddled close to the cold earth of northern forests, usually conceal -near the dry leaves or moss from which they spring blind flowers that -never open--cleistogamous the botanists call them--flowers that lack -petals, as if they were immature buds; that lack odor, nectar, and -entrance; yet they are perfectly mature, self-fertilized, and abundantly -fruitful. Fifty-five genera of plants contain one or more species on -which these peculiar products are found, the pea family having more than -any other, although violets offer perhaps the most familiar instance to -most of us. Many of these species bury their offspring below ground; but -the wood-sorrel bears its blind flowers nodding from the top of a -curved scape at the base of the plant, where we can readily find them. -By having no petals, and other features assumed by an ordinary flower to -attract insects, and chiefly in saving pollen, they produce seed with -literally the closest economy. It is estimated that the average blind -flower of the wood-sorrel does its work with four hundred pollen grains, -while the prodigal peony scatters with the help of wind and insect -visitors more than three and a half millions! - -As self-fertilization is impossible, the showy blossoms of the -wood-sorrel are a necessity not a luxury; for the insects must not be -allowed to overlook them. - -Every child knows how the wood-sorrel "goes to sleep" by drooping its -three leaflets until they touch back to back at evening, regaining the -horizontal at sunrise--a performance most scientists now agree protects -the peculiarly sensitive leaf from cold by radiation. During the day as -well, seedling, scape, and leaves go through some interesting movements, -closely followed by Darwin in his "Power of Movement in Plants," which -should be read by all interested. - -_Oxalis_, the Greek for sour, applies to all sorrels because of their -acid juice; but _acetosella_ = vinegar salt, the specific name of this -plant, indicates that from it druggists obtain salt of lemons. Twenty -pounds of leaves yield between two and three ounces of oxalic acid by -crystallization. Names locally given the plant in the Old World are wood -sour or sower, cuckoo's meat, sour trefoil, and shamrock--for this is -St. Patrick's own flower, the true shamrock of the ancient Irish, some -claim. Alleluia, another folk-name, refers to the joyousness of the -Easter season, when the plant comes into bloom in England. - - -Violet Wood-sorrel - -_Oxalis violacea_ - -_Flowers_--Pinkish purple, lavender, or pale magenta; less than 1 in. -long; borne on slender stems in umbels or forking clusters, each -containing from 3 to 12 flowers. Calyx of 5 obtuse sepals; 5 petals; 10 -(5 longer, 5 shorter) stamens; 5 styles persistent above 5-celled ovary. -_Stem:_ From brownish, scaly bulb 4 to 9 in. high. _Leaves:_ About 1 in. -wide, compounded of 3 rounded, clover-like leaflets with prominent -midrib borne at end of slender petioles, springing from root. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rocky and sandy woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--Northern United States to Rocky Mountains, south to -Florida and New Mexico; more abundant southward. - -Beauty of leaf and blossom is not the only attraction possessed by this -charming little plant. As a family the wood-sorrels have great interest -for botanists since Darwin devoted such exhaustive study to their power -of movement, and many other scientists have described the several forms -assumed by perfect flowers of the same species to secure -cross-fertilization. Some members of the clan also bear blind flowers, -which have been described in the account of the white wood-sorrel. Even -the rudimentary leaves of the seedlings "go to sleep" at evening, and -during the day are in constant movement up and down. The stems, too, are -restless; and as for the mature leaves, every child knows how they droop -their three leaflets back to back against the stem at evening, -elevating them to the perfect horizontal again by day. Extreme -sensitiveness to light has been thought to be the true explanation of so -much activity, and yet this is not a satisfactory theory in many cases. -It is certain that drooping leaves suffer far less from frost than those -whose upper surfaces are flatly exposed to the zenith. This view that -the sleep of leaves saves them from being chilled at night by radiation -is Darwin's own, supported by innumerable experiments; and probably it -would have been advanced by Linnaeus, too, since so many of his -observations in "Somnus Plantarum" verify the theory, had the principle -of radiation been discovered in his day. - - - - -GERANIUM FAMILY _(Geraniaceae)_ - -Wild or Spotted Geranium or Crane's-Bill; Alum-root - -_Geranium maculatum_ - -_Flowers_--Pale magenta, purplish pink, or lavender, regular, 1 to 1-1/2 -in. broad, solitary or a pair, borne on elongated peduncles, generally -with pair of leaves at their base. Calyx of 5 lapping, pointed sepals; 5 -petals, woolly at base; 10 stamens; 1 pistil with 5 styles. _Fruit:_ A -slender capsule pointed like a crane's bill. In maturity it ejects seeds -elastically far from the parent plant. _Stem:_ 1 to 2 ft. high, hairy, -slender, simple or branching above. _Leaves:_ Older ones sometimes -spotted with white; basal ones 3 to 6 in. wide, 3 to 5 parted, variously -cleft and toothed; 2 stem leaves opposite. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Open woods, thickets, and shady roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--April-July. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Georgia, and westward a thousand miles. - -Sprengel, who was the first to exalt flowers above the level of mere -botanical specimens, had his attention led to the intimate relationship -existing between plants and insects by studying out the meaning of the -hairy corolla of the common Wild Geranium of Germany _(G. sylvaticum)_, -being convinced, as he wrote in 1787, that "the wise Author of Nature -has not made even a single hair without a definite design." A hundred -years before, Nehemias Grew had said that it was necessary for pollen to -reach the stigma of a flower in order that it might set fertile seed; -and Linnaeus had to come to his aid with conclusive evidence to convince -a doubting world that this was true. Sprengel made the next step -forward, but his writings lay neglected over seventy years because he -advanced the then incredible and only partially true statement that a -flower is fertilized by insects which carry its pollen from its anthers -to its stigma. In spite of his discoveries that the hairs inside the -geranium's corolla protect its nectar from rain for the insect's -benefit, just as eyebrows keep perspiration from falling into the eye; -that most flowers which secrete nectar have what he termed "honey -guides"--spots of bright color, heavy veining, or some such pathfinder -on the petals--in spite of the most patient and scientific research that -shed great light on natural selection a half-century before Darwin -advanced the theory, he left it for the author of "The Origin of -Species" to show that cross-fertilization--the transfer of pollen from -one blossom to another, not from anthers to stigma of the same -flower--is the great end to which so much marvellous mechanism is -chiefly adapted. Cross-fertilized blossoms defeat self-fertilized -flowers in the struggle for existence. - -No wonder Sprengel's theory was disproved by his scornful contemporaries -in the very case of his Wild Geranium, which sheds its pollen before it -has developed a stigma to receive any; therefore no insect that had not -brought pollen from an earlier bloom could possibly fertilize this -flower. How amazing that he did not see this! Our common wild -crane's-bill, which also has lost the power to fertilize itself, not -only ripens first the outer, then the inner, row of anthers, but -actually drops them off after their pollen has been removed, to overcome -the barest chance of self-fertilization as the stigmas become receptive. -This is the geranium's and many other flowers' method to compel -cross-fertilization by insects. In cold, stormy, cloudy weather a -geranium blossom may remain in the male stage several days before -becoming female; while on a warm, sunny day, when plenty of insects are -flying, the change sometimes takes place in a few hours. Among others, -the common sulphur or puddle butterfly, that sits in swarms on muddy -roads and makes the clover fields gay with its bright little wings, -pilfers nectar from the geranium without bringing its long tongue in -contact with the pollen. Neither do the smaller bees and flies which -alight on the petals necessarily come in contact with the anthers and -stigmas. Doubtless the larger bees are the flowers' true benefactors. - -The so-called geraniums in cultivation are pelargoniums, strictly -speaking. - - -Herb Robert; Red Robin; Red Shanks; Dragon's Blood - -_Geranium Robertianum_ - -_Flowers_--Purplish rose, about 1/2 in. across, borne chiefly in pairs -on slender peduncles. Five sepals and petals; stamens 10; pistil with 5 -styles. _Stem_: Weak, slender, much branched, forked, and spreading, -slightly hairy, 6 to 18 in. high. _Leaves_: Strongly scented, opposite, -thin, of 3 divisions, much subdivided and cleft. _Fruit_: Capsular, -elastic, the beak 1 in. long, awn-pointed. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rocky, moist woods and shady roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--May-October. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Pennsylvania, and westward to Missouri. - -Who was the Robert for whom this his "holy herb" was named? Many suppose -that he was St. Robert, a Benedictine monk, to whom the twenty-ninth of -April--the day the plant comes into flower in Europe--is dedicated. -Others assert that Robert Duke of Normandy, for whom the "Ortus -Sanitatis," a standard medical guide for some hundred of years, was -written, is the man honored; and since there is now no way of deciding -the mooted question, we may take our choice. - -Only when the stems are young are they green; later the plant well earns -the name of Red Shanks, and when its leaves show crimson stains, of -Dragon's Blood. - -At any time the herb gives forth a disagreeable odor, but especially -when its leaves and stem have been crushed until they emit a resinous -secretion once an alleged cure for the plague. - - - - -MILKWORT FAMILY _(Polygalaceae)_ - - -Fringed Milkwort or Polygala; Flowering Wintergreen; Gay Wings - -_Polygala paucifolia_ - -_Flowers_--Purplish rose, rarely white, showy, over 1/2 in. long, from 1 -to 4 on short, slender peduncles from among upper leaves. Calyx of 5 -unequal sepals, of which 2 are wing-like and highly colored like petals. -Corolla irregular, its crest finely fringed; 6 stamens; 1 pistil. Also -pale, pouch-like, cleistogamous flowers underground. _Stem_: Prostrate, -6 to 15 in. long, slender, from creeping rootstock, sending up flowering -shoots 4 to 7 in. high. _Leaves_: Clustered at summit, oblong, or -pointed egg-shaped, 1-1/2 in. long or less; those on lower part of -shoots scale-like. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, rich woods, pine lands, light soil. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Northern Canada, southward and westward to Georgia -and Illinois. - -Gay companies of these charming, bright little blossoms hidden away in -the woods suggest a swarm of tiny mauve butterflies that have settled -among the wintergreen leaves. Unlike the common milkwort and many of its -kin that grow in clover-like heads, each one of the gay wings has -beauty enough to stand alone. Its oddity of structure, its lovely color -and enticing fringe, lead one to suspect it of extraordinary desire to -woo some insect that will carry its pollen from blossom to blossom and -so enable the plant to produce cross-fertilized seed to counteract the -evil tendencies resulting from the more prolific self-fertilized -cleistogamous flowers buried in the ground below. - - -Common, Field, or Purple Milkwort; Purple Polygala - -_Polygala sanguinea (P. viridescens)_ - -_Flowers_--Numerous, very small, variable; bright magenta pink, or -almost red, or pale to whiteness, or greenish, clustered in a globular -clover-like head, gradually lengthening to a cylindric spike. _Stem_: 6 -to 15 in. high, smooth, branched above, leafy. _Leaves_: Alternate, -narrowly oblong, entire. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields and meadows, moist or sandy. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Southern Canada to North Carolina, westward to the -Mississippi. - -When these bright clover-like heads and the inconspicuous greenish ones -grow together, the difference between them is so striking it is no -wonder Linnaeus thought they were borne by two distinct species, -_Sanguinea_ and _viridescens_, whereas they are now known to be merely -two forms of the same flower. At first glance one might mistake the -irregular little blossom for a member of the pea family; two of the five -very unequal sepals--not petals--are colored wings. These bright-hued -calyx-parts overlap around the flower-head like tiles on a roof. Within -each pair of wings are three petals united into a tube, split on the -back, to expose the vital organs to contact with the bee, the milkwort's -best friend. - -Plants of this genus were named polygala, the Greek for much milk, not -because they have milky juice--for it is bitter and clear--but because -feeding on them is supposed to increase the flow of cattle's milk. - - - - -TOUCH-ME-NOT FAMILY _(Balsaminaceae)_ - - -Jewel-weed; Spotted Touch-me-not; Silver Cap; Wild Balsam; Lady's -Eardrops; Snap Weed; Wild Lady's Slipper - -_Impatiens biflora (I. fulva)_ - -_Flowers_--Orange yellow, spotted with reddish brown, irregular, 1 in. -long or less, horizontal, 2 to 4 pendent by slender footstalks on a long -peduncle from leaf axils. Sepals, 3, colored; 1 large, sac-shaped, -contracted into a slender incurved spur and 2-toothed at apex; 2 other -sepals small. Petals, 3; 2 of them 2-cleft into dissimilar lobes; 5 -short stamens, 1 pistil. _Stem_: 2 to 5 ft. high, smooth, branched, -colored, succulent. _Leaves_: Alternate, thin, pale beneath, ovate -coarsely toothed, petioled. _Fruit_: An oblong capsule, its 5 valves -opening elastically to expel the seeds. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Beside streams, ponds, ditches; moist ground. - -_Flowering Season_--July-October. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Oregon, south to Missouri and Florida. - -These exquisite, bright flowers, hanging at a horizontal, like jewels -from a lady's ear, may be responsible for the plant's folk-name; but -whoever is abroad early on a dewy morning, or after a shower, and finds -notched edges of the drooping leaves hung with scintillating gems, -dancing, sparkling in the sunshine, sees still another reason for naming -this the Jewel-weed. In a brook, pond, spring, or wayside trough, which -can never be far from its haunts, dip a spray of the plant to transform -the leaves into glistening silver. They shed water much as the -nasturtiums do. - -When the tiny ruby-throated humming bird flashes northward out of the -tropics to spend the summer, where can he hope to find nectar so deeply -secreted that not even the long-tongued bumblebee may rob him of it all? -Beyond the bird's bill his tongue can be run out and around curves no -other creature can reach. Now the early-blooming columbine, its slender -cornucopias brimming with sweets, welcomes the messenger whose -needle-like bill will carry pollen from flower to flower; presently the -coral honeysuckle and the scarlet painted-cup attract him by wearing his -favorite color; next the jewel-weed hangs horns of plenty to lure his -eye; and the trumpet vine and cardinal flower continue to feed him -successively in Nature's garden; albeit cannas, nasturtiums, salvia, -gladioli, and such deep, irregular showy flowers in men's flower beds -sometimes lure him away. - -Familiar as we may be with the nervous little seed-pods of the -touch-me-not, which children ever love to pop and see the seeds fly, as -they do from balsam pods in grandmother's garden, they still startle -with the suddenness of their volley. Touch the delicate hair-trigger at -the end of a capsule, and the lightning response of the flying seeds -makes one jump. They sometimes land four feet away. At this rate of -progress a year, and with the other odds against which all plants have -to contend, how many generations must it take to fringe even one mill -pond with jewel-weed; yet this is rapid transit indeed compared with -many of Nature's processes. The plant is a conspicuous sufferer from -the dodder. - - * * * * * - -The Pale Touch-me-not _(I. aurea)_--_I. pallida_ of Gray--most abundant -northward, a larger, stouter species found in similar situations, but -with paler yellow flowers only sparingly dotted if at all, has its -broader sac-shaped sepal abruptly contracted into a short, notched, but -not incurved spur. It shares its sister's popular names. - - - - -BUCKTHORN FAMILY _(Rhamnaceae)_ - - -New Jersey Tea; Wild Snowball; Red-root - -_Ceanothus americanus_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white, on white pedicels, crowded in dense, oblong, -terminal clusters. Calyx white, hemispheric, 5-lobed; 5 petals, hooded -and long-clawed; 5 stamens with long filaments; style short, 3-cleft. -_Stems:_ Shrubby, 1 to 3 ft. high, usually several, from a deep reddish -root. _Leaves:_ Alternate, ovate-oblong, acute at tip, finely saw-edged, -3-nerved, on short petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry, open woods and thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Ontario south and west to the Gulf of Mexico. - -Light, feathery clusters of white little flowers crowded on the twigs -of this low shrub interested thrifty colonial housewives of -Revolutionary days not at all; the tender, young, rusty, downy leaves -were what they sought to dry as a substitute for imported tea. Doubtless -the thought that they were thereby evading George the Third's tax and -brewing patriotism in every kettleful added a sweetness to the home-made -beverage that sugar itself could not impart. The American troops were -glad enough to use New Jersey Tea throughout the war. A nankeen or -cinnamon-colored dye is made from the reddish root. - - - - -MALLOW FAMILY _(Malvaceae)_ - - -Swamp Rose-mallow; Mallow Rose - -_Hibiscus Moscheutos_ - -_Flowers_--Very large, clear rose pink, sometimes white, often with -crimson centre, 4 to 7 in. across, solitary, or clustered on peduncles -at summit of stems. Calyx 5-cleft, subtended by numerous narrow -bractlets; 5 large, veined petals; stamens united into a valvular column -bearing anthers on the outside for much of its length; 1 pistil partly -enclosed in the column, and with 5 button-tipped stigmatic branches -above. _Stem_: 4 to 7 ft. tall, stout, from perennial root. _Leaves_: 3 -to 7 in. long, tapering, pointed, egg-shaped, densely white, downy -beneath; lower leaves, or sometimes all, lobed at middle. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Brackish marshes, riversides, lake shores, saline -situations. - -_Flowering Season_--August-September. - -_Distribution_--Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico, westward to -Louisiana; found locally in the interior, but chiefly along -Atlantic seaboard. - -Stately ranks of these magnificent flowers, growing among the tall -sedges and "cat-tails" of the marshes, make the most insensate traveller -exclaim at their amazing loveliness. To reach them one must don rubber -boots and risk sudden seats in the slippery ooze; nevertheless, with -spade in hand to give one support, it is well worth while to seek them -out and dig up some roots to transplant to the garden. Here, strange to -say, without salt soil or more water than the average garden receives -from showers and hose, this handsomest of our wild flowers soon makes -itself delightfully at home under cultivation. Such good, deep earth, -well enriched and moistened, as the hollyhock thrives in, suits it -perfectly. Now we have a better opportunity to note how the bees suck -the five nectaries at the base of the petals, and collect the abundant -pollen of the newly-opened flowers, which they perforce transfer to the -five button-shaped stigmas intentionally impeding the entrance to older -blossoms. Only its cousin the hollyhock, a native of China, can vie with -the rose-mallow's decorative splendor among the shrubbery; and the Rose -of China (_Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis_), cultivated in greenhouses here, -eclipse it in the beauty of the individual blossom. This latter flower, -whose superb scarlet corolla stains black, is employed by the Chinese -married women, it is said, to discolor their teeth; but in the West -Indies it sinks to even greater ignominy as a dauber for blacking shoes! - -Marsh Mallow (_Althaea officinalis_), a name frequently misapplied to -the Swamp Rose-mallow, is properly given to a much smaller pink flower, -measuring only an inch and a half across at the most, and a far rarer -one, being a naturalized immigrant from Europe found only in the salt -marshes from the Massachusetts coast to New York. It is also known as -Wymote. This is a bushy, leafy plant, two to four feet high, and covered -with velvety down as a protection against the clogging of its pores by -the moisture arising from its wet retreats. Plants that live in swamps -must "perspire" freely and keep their pores open. From the Marsh -Mallow's thick roots the mucilage used in confectionery is obtained, a -soothing demulcent long esteemed in medicine. - - - - -ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY _(Hypericaceae)_ - - -Common St. John's-wort - -_Hypericum perforatum_ - -_Flowers_--Bright yellow, 1 in. across or less, several or many in -terminal clusters. Calyx of 5 lance-shaped sepals; 5 petals dotted with -black; numerous stamens in 3 sets; 3 styles. _Stem_: 1 to 2 ft. high, -erect, much branched. _Leaves_: Small, opposite, oblong, more or less -black-dotted. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields, waste lands, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Throughout our area, except the extreme North; -Europe and Asia. - -"Gathered upon a Friday, in the hour of Jupiter when he comes to his -operation, so gathered, or borne, or hung upon the neck, it mightily -helps to drive away all phantastical spirits." These are the blossoms -which have been hung in the windows of European peasants for ages on St. -John's eve, to avert the evil eye and the spells of the spirits of -darkness. "Devil chaser" its Italian name signifies. To cure demoniacs, -to ward off destruction by lightning, to reveal the presence of witches, -and to expose their nefarious practices, are some of the virtues -ascribed to this plant, which superstitious farmers have spared from the -scythe and encouraged to grow near their houses until it has become, -even in this land of liberty, a troublesome weed at times. "The flower -gets its name," says F. Schuyler Mathews, "from the superstition that on -St. John's day, the 24th of June, the dew which fell on the plant the -evening before was efficacious in preserving the eyes from disease. So -the plant was collected, dipped in oil, and thus transformed into a balm -for every wound." Here it is a naturalized immigrant, not a native. A -blooming plant, usually with many sterile shoots about its base, has an -unkempt, untidy look; the seed capsules and the brown petals of withered -flowers remaining among the bright yellow buds through a long season. - -The Shrubby St. John's-wort (_H. prolificum_) bears yellow blossoms, -about half an inch across, which are provided with stamens so numerous, -the many flowered terminal clusters have a soft, feathery effect. In the -axils of the oblong, opposite leaves are tufts of smaller ones, the -stout stems being often concealed under a wealth of foliage. Sandy or -rocky places from New Jersey southward best suit this low, dense, -diffusely branched shrub which blooms prolifically from July to -September. - -Farther north, and westward to Iowa, the Great or Giant St. John's-wort -(_H. Ascyron_) brightens the banks of streams at midsummer with large -blossoms, each on a long footstalk in a few-flowered cluster. - - - - -ROCKROSE FAMILY _(Cistaceae)_ - - -Long-branched Frost-weed; Frost-flower; Frost-wort; Canadian -Rockrose - -_Helianthemum canadense_ - -_Flowers_--Solitary, or rarely 2; about 1 in. across, 5-parted, with -showy yellow petals; the 5 unequal sepals hairy. Also abundant small -flowers lacking petals, produced from the axils later. _Stem:_ Erect, 3 -in. to 2 ft. high; at first simple, later with elongated branches. -_Leaves:_ Alternate, oblong, almost seated on stem. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry fields, sandy or rocky soil. - -_Flowering Season_--Petal-bearing flowers, May-July. - -_Distribution_--New England to the Carolinas, westward to Wisconsin -and Kentucky. - -When the stubble in the dry fields is white some cold November morning, -comparatively few notice the ice crystals, like specks of glistening -quartz, at the base of the stems of this plant. The similar Hoary -Frost-weed (_H. majus_), whose showy flowers appear in clusters at the -hoary stem's summit in June and July, also bears them. Often this ice -formation assumes exquisite feathery, whimsical forms, bursting the -bark asunder where an astonishing quantity of sap gushes forth and -freezes. Indeed, so much sap sometimes goes to the making of this -crystal flower, that it would seem as if an extra reservoir in the soil -must pump some up to supply it with its large fantastic corolla. - - - - -VIOLET FAMILY _(Violaceae)_ - - -Blue and Purple Violets - -Lacking perfume only to be a perfectly satisfying flower, the Common -Purple, Meadow, or Hooded Blue Violet (_V. cucullata_) has nevertheless -established itself in the hearts of the people from the Arctic to the -Gulf as no sweet-scented, showy, hothouse exotic has ever done. Royal in -color as in lavish profusion, it blossoms everywhere--in woods, -waysides, meadows, and marshes, but always in finer form in cool, shady -dells; with longer flowering scapes in meadow bogs; and with longer -leaves than wide in swampy woodlands. The heart-shaped, saw-edged -leaves, folded toward the centre when newly put forth, and the -five-petalled, bluish-purple, golden-hearted blossom are too familiar -for more detailed description. From the three-cornered stars of the -elastic capsules, the seeds are scattered abroad. - -In shale and sandy soil, even in the gravel of hillsides, one finds the -narrowly divided, finely cut leaves and the bicolored beardless blossom -of the Bird's-foot Violet (_V. pedata_), pale bluish purple on the lower -petals, dark purple on one or two upper ones, and with a heart of gold. -The large, velvety, pansy-like blossom and the unusual foliage which -rises in rather dense tufts are sufficient to distinguish the plant from -its numerous kin. This species produces no cleistogamous or blind -flowers. Frequently the Bird's-foot Violet blooms a second time, in -autumn, a delightful eccentricity of this family. The spur of its lower -petal is long and very slender, and, as might be expected, the -longest-tongued bees and butterflies are its most frequent visitors. -These receive the pollen on the base of the proboscis. - -In course of time the lovely English, March, or Sweet Violet _(V. -odorata)_, which has escaped from gardens, and which is now rapidly -increasing with the help of seed and runners on the Atlantic and the -Pacific coasts, may be established among our wild flowers. No blossom -figures so prominently in European literature. In France, it has even -entered the political field since Napoleon's day. Yale University has -adopted the violet for its own especial flower, although it is the -corn-flower, or bachelor's button _(Centaurea cyanus)_ that is the true -Yale blue. Sprengel, who made a most elaborate study of the violet, -condensed the result of his research into the following questions and -answers, which are given here because much that he says applies to our -own native species, which have been too little studied in the modern -scientific spirit: - -"1. Why is the flower situated on a long stalk which is upright, but -curved downward at the free end? In order that it may hang down; which, -firstly, prevents rain from obtaining access to the nectar; and, -secondly, places the stamens in such a position that the pollen falls -into the open space between the pistil and the free ends of the stamens. -If the flower were upright, the pollen would fall into the space -between the base of the stamen and the base of the pistil, and would not -come in contact with the bee. - -"2. Why does the pollen differ from that of most other insect-fertilized -flowers? In most of such flowers the insects themselves remove the -pollen from the anthers, and it is therefore important that the pollen -should not easily be detached and carried away by the wind. In the -present case, on the contrary, it is desirable that it should be looser -and drier, so that it may easily fall into the space between the stamens -and the pistil. If it remained attached to the anther, it would not be -touched by the bee, and the flower would remain unfertilized. - -"3. Why is the base of the style so thin? In order that the bee may be -more easily able to bend the style. - -"4. Why is the base of the style bent? For the same reason. The result -of the curvature is that the pistil is much more easily bent than would -be the case if the style were straight. - -"5. Finally, why does the membranous termination of the upper filament -overlap the corresponding portions of the two middle stamens? Because -this enables the bee to move the pistil and thereby to set free the -pollen more easily than would be the case under the reverse -arrangement." - - -Yellow Violets - -Fine hairs on the erect, leafy, usually single stem of the Downy Yellow -Violet _(V. pubescens)_, whose dark veined, bright yellow petals gleam -in dry woods in April and May, easily distinguish it from the Smooth -Yellow Violet _(V. scabriuscula)_, formerly considered a mere variety in -spite of its being an earlier bloomer, a lover of moisture, and well -equipped with basal leaves at flowering time, which the downy species is -not. Moreover, it bears a paler blossom, more coarsely dentate leaves, -often decidedly taper-pointed, and usually several stems together. - -Bryant, whose botanical lore did not always keep step with his Muse, -wrote of the Yellow Violet as the first spring flower, because he -found it "by the snowbank's edges cold," one April day, when the -hepaticas about his home at Roslyn, Long Island, had doubtless been in -bloom a month. - - "Of all her train the hands of Spring - First plant thee in the watery mould," - -he wrote, regardless of the fact that the round-leaved violet's -preferences are for dry, wooded, or rocky hillsides. Mueller believed -that all violets were originally yellow, not white, after they developed -from the green stage. - - -White Violets - -Three small-flowered, white, purple-veined, and almost beardless species -which prefer to dwell in moist meadows, damp, mossy places, and along -the borders of streams, are the Lance-leaved Violet _(V. lanceolata)_, -the Primrose-leaved Violet _(V. primulifolia)_, and the Sweet White -Violet _(V. blanda)_, whose leaves show successive gradations from the -narrow, tapering, smooth, long-petioled blades of the first to the oval -form of the second and the almost circular, cordate leaf of the -delicately fragrant, little white _blanda_, the dearest violet of all. -Inasmuch as these are short-spurred species, requiring no effort for -bees to drain their nectaries, no footholds in the form of beards on -the side petals are provided for them. The purple veinings show the -stupidest visitor the path to the sweets. - - - - -EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY _(Onagraceae)_ - - -Great or Spiked Willow-herb; Fire-weed - -_Epilobium angustifolium (Chamaenerion angustifolium)_ - -_Flowers_--Magenta or pink, sometimes pale, or rarely white, more or -less than 1 in. across, in an elongated, terminal, spike-like raceme. -Calyx tubular, narrow, in 4 segments; 4 rounded, spreading petals; 8 -stamens; 1 pistil, hairy at base; the stigma 4-lobed. _Stem:_ 2 to 8 ft. -high, simple, smooth, leafy. _Leaves:_ Narrow, tapering, willow-like, 2 -to 6 in. long. _Fruit:_ A slender, curved, violet-tinted capsule, from 2 -to 3 in. long, containing numerous seeds attached to tufts of fluffy, -white, silky threads. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry soil, fields, roadsides, especially in -burnt-over districts. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--From Atlantic to Pacific, with few interruptions; -British Possessions and United States southward to the Carolinas and -Arizona. Also Europe and Asia. - -Spikes of these beautiful brilliant flowers towering upward above dry -soil, particularly where the woodsman's axe and forest fires have -devastated the landscape, illustrate Nature's abhorrence of ugliness. -Other kindly plants have earned the name of fireweed, but none so -quickly beautifies the blackened clearings of the pioneer, nor blossoms -over the charred trail in the wake of the locomotive. Whole -mountainsides in Alaska are dyed crimson with it. Beginning at the -bottom of the long spike, the flowers open in slow succession upward -throughout the summer, leaving behind the attractive seed-vessels, -which, splitting lengthwise in September, send adrift white silky tufts -attached to seeds that will one day cover far distant wastes with -beauty. Almost perfect rosettes, made by the young plants, are met with -on one's winter walks. - - -Evening Primrose; Night Willow-herb - -_Oenothera biennis_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, fragrant, opening at evening, 1 to 2 in. across, -borne in terminal leafy-bracted spikes. Calyx tube slender, elongated, -gradually enlarged at throat, the 4-pointed lobes bent backward; corolla -of 4 spreading petals; 8 stamens; 1 pistil; the stigma 4-cleft. _Stem:_ -Erect, wand-like, or branched, 1 to 5 ft. tall, rarely higher, leafy. -_Leaves:_ Alternate, lance-shaped, mostly seated on stem, entire, or -obscurely toothed. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides, dry fields, thickets, fence-corners. - -_Flowering Season_--June-October. - -_Distribution_--Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico, west to the Rocky -Mountains. - -Like a ball-room beauty, the Evening Primrose has a jaded, bedraggled -appearance by day when we meet it by the dusty roadside, its erect buds, -fading flowers from last night's revelry, wilted ones of previous -dissipations, and hairy oblong capsules, all crowded together among the -willow-like leaves at the top of the rank-growing plant. But at sunset a -bud begins to expand its delicate petals slowly, timidly--not suddenly -and with a pop, as the evening primrose of the garden does. - -Now, its fragrance, that has been only faintly perceptible during the -day, becomes increasingly powerful. Why these blandishments at such an -hour? Because at dusk, when sphinx moths, large and small, begin to fly, -the primrose's special benefactors are abroad. All these moths, whose -length of tongue has kept pace with the development of the tubes of -certain white and yellow flowers dependent on their ministrations, find -such glowing like miniature moons for their special benefit, when -blossoms of other hues have melted into the deepening darkness. If such -have fragrance, they prepare to shed it now. Nectar is secreted in tubes -so deep and slender that none but the moths' long tongues can drain the -last drop. An exquisite, little, rose-pink twilight flyer, his wings -bordered with yellow, flutters in ecstasy above the Evening Primrose's -freshly opened flowers, transferring in his rapid flight some of their -abundant, sticky pollen that hangs like a necklace from the outstretched -filaments. By day one may occasionally find a little fellow asleep in a -wilted blossom, which serves him as a tent, under whose flaps the -brightest bird eye rarely detects a dinner. After a single night's -dissipation the corolla wilts, hangs a while, then drops from the -maturing capsule as if severed with a sharp knife. Few flowers, -sometimes only one opens on a spike on a given evening--a plan to -increase the chances of cross-fertilization between distinct plants; but -there is a very long succession of bloom. If a flower has not been -pollenized during the night it remains open a while in the morning. -Bumblebees now hurry in, and an occasional humming bird takes a sip of -nectar. Toward the end of summer, when so much seed has been set that -the flower can afford to be generous, it distinctly changes its habit -and keeps open house all day. - - - - -GINSENG FAMILY (_Araliaceae_) - - -Spikenard; Indian Root; Spignet - -_Aralia racemosa_ - -_Flowers_--Greenish white, small, 5-parted, mostly imperfect, in a -drooping compound raceme of rounded clusters. _Stem:_ 3 to 6 ft. high, -branches spreading. _Roots:_ Large, thick, fragrant. _Leaves:_ -Compounded of heart-shaped, sharply tapering, saw-edged leaflets from 2 -to 5 in. long, often downy underneath. Lower leaves often enormous. -_Fruit:_ Dark reddish-brown berries. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich open woods, wayside thickets, light soil. - -_Flowering Season_--July-August. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Georgia, west to the Mississippi. - -A striking, decorative plant, once much sought after for its medicinal -virtues--still another herb with which old women delight to dose their -victims for any malady from a cold to a carbuncle. Quite a different -plant, but a relative, is the one with hairy spike-like shoots from its -fragrant roots, from which the "very precious" ointment poured by Mary -upon the Saviour's head was made. The nard, an Indian product from that -plant, which is still found growing on the distant Himalayas, could then -be imported into Palestine only by the rich. - -How certain of the winter birds gormandize on the resinous, spicy little -berries! A flock of juncos will strip the fruit from every spikenard in -the neighborhood the first day it arrives from the North. - -It should be understood that the Wild Spikenard, or False Solomon's -Seal, has not the remotest connection with this tribe of plants. - -The Wild or False Sarsaparilla (_A. nudicaulis_), so common in woods, -hillsides, and thickets, shelters its three spreading umbels of -greenish-white flowers in May and June beneath a canopy formed by a -large, solitary, compound leaf. The aromatic roots, which run -horizontally sometimes three feet or more through the soil, send up a -very short, smooth proper stem which lifts a tall leafstalk and a -shorter, naked flower-stalk. The single large leaf, of exquisite bronzy -tints when young, is compounded of from three to five oval, toothed -leaflets on each of its three divisions. - -While the true sarsaparilla of medicine should come from a quite -different herb that flourishes in Mexico and South America, this one -furnishes a commercial substitute enormously used as a blood purifier -and cooling summer drink. Burrowing rabbits delight to nibble the long, -slender, fragrant roots. - - - - -PARSLEY FAMILY (_Umbelliferae_) - - -Wild or Field Parsnip; Madnep; Tank - -_Pastinaca sativa_ - -_Flowers_--Dull or greenish yellow, small, without involucre or -involucels; borne in 7 to 15 rayed umbels, 2 to 6 in. across. _Stem:_ 2 -to 5 ft. tall, stout, smooth, branching, grooved, from a long, conic, -fleshy, strong-scented root. _Leaves:_ Compounded (pinnately), of -several pairs of oval, lobed, or cut sharply toothed leaflets; the -petioled lower leaves often 1-1/2 ft. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste places, roadsides, fields. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Common throughout nearly all parts of the United States -and Canada. Europe. - -Men are not the only creatures who feed upon such of the umbel-bearing -plants as are innocent--parsnips, celery, parsley, carrots, caraway, and -fennel, among others; and even those which contain properties that are -poisonous to highly organized men and beasts, afford harmless food for -insects. Pliny says that parsnips, which were cultivated beyond the -Rhine in the days of Tiberius, were brought to Rome annually to please -the emperor's exacting palate, yet this same plant, which has overrun -two continents, in its wild state (when its leaves are a paler yellowish -green than under cultivation) often proves poisonous. A strongly acrid -juice in the very tough stem causes intelligent cattle to let it -alone--precisely the object desired. - - -Wild Carrot; Queen Anne's Lace; Bird's-nest - -_Daucus Carota_ - -_Flowers_--Small, of unequal sizes (polygamous), white, rarely pinkish -gray, 5-parted, in a compound, flat, circular, umbel, the central floret -often dark crimson; the umbels very concave in fruit. An involucre of -narrow, pinnately cut bracts. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. high, with stiff hairs; -from a deep, fleshy, conic root. _Leaves:_ Cut into fine, fringy -divisions; upper ones smaller and less dissected. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste lands, fields, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Eastern half of United States and Canada. Europe and -Asia. - -A pest to farmers, a joy to the flower-lover, and a welcome signal for -refreshment to hosts of flies, beetles, bees, and wasps, especially to -the paper-nest builders, the sprangly wild carrot lifts its fringy -foliage and exquisite lacy blossoms above the dry soil of three -continents. From Europe it has come to spread its delicate wheels over -our summer landscape, until whole fields are whitened by them east of -the Mississippi. Having proved fittest in the struggle for survival in -the fiercer competition of plants in the over-cultivated Old World, it -takes its course of empire westward year by year, finding most favorable -conditions for colonizing in our vast, uncultivated area; and the less -aggressive, native occupants of our soil are only too readily crowded -out. Would that the advocates of unrestricted immigration of foreign -peasants studied the parallel examples among floral invaders! - -Still another fiction is that the cultivated carrot, introduced to -England by the Dutch in Queen Elizabeth's reign, was derived from -this wild species. Miller, the celebrated English botanist and -gardener, among many others, has disproved this statement by utterly -failing again and again to produce an edible vegetable from this wild -root. When cultivation of the garden carrot lapses for a few -generations, it reverts to the ancestral type--a species quite -distinct from _Daucus Carota_. - - - - -DOGWOOD FAMILY _(Cornaceae)_ - - -Flowering Dogwood - -_Cornus florida_ - -_Flowers_--(Apparently) large, white or pinkish, the four conspicuous -parts simulating petals, notched at the top, being really bracts of an -involucre below the true flowers, clustered in the centre, which are -very small, greenish yellow, 4-parted, perfect. _Stem:_ A large shrub or -small tree, wood hard, bark rough. _Leaves:_ Opposite oval, -entire-edged, petioled, paler underneath. _Fruit:_ Clusters of -egg-shaped scarlet berries, tipped with the persistent calyx. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Woodlands, rocky thickets, wooded roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Maine to Florida, west to Ontario and Texas. - -Has Nature's garden a more decorative ornament than the Flowering -Dogwood, whose spreading flattened branches whiten the woodland borders -in May as if an untimely snowstorm had come down upon them, and in -autumn paint the landscape with glorious crimson, scarlet, and gold, -dulled by comparison only with the clusters of vivid red berries among -the foliage? Little wonder that nurserymen sell enormous numbers of -these small trees to be planted on lawns. The horrors of pompous -monuments, urns, busts, shafts, angels, lambs, and long-drawn-out -eulogies in stone in many a cemetery are mercifully concealed in part by -these boughs, laden with blossoms of heavenly purity. - - "Let dead names be eternized in dead stone, - But living names by living shafts be known. - Plant thou a tree whose leaves shall sing - Thy deeds and thee each fresh, recurrent spring." - -When the Massachusetts farmers think they hear the first brown thrasher -in April advising them to plant their Indian corn, reassuringly calling, -"Drop it, drop it--cover it up, cover it up--pull it up, pull it up, -pull it up" (Thoreau), they look to the dogwood flowers to confirm the -thrasher's advice before taking it. - - * * * * * - -The Low or Dwarf Cornel, or Bunchberry _(C. canadensis)_, whose scaly -stem does its best to attain a height of nine inches, bears a whorl of -from four to six oval, pointed, smooth leaves at the summit. From the -midst of this whorl comes a cluster of minute greenish florets, -encircled by four to six large, showy, white petal-like bracts, quite -like a small edition of the Flowering Dogwood blossom. Tight clusters -of round berries, that are lifted upward on a gradually lengthened -peduncle after the flowers fade (May-July), brighten with vivid touches -of scarlet, shadowy, mossy places in cool, rich woods, where the dwarf -cornels, with the partridge vine, twin flower, gold thread, and fern, -form the most charming of carpets. - -Even more abundant is the Silky Cornel, Kinnikinnick, or Swamp Dogwood -(_C. Amomum_) found in low, wet ground, and beside streams, from -Nebraska to the Atlantic Ocean, south to Florida and north to New -Brunswick. Its dull, reddish twigs, oval or oblong leaves, rounded at -the base, but tapering to a point at the apex, and usually silky-downy -with fine, brownish hairs underneath (to prevent the pores from clogging -with vapors arising from its damp habitat); its rather compact, flat -clusters of white flowers from May to July, and its bluish berries are -its distinguishing features. The Indians loved to smoke its bark for its -alleged tonic effect. - - - - -HEATH FAMILY (_Ericaceae_) - - -Pipsissewa; Prince's Pine - -_Chimaphila umbellata_ - -_Flowers_--Flesh-colored, or pinkish, fragrant, waxy, usually with deep -pink ring around centre, and the anthers colored; about 1/2 in. across; -several flowers in loose, terminal cluster. Calyx 5-cleft; corolla of 5 -concave, rounded, spreading petals; 10 stamens, the filaments hairy; -style short, conical, with a round stigma. _Stem:_ Trailing far along -ground, creeping, or partly subterranean, sending up sterile and -flowering branches 3 to 10 in. high. _Leaves:_ Opposite or in whorls, -evergreen, bright, shining, spatulate to lance-shaped, sharply -saw-edged. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry woods, sandy leaf mould. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--British Possessions and the United States north of -Georgia from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Also Mexico, Europe, and Asia. - -A lover of winter indeed (_cheima_ = winter and _phileo_ = to love) is the -Prince's Pine, whose beautiful dark leaves keep their color and gloss in -spite of snow and intense cold. A few yards of the trailing stem, easily -ripped from the light soil of its woodland home, make a charming indoor -decoration, especially when the little brown seed-cases remain. Few -flowers are more suggestive of the woods than these shy, dainty, -deliciously fragrant little blossoms. - - * * * * * - -The Spotted Wintergreen, or Pipsissewa (_C. maculata_), closely -resembles the Prince's Pine, except that its slightly larger white or -pinkish flowers lack the deep pink ring; and the lance-shaped leaves, -with rather distant saw-teeth, are beautifully mottled with white along -the veins. When we see short-lipped bees and flies about these flowers, -we may be sure their pollen-covered mouths come in contact with the -moist stigma on the summit of the little top-shaped style, and so effect -cross-fertilization. - - -Indian Pipe; Ice-plant; Ghost-flower; Corpse-plant - -_Monotropa uniflora_ - -_Flowers_--Solitary, smooth, waxy, white (rarely pink), oblong -bell-shaped, nodding from the tip of a fleshy, white, scaly scape 4 to -10 in. tall. Calyx of 2 to 4 early-falling white sepals; 4 or 5 oblong, -scale-like petals; 8 or 10 tawny, hairy stamens; a 5-celled, egg-shaped -ovary, narrowed into the short, thick style. _Leaves:_ None. _Roots:_ A -mass of brittle fibres, from which usually a cluster of several white -scapes arises. _Fruit:_ A 5-valved, many-seeded, erect capsule. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Heavily shaded, moist, rich woods, especially under -oak and pine trees. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--Almost throughout temperate North America. - -Colorless in every part, waxy, cold, and clammy, Indian pipes rise like -a company of wraiths in the dim forest that suits them well. Ghoulish -parasites, uncanny saprophytes, for their matted roots prey either on -the juices of living plants or on the decaying matter of dead ones, how -weirdly beautiful and decorative they are! The strange plant grows also -in Japan, and one can readily imagine how fascinated the native artists -must be by its chaste charms. - -Yet to one who can read the faces of flowers, as it were, it stands a -branded sinner. Doubtless its ancestors were industrious, honest -creatures, seeking their food in the soil, and digesting it with the -help of leaves filled with good green matter (chlorophyll) on which -virtuous vegetable life depends; but some ancestral knave elected to -live by piracy, to drain the already digested food of its neighbors; so -the Indian Pipe gradually lost the use of parts for which it has need no -longer, until we find it to-day without color and its leaves degenerated -into mere scaly bracts. Nature had manifold ways of illustrating the -parable of the ten pieces of money. Spiritual law is natural law: "From -him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away." Among plants -as among souls, there are all degrees of backsliders. The foxglove, -which is guilty of only sly, petty larceny, wears not the equivalent of -the striped suit and the shaved head; nor does the mistletoe, which -steals crude food from the tree, but still digests it itself, and is -therefore only a dingy yellowish green. Such plants, however, as the -broom-rape, Pine Sap, beech-drops, the Indian Pipe, and the -dodder--which marks the lowest stage of degradation of them all--appear -among their race branded with the mark of crime as surely as was Cain. - -No wonder this degenerate hangs its head; no wonder it grows black with -shame on being picked, as if its wickedness were only just then -discovered! To think that a plant related on one side to many of the -loveliest flowers in Nature's garden--the azaleas, laurels, -rhododendrons, and the bonny heather--and on the other side to the -modest but no less charming wintergreen tribe, should have fallen from -grace to such a depth! Its scientific name, meaning a flower once -turned, describes it during only a part of its career. When the minute, -innumerable seeds begin to form, it proudly raises its head erect, as if -conscious that it had performed the one righteous act of its life. - - -Pine Sap; False Beech-drops; Yellow Bird's-nest - -_Monotropa Hypopitis_ - -_Flowers_--Tawny, yellow, ecru, brownish pink, reddish, or bright -crimson, fragrant, about 1/2 in. long; oblong bell-shaped; borne in a -one-sided, terminal, slightly drooping raceme, becoming erect after -maturity. _Scapes:_ Clustered from a dense mass of fleshy, fibrous -roots; 4 to 12 in. tall, scaly bracted, the bractlets resembling the -sepals. _Leaves:_ None. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry woods, especially under fir, beech, and -oak trees. - -_Flowering Season_--June-October. - -_Distribution_--Florida and Arizona, far northward into British -Possessions. Europe and Asia. - -Branded a sinner, through its loss of leaves and honest green coloring -matter (chlorophyll), the Pine Sap stands among the disreputable gang of -thieves that includes its next of kin the Indian Pipe, the broom-rape, -dodder, coral-root, and beech-drops. Degenerates like these, although -members of highly respectable, industrious, virtuous families, would -appear to be as low in the vegetable kingdom as any fungus, were it not -for the flowers they still bear. Petty larceny, no greater than the -foxglove's at first, then greater and greater thefts, finally lead to -ruin, until the pine-sap parasite either sucks its food from the roots -of the trees under which it takes up its abode, or absorbs, like a -ghoulish saprophyte, the products of vegetable decay. A plant that does -not manufacture its own dinner has no need of chlorophyll and leaves, -for assimilation of crude food can take place only in those cells which -contain the vital green. This substance, universally found in plants -that grub in the soil and literally sweat for their daily bread, acts -also as a moderator of respiration by its absorptive influence on light, -and hence allows the elimination of carbon dioxide to go on in the cells -which contain it. Fungi and these degenerates which lack chlorophyll -usually grow in dark, shady woods. - - -Wild Honeysuckle; Pink, Purple, or Wild Azalea; Pinxter-flower - -_Rhododendron nudiflorum_ - -_Flowers--_Crimson pink, purplish or rose pink, to nearly white, 1-1/2 -to 2 in. across, faintly fragrant, clustered, opening before or with the -leaves, and developed from cone-like, scaly brown buds. Calyx minute, -5-parted; corolla funnel-shaped, the tube narrow, hairy, with 5 regular, -spreading lobes; 5 long red stamens; 1 pistil, declined, protruding. -_Stem:_ Shrubby, usually simple below, but branching above, 2 to 6 ft. -high. _Leaves:_ Usually clustered, deciduous, oblong, acute at both -ends, hairy on midrib. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, rocky woods, or dry woods and thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--April-May. - -_Distribution_--Maine to Illinois, and southward to the Gulf. - -Woods and hillsides are glowing with fragrant, rosy masses of this -lovely azalea, the Pinxter-bloem or Whitsunday flower of the Dutch -colonists, long before the seventh Sunday after Easter. Among our -earliest exports, this hardy shrub, the Swamp Azalea, and the superb -flame-colored species of the Alleghanies, were sent early in the -eighteenth century to the old country, and there crossed with _A. -Pontica_ of southern Europe by the Belgian horticulturists, to whom we -owe the Ghent azaleas, the final triumphs of the hybridizer, that -glorify the shrubberies on our own lawns to-day. The azalea became the -national flower of Flanders. These hardy species lose their leaves in -winter, whereas the hothouse varieties of _A. Indica_, a native of China -and Japan, have thickish leaves, almost if not quite evergreen. A few of -the latter stand our northern winters, especially the pure white variety -now quite commonly planted in cemetery lots. In that delightfully -enthusiastic little book, "The Garden's Story," Mr. Ellwanger says of -the Ghent Azalea: "In it I find a charm presented by no other flower. -Its soft tints of buff, sulphur, and primrose; its dazzling shades of -apricot, salmon, orange, and vermilion are always a fresh revelation of -color. They have no parallel among flowers, and exist only in opals, -sunset skies, and the flush of autumn woods." Certainly American -horticulturists were not clever in allowing the industry of raising -these plants from our native stock to thrive on foreign soil. - -From Maine to Florida and westward to Texas, chiefly near the coast, -in low, wet places only need we look for the Swamp Pink or -Honeysuckle, White or Clammy Azalea (_Rhododendron viscosum_), a more -hairy species than the Pinxter-flower, with a very sticky, glandular -corolla tube, and deliciously fragrant blossoms, by no means -invariably white. John Burroughs is not the only one who has passed -"several patches of swamp honeysuckles, red with blossoms" -("Wake-Robin"). But as this species does not bloom until June and -July, when the sun quickly bleaches the delicate flowers, it is true -we most frequently find them white, merely tinged with pink. The -leaves are well developed before the blossoms appear. - - -American or Great Rhododendron; Great Laurel; Rose Tree, or Bay - -_Rhododendron maximum_ - -_Flowers_--Rose pink, varying to white, greenish in the throat, spotted -with yellow or orange, in broad clusters set like a bouquet among -leaves, and developed from scaly, cone-like buds; pedicels sticky-hairy. -Calyx 5-parted minute; corolla 5-lobed, broadly bell-shaped, 2 in. broad -or less; usually 10 stamens, equally spreading; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ -Sometimes a tree attaining a height of 40 ft., usually 6 to 20 ft., -shrubby, woody. _Leaves:_ Evergreen, drooping in winter, leathery, dark -green on both sides, lance-oblong, 4 to 10 in. long, entire edged, -narrowing into stout petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Mountainous woodland, hillsides near streams. - -_Flowering Season_--June-July. - -_Distribution_--Uncommon from Ohio and New England to Nova Scotia; -abundant through the Alleghanies to Georgia. - -When this most magnificent of our native shrubs covers whole -mountainsides throughout the Alleghany region with bloom, one stands -awed in the presence of such overwhelming beauty. Nowhere else does -the rhododendron attain such size or luxuriance. There it produces a -tall trunk, and towers among the trees; it spreads its branches far -and wide until they interlock and form almost impenetrable thickets -locally called "hells" where pioneer explorers wandered, lost -themselves and perished; it glorifies the loneliest mountain road with -superb bouquets of its delicate flowers set among dark, glossy foliage -scarcely less attractive. The mountain in bloom is worth travelling a -thousand miles to see. - -Rhododendrons, azaleas, and laurels fall under a common ban pronounced -by bee-keepers. The bees which transfer pollen from blossom to blossom -while gathering nectar, manufacture honey said to be poisonous. Cattle -know enough to let all this foliage alone. Apparently the ants fear no -more evil results from the nectar than the bees themselves; and were it -not for the sticky parts nearest the flowers, on which they crawl to -meet their death, the blossom's true benefactors would find little -refreshment left. - - -Mountain or American Laurel; Calico Bush; Spoonwood; Calmoun; -Broad-leaved Kalmia - -_Kalmia latifolia_ - -_Flowers_--Buds and new flowers bright rose pink, afterward fading -white, and only lined with pink, 1 in. across or less, numerous, in -terminal clusters. Calyx small, 5-parted, sticky; corolla like a -5-pointed saucer, with 10 projections on outside; 10 arching stamens, an -anther lodged in each projection; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Shrubby, woody, -stiffly branched, 2 to 20 ft. high. _Leaves:_ Evergreen, entire, oval to -elliptic, pointed at both ends, tapering into petioles. _Fruit:_ A -round, brown capsule, with the style long remaining on it. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Sandy or rocky woods, especially in hilly or -mountainous country. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick and Ontario, southward to the Gulf of -Mexico, and westward to Ohio. - -It would be well if Americans, imitating the Japanese in making -pilgrimages to scenes of supreme natural beauty, visited the mountains, -rocky, woody hillsides, ravines, and tree-girt uplands when the laurel -is in its glory; when masses of its pink and white blossoms, set among -the dark evergreen leaves, flush the landscape like Aurora, and are -reflected from the pools of streams and the serene depths of mountain -lakes. Peter Kalm, a Swedish pupil of Linnaeus, who travelled here early -in the eighteenth century, was more impressed by its beauty than that of -any other flower. He introduced the plant to Europe, where it is known -as kalmia, and extensively cultivated on fine estates that are thrown -open to the public during the flowering season. Even a flower is not -without honor, save in its own country. We have only to prepare a border -of leaf mould, take up the young plant without injuring the roots or -allowing them to dry, hurry them into the ground, and prune back the -bush a little, to establish it in our gardens, where it will bloom -freely after the second year. Lime in the soil and manure are fatal to -it as well as to rhododendrons and azaleas. All they require is a mulch -of leaves kept on winter and summer that their fine fibrous roots may -never dry out. - -All the kalmias resort to a most ingenious device for compelling insect -visitors to carry their pollen from blossom to blossom. A newly-opened -flower has its stigma erected where the incoming bee must leave on its -sticky surface the four minute orange-like grains carried from the -anther of another flower on the hairy underside of her body. Now, each -anther is tucked away in one of the ten little pockets of the -saucer-shaped blossom, and the elastic filaments are strained upward -like a bow. After hovering above the nectary, the bee has only to -descend toward it, when her leg, touching against one of the -hair-triggers of the spring trap, pop! goes the little anther-gun, -discharging pollen from its bores as it flies upward. So delicately is -the mechanism adjusted, the slightest jar or rough handling releases the -anthers; but, on the other hand, should insects be excluded by a net -stretched over the plant, the flowers will fall off and wither without -firing off their pollen-charged guns. At least, this is true in the -great majority of tests. As in the case of hothouse flowers, no fertile -seed is set when nets keep away the laurel's benefactors. One has only -to touch the hair-trigger with the end of a pin to see how exquisitely -delicate is this provision for cross-fertilization. - -However much we may be cautioned by the apiculturists against honey made -from laurel nectar, the bees themselves ignore all warnings and -apparently without evil results--happily for the flowers dependent upon -them and their kin. Mr. Frank R. Cheshire, in "Bees and Bee-keeping," -the standard English work on the subject, writes: "During the celebrated -Retreat of the Ten Thousand, as recorded by Xenophon in his 'Anabasis,' -the soldiers regaled themselves upon some honey found near Trebizonde, -where were many bee-hives. Intoxication with vomiting was the result. -Some were so overcome", he states, "as to be incapable of standing. Not a -soldier died, but very many were greatly weakened for several days." -Tournefort endeavored to ascertain whether this account was corroborated -by anything ascertainable in the locality, and had good reason to be -satisfied respecting it. He concluded that the honey had been gathered -from a shrub growing in the neighborhood of Trebizonde, which is well -known there as producing the before-mentioned effects. It is now agreed -that the plants were species of rhododendron and azaleas. Lamberti -confirms Xenophon's account by stating that similar effects are produced -by honey of Colchis, where the same shrubs are common. In 1790, even, -fatal cases occurred in America in consequence of eating wild honey, -which was traced to _Kalmia latifolia_ by an inquiry instituted under -direction of the American government. - -Sheep-laurel, Lamb-kill, Wicky, Calf-kill, Sheep-poison, Narrow-leaved -Laurel (_K. angustifolia_), and so on through a list of folk-names -testifying chiefly to the plant's wickedness in the pasture, may be -especially deadly food for cattle, but it certainly is a feast to the -eyes. However much we may admire the small, deep crimson-pink flowers -that we find in June and July in moist fields or swampy ground or on the -hillsides, few of us will agree with Thoreau, who claimed that it is -"handsomer than the Mountain Laurel." The low shrub may be only six -inches high, or it may attain three feet. The narrow evergreen leaves, -pale on the underside, have a tendency to form groups of threes, -standing upright when newly put forth, but bent downward with the -weight of age. A peculiarity of the plant is that clusters of leaves -usually terminate the woody stem, for the flowers grow in whorls or in -clusters at the side of it below. - - -Trailing Arbutus; Mayflower; Ground Laurel - -_Epigaea repens_ - -_Flowers_--Pink, fading to nearly white, very fragrant, about 1/2 in. -across when expanded, few or many in clusters at ends of branches. Calyx -of 5 dry overlapping sepals; corolla salver-shaped, the slender, hairy -tube spreading into 5 equal lobes; 10 stamens; 1 pistil with a -column-like style and a 5-lobed stigma. _Stem:_ Spreading over the -ground (_Epigaea_ = on the earth); woody, the leafy twigs covered with -rusty hairs. _Leaves:_ Alternate, oval, rounded at the base, smooth -above, more or less hairy below, evergreen, weather-worn, on short, -rusty, hairy petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Light sandy loam in woods, especially under -evergreen trees, or in mossy, rocky places. - -_Flowering Season_--March-May. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Florida, west to Kentucky and the -Northwest Territory. - -Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of spring--that -delicious commingling of the perfume of arbutus, the odor of pines, and -the snow-soaked soil just warming into life? Those who know the flower -only as it is sold in the city streets, tied with wet, dirty string -into tight bunches, withered and forlorn, can have little idea of the -joy of finding the pink, pearly blossoms freshly opened among the -withered leaves of oak and chestnut, moss and pine needles in which they -nestle close to the cold earth in the leafless, windy northern forest. -Even in Florida, where broad patches carpet the woods in February, one -misses something of the arbutus's accustomed charm simply because there -are no slushy remnants of snowdrifts, no reminders of winter hardships -in the vicinity. There can be no glad surprise at finding dainty spring -flowers in a land of perpetual summer. Little wonder that the Pilgrim -Fathers, after the first awful winter on the "stern New England coast," -loved this early messenger of hope and gladness above the frozen ground -at Plymouth. In an introductory note to his poem "The Mayflowers," -Whittier states that the name was familiar in England, as the -application of it to the historic vessel shows; but it was applied by -the English, and still is, to the hawthorn. Its use in New England in -connection with the Trailing Arbutus dates from a very early day, some -claiming that the first Pilgrims so used it in affectionate memory of -the vessel and its English flower association. - - "Sad Mayflower! watched by winter stars, - And nursed by winter gales, - With petals of the sleeted spars, - And leaves of frozen sails! - - "But warmer suns ere long shall bring - To life the frozen sod, - And through dead leaves of hope shall spring - Afresh the flowers of God!" - -There is little use trying to coax this shyest of sylvan flowers into -our gardens where other members of its family, rhododendrons, laurels, -and azaleas make themselves delightfully at home. It is wild as a hawk, -an untamable creature that slowly pines to death when brought into -contact with civilization. Greedy street venders, who ruthlessly tear up -the plant by the yard, and others without even the excuse of eking out a -paltry income by its sale, have already exterminated it within a wide -radius of our Eastern cities. How curious that the majority of people -show their appreciation of a flower's beauty only by selfishly, -ignorantly picking every specimen they can find! - - -Creeping Wintergreen; Checker-berry; Partridge-berry; Mountain Tea; -Ground Tea, Deer, Box, or Spice Berry - -_Gaultheria procumbens_ - -_Flowers_--White, small, usually solitary, nodding from a leaf axil. -Corolla rounded bell-shape, 5-toothed; calyx 5-parted, persistent; 10 -included stamens, their anther-sacs opening by a pore at the top. -_Stem:_ Creeping above or below ground, its branches 2 to 6 in. high. -_Leaves:_ Mostly clustered at top of branches; alternate, glossy, -leathery, evergreen, much darker above than underneath, oval to oblong, -very finely saw-edged; the entire plant aromatic. _Fruit:_ Bright red, -mealy, spicy, berry-like; ripe in October. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Cool woods, especially under evergreens. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Georgia, westward to Michigan and -Manitoba. - -"Where cornels arch their cool, dark boughs o'er beds of wintergreen," -wrote Bryant; yet it is safe to say that nine colonies out of ten of -this hardy little plant are under evergreens, not dogwood trees. Poets -make us feel the _spirit_ of Nature in a wonderful way, but--look out -for their facts! - -Omnivorous children who are addicted to birch-chewing prefer these -tender yellow-green leaves tinged with red, when newly put forth in -June--"Youngsters" rural New Englanders call them then. In some sections -a kind of tea is steeped from the leaves, which also furnish the -old-fashioned embrocation, wintergreen oil. Late in the year the glossy -bronze carpet of old leaves dotted over with vivid red "berries" invites -much trampling by hungry birds and beasts, especially deer and bears, -not to mention well-fed humans. Coveys of Bob Whites and packs of grouse -will plunge beneath the snow for fare so delicious as this spicy, mealy -fruit that hangs on the plant till spring, of course for the benefit of -just such colonizing agents as they. Quite a different species, -belonging to another family, bears the true partridge-berry, albeit the -wintergreen shares with it a number of popular names. In a strict sense -neither of these plants produces a berry; for the fruit of the true -Partridge Vine (_Mitchella repens_) is a double drupe, or stone bearer, -each half containing four hard, seed-like nutlets; while the -wintergreen's so-called berry is merely the calyx grown thick, fleshy, -and gayly colored--only a coating for the five-celled ovary that -contains the minute seeds. Little baskets of wintergreen berries bring -none too high prices in the fancy fruit and grocery shops when we -calculate how many charming plants such unnatural use of them -sacrifices. - - - - -PRIMROSE FAMILY _(Primulaceae)_ - - -Four-leaved or Whorled Loosestrife; Crosswort - -_Lysimachia quadrifolia_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, streaked with, dark red, 1/2 in. across or less; each -on a thread-like, spreading footstem from a leaf axil. Calyx, 5 to 7 -parted; corolla of 5 to 7 spreading lobes, and as many stamens inserted -on the throat; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Slender, erect, 1 to 3 ft. tall, leafy. -_Leaves:_ In whorls of 4 (rarely in 3's to 7's), lance-shaped or oblong, -entire, black dotted. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Open woodland, thickets, roadsides; moist, -sandy soil. - -_Flowering Season_--June-August. - -_Distribution_--Georgia and lllinois, north to New Brunswick. - -Medieval herbalists usually recorded anything that "Plinie saieth" with -profoundest respect; not always so, quaint old Parkinson. Speaking of -the common _(vulgaris)_ Wild Loosestrife of Europe, a rather stout, -downy species with terminal clusters of good-sized, yellow flowers, that -was once cultivated in our Eastern states, and has sparingly escaped -from gardens, he thus refers to the reputation given it by the Roman -naturalist: "It is believed to take away strife, or debate between ye -beasts, not onely those that are yoked together, but even those that are -wild also, by making them tame and quiet ... if it be either put about -their yokes or their necks," significantly adding, "which how true, I -leave to them shall try and find it soe." Our slender, symmetrical, -common loosestrife, with its whorls of leaves and little star-shaped -blossoms on thread-like pedicels at regular intervals up the stem, is -not even distantly related to the wonderful Purple Loosestrife. - -Another common, lower-growing species, the Bulb-bearing Loosestrife (_L. -terrestris_), blooms from July to September and shows a decided -preference for swamps and ditches throughout a range which extends from -Manitoba and Arkansas to the Atlantic Ocean. - - -Star-flower; Chickweed Wintergreen; Star Anemone - -_Trientalis americana_ - -_Flowers_--White, solitary, or a few rising on slender, wiry footstalks -above a whorl of leaves. Calyx of 5 to 9 (usually 7) narrow sepals. -Corolla wheel-shaped, 1/2 in. across or less, deeply cut into (usually) -7 tapering, spreading, petal-like segments. _Stem:_ A long horizontal -rootstock, sending up smooth stem-like branches 3 to 9 in. high, usually -with a scale or two below. (_Trientalis_ = one third of a foot, the -usual height of a plant.) _Leaves:_ 5 to 10, in a whorl at summit; thin, -tapering at both ends, of unequal size, 1-1/2 to 4 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist shade of woods and thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--May-June. - -_Distribution_--From Virginia and Illinois far north. - -Is any other blossom poised quite so airily above its whorl of leaves as -the delicate, frosty-white little star-flower? It is none of the anemone -kin, of course, in spite of one of its misleading folk-names; but only -the wind-flower has a similar lightness and grace. - - -Scarlet Pimpernel; Poor Man's or Shepherd's Weatherglass; Red -Chickweed; Burnet Rose; Shepherd's Clock - -_Anagallis arvensis_ - -_Flower_--Variable, scarlet, deep salmon, copper red, flesh colored, or -rarely white; usually darker in the centre; about 1/4 in. across; -wheel-shaped; 5-parted; solitary, on thread-like peduncles from the -leaf axils. _Stem:_ Delicate; 4-sided, 4 to 12 in. long, much branched, -the sprays weak and long. _Leaves:_ Oval, opposite, sessile, black -dotted beneath. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste places, dry fields and roadsides, sandy soil. - -_Flowering Season_--May-August. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Florida, westward to Minnesota -and Mexico. - -Tiny pimpernel flowers of a reddish copper or terra cotta color have -only to be seen to be named, for no other blossoms on our continent are -of the same peculiar shade. - -Before a storm, when the sun goes under a cloud, or on a dull day, each -little weather prophet closes. A score of pretty folk-names given it in -every land it adopts testifies to its sensitiveness as a barometer. -Under bright skies the flower may be said to open out flat at about nine -in the morning and to begin to close at three in the afternoon. - - -Shooting Star; American Cowslip; Pride of Ohio - -_Dodecatheon Meadia_ - -_Flowers_--Purplish pink or yellowish white, the cone tipped with -yellow; few or numerous, hanging on slender, _recurved_ pedicels in an -umbel at top of a simple scape 6 in. to 2 ft. high. Calyx deeply -5-parted; corolla of 5 narrow lobes bent backward and upward; the tube -very short, thickened at throat, and marked with dark reddish purple -dots; 5 stamens united into a protruding cone; 1 pistil, protruding -beyond them. _Leaves:_ Oblong or spatulate, 3 to 12 in. long, narrowed -into petioles, all from fibrous roots. _Fruit:_ A 5-valved capsule on -_erect_ pedicels. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Prairies, open woods, moist cliffs. - -_Flowering Season_--April-May. - -_Distribution_--Pennsylvania southward and westward, and from Texas -to Manitoba. - -Ages ago Theophrastus called an entirely different plant by this same -scientific name, derived from _dodeka_ = twelve, and _theos_ = gods; and -although our plant is native of a land unknown to the ancients, the -fanciful Linnaeus imagined he saw in the flowers of its umbel a little -congress of their divinities seated around a miniature Olympus! Who has -said science kills imagination? These handsome, interesting flowers, so -familiar in the Middle West and Southwest, especially, somewhat resemble -the cyclamen in oddity of form. Indeed, these prairie wild flowers are -not unknown in florists' shops in Eastern cities. - -Few bee workers are abroad at the shooting star's season. The female -bumblebees, which, by striking the protruding stigma before they jar -out any pollen, cross-fertilize it, are the flower's chief -benefactors, but one often sees the little yellow puddle butterfly -about it. Very different from the bright yellow cowslip of Europe is -our odd, misnamed blossom. - - - - -GENTIAN FAMILY _(Gentianaceae)_ - - -Bitter-bloom; Rose Pink; Square-stemmed Sabbatia; Rosy Centaury - -_Sabbatia angularis_ - -_Flowers_--Clear rose pink, with greenish star in centre, rarely white, -fragrant, 1-1/2 in. broad or less, usually solitary on long peduncles at -ends of branches. Calyx lobes very narrow; corolla of 5 rounded -segments; stamens 5; style 2-cleft. _Stem:_ Sharply 4-angled, 2 to 3 ft. -high, with opposite branches, leafy. _Leaves:_ Opposite, 5-nerved, oval -tapering at tip, and clasping stem by broad base. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich soil, meadows, thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--July-August. - -_Distribution_--New York to Florida, westward to Ontario, Michigan, and -Indian Territory. - -During the drought of midsummer the lovely Rose Pink blooms inland with -cheerful readiness to adapt itself to harder conditions than most of its -moisture-loving kin will tolerate; but it may be noticed that although -we may often-times find it growing in dry soil, it never spreads in -such luxuriant clusters as when the roots are struck beside meadow -runnels and ditches. Probably the plant would be commoner than it is -about populous Eastern districts were it not so much sought by -herb-gatherers for use as a tonic medicine. - -It was the Centaurea, represented here by the blue Ragged Sailor of -gardens, and not our Centaury, a distinctly American group of plants, -which, Ovid tells us, cured a wound in the foot of the Centaur Chiron, -made by an arrow hurled by Hercules. - - * * * * * - -Three exquisite members of the Sabbatia tribe keep close to the Atlantic -Coast in salt meadows and marshes, along the borders of brackish rivers, -and very rarely in the sand at the edges of fresh-water ponds a little -way inland. From Maine to Florida they range, and less frequently are -met along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico so far as Louisiana. How -bright and dainty they are! Whole meadows are radiant with their -blushing loveliness. Probably if they consented to live far away from -the sea, they would lose some of the deep, clear pink from out their -lovely petals, since all flowers show a tendency to brighten their -colors as they approach the coast. In England some of the same wild -flowers we have here are far deeper-hued, owing, no doubt, to the fact -that they live on a sea-girt, moisture-laden island, and also that the -sun never scorches and blanches at the far north as it does in the -United States. - -The Sea or Marsh Pink or Rose of Plymouth (_S. stellaris_), whose -graceful alternate branching stem attains a height of two feet only -under most favorable conditions, from July to September opens a -succession of pink flowers that often fade to white. The yellow eye is -bordered with carmine. They measure about one inch across, and are -usually solitary at the ends of branches, or else sway on slender -peduncles from the axils. The upper leaves are narrow and bract-like; -those lower down gradually widen as they approach the root. - - -Fringed Gentian - -_Gentiana crinita_ - -_Flowers--Deep_, bright blue, rarely white, several or many, about 2 -in. high, stiffly erect, and solitary at ends of very long footstalk. -Calyx of 4 unequal, acutely pointed lobes. Corolla funnel form, its -four lobes spreading, rounded, fringed around ends, but scarcely on -sides. Four stamens inserted on corolla tube; 1 pistil with 2 stigmas. -_Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. high, usually branched, leafy. _Leaves:_ Opposite, -upper ones acute at tip, broadening to heart-shaped base, seated on -stem. _Fruit:_ A spindle-shaped, 2-valved capsule, containing numerous -scaly, hairy seeds. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Low, moist meadows and woods. - -_Flowering Season_--September-November. - -_Distribution_--Quebec, southward to Georgia, and westward beyond the -Mississippi. - - "Thou waitest late, and com'st alone - When woods are bare and birds have flown, - And frosts and shortening days portend - The aged year is near his end. - - "Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye - Look through its fringes to the sky, - Blue--blue--as if that sky let fall - A flower from its cerulean wall." - -When we come upon a bed of gentians on some sparkling October day, we -can but repeat Bryant's thoughts and express them prosaically who -attempt description. In dark weather this sunshine lover remains shut, -to protect its nectar and pollen from possible showers. An elusive plant -is this gentian, which by no means always reappears in the same places -year after year, for it is an annual whose seeds alone perpetuate it. -Seating themselves on the winds when autumn gales shake them from out -the home wall, these little hairy scales ride afar, and those that are -so fortunate as to strike into soft, moist soil at the end of the -journey, germinate. Because this flower is so rarely beautiful that few -can resist the temptation of picking it, it is becoming sadly rare near -large settlements. - -Fifteen species of gentian have been gathered during a half-hour walk in -Switzerland, where the pastures are spread with sheets of blue. Indeed, -one can little realize the beauty of these heavenly flowers who has not -seen them among the Alps. - -A deep, intense blue is the Closed, Blind, or Bottle Gentian (_G. -Andrewsii_), more truly the color of the "male bluebird's back," to -which Thoreau likened the paler Fringed Gentian. Rarely some degenerate -plant bears white flowers. As it is a perennial, we are likely to find -it in its old haunts year after year; nevertheless its winged seeds sail -far abroad to seek pastures new. This gentian also shows a preference -for moist soil. Gray thought that it expanded slightly, and for a short -time only in sunshine, but added that, although it is proterandrous, -_i.e._, it matures and sheds its pollen before its stigma is susceptible -to any, he believed it finally fertilized itself by the lobes of the -stigma curling backward until they touched the anthers. But Gray was -doubtless mistaken. Several authorities have recently proved that the -flower is adapted to bumblebees. It offers them the last feast of the -season, for although it comes into bloom in August southward, farther -northward--and it extends from Quebec to the Northwest Territory--it -lasts through October. - - - - -DOGBANE FAMILY (_Apocynaceae_) - - -Spreading Dogbane; Fly-trap Dogbane; Honey-bloom; Bitter-root - -_Apocynum androsaemifolium_ - -_Flowers_--Delicate pink, veined with a deeper shade, fragrant, -bell-shaped, about 1/3 in. across, borne in loose terminal cymes. Calyx -5-parted; corolla of 5 spreading, recurved lobes united into a tube; -within the tube 5 tiny, triangular appendages alternate with stamens; -the arrow-shaped anthers united around the stigma and slightly adhering -to it. _Stem:_ 1 to 4 ft. high, with forking, spreading, leafy branches. -_Leaves:_ Opposite, entire-edged, broadly oval, narrow at base, paler, -and more or less hairy below. _Fruit:_ Two pods about 4 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields, thickets, beside roads, lanes, and walls. - -_Flowering Season_--June-July. - -_Distribution_--Northern part of British Possessions south to Georgia, -westward to Nebraska. - -Everywhere at the North we come across this interesting, rather shrubby -plant, with its pretty but inconspicuous little rose-veined bells -suggesting pink lilies-of-the-valley. Now that we have learned to read -the faces of flowers, as it were, we instantly suspect by the color, -fragrance, pathfinders, and structure that these are artful wilers, -intent on gaining ends of their own through their insect admirers. What -are they up to? - -Let us watch. Bees, flies, moths, and butterflies, especially the -latter, hover near. Alighting, the butterfly visitor unrolls his long -tongue and inserts it where the five pink veins tell him to, for five -nectar-bearing glands stand in a ring around the base of the pistil. -Now, as he withdraws his slender tongue through one of the V-shaped -cavities that make a circle of traps, he may count himself lucky to -escape with no heavier toll imposed than pollen cemented to it. This -granular dust he is required to rub off against the stigma of the next -flower entered. Some bees, too, have been taken with the dogbane's -pollen cemented to their tongues. But suppose a fly call upon this -innocent-looking blossom? His short tongue, as well as the butterfly's, -is guided into one of the V-shaped cavities after he has sipped; but, -getting wedged between the trap's horny teeth, the poor little victim is -held a prisoner there until he slowly dies of starvation in sight of -plenty. This is the penalty he must pay for trespassing on the -butterfly's preserves! The dogbane, which is perfectly adapted to the -butterfly, and dependent upon it for help in producing fertile seed, -ruthlessly destroys all poachers that are not big or strong enough to -jerk away from its vise-like grasp. One often sees small flies and even -moths dead and dangling by the tongue from the wicked little charmers. -If the flower assimilated their dead bodies as the pitcher plant, for -example, does those of its victims, the fly's fate would seem less -cruel. To be killed by slow torture and dangled like a scarecrow simply -for pilfering a drop of nectar is surely an execution of justice -medieval in its severity. - - - - - -MILKWEED FAMILY (_Aselepiadaceae_) - - -Common Milkweed or Silkweed - -_Asclepias syriaca (A. cornuti)_ - -_Flowers_--Dull, pale greenish purple pink, or brownish pink, borne on -pedicels, in many flowered, broad umbels. Calyx inferior, 5-parted; -corolla deeply 5-cleft, the segments turned backward. Above them an -erect, 5-parted crown, each part called a hood, containing a nectary, -and with a tooth on either side, and an incurved horn projecting from -within. Behind the crown the short, stout stamens, united by their -filaments in a tube, are inserted on the corolla. Broad anthers united -around a thick column of pistils terminating hi a large, sticky, -5-angled disk. The anther sacs tipped with a winged membrane; a waxy, -pear-shaped pollen-mass in each sac connected with the stigma in pairs -or fours by a dark gland, and suspended by a stalk like a pair of -saddle-bags. _Stem:_ Stout, leafy, usually unbranched, 3 to 5 ft. high, -juice milky. _Leaves:_ Opposite, oblong, entire-edged smooth above, -hairy below, 4 to 9 in. long. _Fruit:_ 2 thick, warty pods, usually only -one filled with compressed seeds attached to tufts of silky, white, -fluffy hairs. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields and waste places, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick, far westward and southward to North -Carolina and Kansas. - -After the orchids, no flowers show greater executive ability, none have -adopted more ingenious methods of compelling insects to work for them -than the milkweeds. Wonderfully have they perfected their mechanism in -every part until no member of the family even attempts to fertilize -itself; hence their triumphal, vigorous march around the earth, the -tribe numbering more than nineteen hundred species located chiefly in -those tropical and warm temperate regions that teem with the insects -whose cooperation they seek. - -Commonest of all with us is this rank weed, which possesses the dignity -of a rubber plant. Much more attractive to human eyes, at least, than -the dull, pale, brownish-pink umbels of flowers are its exquisite silky -seed-tufts. But not so with insects. Knowing that the slightly fragrant -blossoms are rich in nectar, bees, wasps, flies, beetles, and -butterflies come to feast. Now, the visitor finding his alighting place -slippery, his feet claw about in all directions to secure a hold, just -as it was planned they should; for in his struggles some of his feet -must get caught in the fine little clefts at the base of the flower. His -efforts to extricate his foot only draw it into a slot at the end of -which lies a little dark-brown body. In a newly-opened flower five of -these little bodies may be seen between the horns of the crown, at equal -distances around it. This tiny brown excrescence is hard and horny, with -a notch in its face. It is continuous with and forms the end of the slot -in which the visitor's foot is caught. Into this he must draw his foot -or claw, and finding it rather tightly held, must give a vigorous jerk -to get it free. Attached to either side of the little horny piece is a -flattened yellow pollen-mass, and so away he flies with a pair of these -pollinia, that look like tiny saddle-bags, dangling from his feet. One -might think that such rough handling as many insects must submit to from -flowers would discourage them from making any more visits; but the -desire for food is a mighty passion. While the insect is flying off to -another blossom, the stalk to which the saddle-bags are attached twists -until it brings them together, that, when his feet get caught in other -slots, they may be in the position to get broken off in his struggles -for freedom precisely where they will fertilize the stigmatic chambers. -Now the visitor flies away with the stalks alone sticking to his claws. -Bumblebees and hive-bees have been caught with a dozen pollen-masses -dangling from a single foot. Outrageous imposition! - -Better than any written description of the milkweed blossom's mechanism -is a simple experiment. If you have neither time nor patience to sit in -the hot sun, magnifying-glass in hand, and watch for an unwary insect to -get caught, take an ordinary house-fly, and hold it by the wings so that -it may claw at one of the newly-opened flowers from which no pollinia -have been removed. It tries frantically to hold on, and with a little -direction it may be led to catch its claws in the slots of the flower. -Now pull it gently away, and you will find a pair of saddle-bags slung -over his foot by a slender curved stalk. If you are rarely skilful, you -may induce your fly to withdraw the pollinia from all five slots on as -many of his feet. And they are not to be thrown or scraped off, let the -fly try as hard as he pleases. You may now invite the fly to take a -walk on another flower in which he will probably leave one or more -pollinia in its stigmatic cavities. - -Doctor Kerner thought the milky juice in milkweed plants, especially -abundant in the uppermost leaves and stems, serves to protect the -flowers from useless crawling pilferers. He once started a number of -ants to climb up a milky stalk. When they neared the summit, he noticed -that at each movement the terminal hooks of their feet cut through the -tender epiderm, and from the little clefts the milky juice began to -flow, bedraggling their feet and the hind part of then-bodies. "The ants -were much impeded in their movements," he writes, "and in order to rid -themselves of the annoyance, drew their feet through their mouths.... -Their movements, however, which accompanied these efforts, simply -resulted in making fresh fissures and fresh discharges of milky juice, -so that the position of the ants became each moment worse and worse. -Many escaped by getting to the edge of a leaf and dropping to the -ground. Others tried this method of escape too late, for the air soon -hardened the milky juice into a tough brown substance, and after this, -all the strugglings of the ants to free themselves from the viscid -matter were in vain." Nature's methods of preserving a flower's nectar -for the insects that are especially adapted to fertilize it, and of -punishing all useless intruders, often shock us; yet justice is ever -stern, ever kind in the largest sense. - -If the asclepias really do kill some insects with their juice, others -doubtless owe their lives to it. Among the "protected" insects are the -milkweed butterflies and their caterpillars, which are provided with -secretions that are distasteful to birds and predaceous insects. "These -acrid secretions are probably due to the character of the plants upon -which the caterpillars feed," says Doctor Holland, in his beautiful and -invaluable "Butterfly Book." "Enjoying on this account immunity from -attack, they have all, in the process of time, been mimicked by species -in other genera which have not the same immunity." "One cannot stay long -around a patch of milkweeds without seeing the monarch butterfly -(_Anosia plexippus_), that splendid, bright, reddish-brown winged -fellow, the borders and veins broadly black, with two rows of white -spots on the outer borders and two rows of pale spots across the tip of -the fore wings. There is a black scent-pouch on the hind wings. The -caterpillar, which is bright yellow or greenish yellow, banded with -shining black, is furnished with black fleshy 'horns' fore and aft." - -Like the dandelion, thistle, and other triumphant strugglers for -survival, the milkweed sends its offspring adrift on the winds to found -fresh colonies afar. Children delight in making pompons for their hats -by removing the silky seed-tufts from pods before they burst, and -winding them, one by one, on slender stems with fine thread. Hung in the -sunshine, how charmingly fluffy and soft they dry! - - * * * * * - -Among the comparatively few butterfly flowers--although, of course, -other insects not adapted to them are visitors--is the Purple Milkweed -(_A. purpurasceus_), whose deep magenta umbels are so conspicuous -through the summer months. Humming birds occasionally seek it, too. From -eastern Massachusetts to Virginia, and westward to the Mississippi, or -beyond, it is to be found in dry fields, woods, and thickets. - - -Butterfly-weed; Pleurisy-root; Orange-root; Orange Milkweed - -_Asclepias tuberosa_ - -_Flowers--_Bright reddish orange, in many-flowered, terminal clusters, -each flower similar in structure to the common milkweed (see above). -_Stem:_ Erect, 1 to 2 ft. tall, hairy, leafy, milky juice scanty. -_Leaves:_ Usually all alternate, lance-shaped, seated on stem. _Fruit:_ -A pair of erect, hoary pods, 2 to 5 in. long, 1 at least containing -silky plumed seeds. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry or sandy fields, hills, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Maine and Ontario to Arizona, south to the Gulf -of Mexico. - -Intensely brilliant clusters of this the most ornamental of all native -milkweeds set dry fields ablaze with color. Above them butterflies -hover, float, alight, sip, and sail away--the great dark, velvety, -pipe-vine swallow-tail _(Papilio philenor)_, its green-shaded hind wings -marked with little white half moons; the yellow and brown, common, -Eastern swallow-tail _(P. asterias)_, that we saw about the wild parsnip -and other members of the carrot family; the exquisite, large, spice-bush -swallow-tail, whose bugaboo caterpillar startled us when we unrolled a -leaf of its favorite food supply; the small, common, white cabbage -butterfly _(Pieris protodice)_; the even more common little sulphur -butterflies, inseparable from clover fields and mud puddles; the -painted lady that follows thistles around the globe; the regal -fritillary _(Argynnis idalia)_, its black and fulvous wings marked with -silver crescents, a gorgeous creature developed from the black and -orange caterpillar that prowls at night among violet plants; the great -spangled fritillary of similar habit; the bright fulvous and black pearl -crescent butterfly _(Phyciodes tharos)_, its small wings usually seen -hovering about the asters; the little grayish-brown, coral hairstreak -_(Thecla titus)_, and the bronze copper _(Chrysophanus thoe)_, whose -caterpillar feeds on sorrel _(Rumex);_ the delicate, tailed blue -butterfly _(Lycena comyntas,)_ with a wing expansion of only an inch -from tip to tip; all these visitors duplicated again and again--these -and several others that either escaped the net before they were named, -or could not be run down, were seen one bright midsummer day along a -Long Island roadside bordered with butterfly weed. Most abundant of all -was still another species, the splendid monarch _(Anosia plexippus)_, -the most familiar representative of the tribe of milkweed butterflies. -It is said the Indians used the tuberous root of this plant for various -maladies, although they could scarcely have known that because of the -alleged healing properties of the genus Linnaeus dedicated it to -Aesculapius, of whose name Asklepios is the Greek form. - - - - - -CONVOLVULUS FAMILY _(Convolvulaceae)_ - -Hedge or Great Bindweed; Wild Morning-glory; Rutland Beauty; Bell-bind; -Lady's Nightcap - - -_Convolvulus sepium_ - -_Flowers_--Light pink, with white stripes or all white, bell-shaped, -about 2 in. long, twisted in the bud, solitary, on long peduncles from -leaf axils. Calyx of 5 sepals, concealed by 2 large bracts at base. -Corolla 5-lobed, the 5 included stamens inserted on its tube; style with -2 oblong stigmas. _Stem:_ Smooth or hairy, 3 to 10 ft. long, twining or -trailing over ground. _Leaves:_ Triangular or arrow-shaped, 2 to 5 in. -long, on slender petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Wayside hedges, thickets, fields, walls. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to North Carolina, westward to Nebraska. -Europe and Asia. - -No one need be told that the pretty, bell-shaped pink and white flower -on the vigorous vine clambering over stone walls and winding about the -shrubbery of wayside thickets in a suffocating embrace is akin to the -morning-glory of the garden trellis (_C. Major_). An exceedingly rapid -climber, the twining stem often describes a complete circle in two -hours, turning against the sun, or just contrary to the hands of a -watch. Late in the season, when an abundance of seed has been set, the -flower can well afford to keep open longer hours, also in rainy weather; -but early in the summer, at least, it must attend to business only while -the sun shines and its benefactors are flying. Usually it closes at -sundown. On moonlight nights, however, the hospitable blossom keeps open -for the benefit of certain moths. - -From July until hard frost look for that exquisite little beetle, -_Cassida aurichalcea_, like a drop of molten gold, clinging beneath the -bindweed's leaves. The small perforations reveal his hiding places. "But -you must be quick if you would capture him," says William Hamilton -Gibson, "for he is off in a spangling streak of glitter. Nor is this -golden sheen all the resource of the little insect; for in the space of -a few seconds, as you hold him in your hand, he has become a milky, -iridescent opal, and now mother-of-pearl, and finally crawls before you -in a coat of dull orange." A dead beetle loses all this wonderful -lustre. Even on the morning-glory in our gardens we may sometimes find -these jewelled mites, or their fork-tailed, black larvae, or the tiny -chrysalids suspended by their tails, although it is the wild bindweed -that is ever their favorite abiding place. - - -Gronovius' or Common Dodder; Strangle-weed; Love Vine; Angel's Hair - -_Cuscuta Gronovii_ - -_Flowers_--Dull, white minute, numerous, in dense clusters. Calyx -inferior, greenish white, 5-parted; corolla bell-shaped, the 5 lobes -spreading, 5 fringed scales within; 5 stamens, each inserted on corolla -throat above a scale; 2 slender styles. _Stem:_ Bright orange yellow, -thread-like, twining high, leafless. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist soil, meadows, ditches, beside streams. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia and Manitoba, south to the Gulf states. - -Like tangled yellow yarn wound spirally about the herbage and shrubbery -in moist thickets, the dodder grows, its beautiful bright threads -plentifully studded with small flowers tightly bunched. Try to loosen -its hold on the support it is climbing up, and the secret of its guilt -is out at once; for no honest vine is this, but a parasite, a -degenerate of the lowest type, with numerous sharp suckers (haustoria) -penetrating the bark of its victim, and spreading in the softer tissues -beneath to steal all their nourishment. So firmly are these suckers -attached, that the golden thread-like stem will break before they can be -torn from their hold. - -Not a leaf now remains on the vine to tell of virtue in its remote -ancestors; the absence of green matter (chlorophyll) testifies to -dishonest methods of gaining a living (see Indian Pipe), not even a root -is left after the seedling is old enough to twine about its -hard-working, respectable neighbors. Starting out in life with -apparently the best intentions, suddenly the tender young twiner -develops an appetite for strong drink and murder combined, such as would -terrify any budding criminal in Five Points or Seven Dials! No sooner -has it laid hold of its victim and tapped it, than the now useless root -and lower portion wither away leaving the dodder in mid-air, without any -connection with the soil below, but abundantly nourished with juices -already stored up, and even assimilated, at its host's expense. By -rapidly lengthening the cells on the outer side of its stem more than on -the inner side, the former becomes convex, the latter concave; that is -to say, a section of spiral is formed by the new shoot, which, twining -upward, devitalizes its benefactor as it goes. Abundant, globular -seed-vessels, which develop rapidly while the blossoming continues -unabated, soon sink into the soft soil to begin their piratical careers -close beside the criminals which bore them; or better still, from their -point of view, float downstream to found new colonies afar. When the -beautiful jewel-weed--a conspicuous sufferer--is hung about with -dodder, one must be grateful for at least such symphony of yellows. - - - - -POLEMONIUM FAMILY _(Polemoniaceae)_ - -Ground or Moss Pink - -_Phlox subulata_ - -_Flowers_--Very numerous, small, deep purplish pink, lavender or rose, -varying to white, with a darker eye, growing in simple cymes, or -solitary in a Western variety. Calyx with 5 slender teeth; corolla -salver-form with 5 spreading lobes; 5 stamens inserted on corolla tube; -style 3-lobed. _Stems:_ Rarely exceeding 6 in. in height, tufted like -mats, much branched, plentifully set with awl-shaped, evergreen leaves -barely 1/2 in. long, growing in tufts at joints of stem. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rocky ground, hillsides. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Southern New York to Florida, westward to Michigan -and Kentucky. - -A charming little plant, growing in dense evergreen mats with which -Nature carpets dry, sandy, and rocky hillsides, is often completely -hidden beneath its wealth of flowers. Far beyond its natural range, as -well as within it, the Moss Pink glows in gardens, cemeteries, and -parks, wherever there are rocks to conceal or sterile wastes to -beautify. Very slight encouragement induces it to run wild. There are -great rocks in Central Park, New York, worth travelling miles to see -in early May, when their stern faces are flushed and smiling with -these blossoms. - - - - -BORAGE FAMILY _(Boraginaceae)_ - - -Forget-me-not; Mouse-ear; Scorpion Grass; Snake Grass; Love Me - -_Myosotis scorpioides (M. palustris)_ - -_Flowers_--Pure blue, pinkish, or white, with yellow eye; flat, 5-lobed, -borne in many-flowered, long, often 1-sided racemes. Calyx 5-cleft; the -lobes narrow, spreading, erect, and open in fruit; 5 stamens inserted on -corolla tube; style thread-like; ovary 4-celled. _Stem:_ Low, branching, -leafy, slender, hairy, partially reclining. _Leaves:_ (_Myosotis_ = -mouse-ear) oblong, alternate, seated on stem; hairy. _Fruit:_ Nutlets, -angled and keeled on inner side. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Escaped from gardens to brooksides, marshes, and -low meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Native of Europe and Asia, now rapidly spreading from -Nova Scotia southward to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and beyond. - -How rare a color blue must have been originally among our flora is -evident from the majority of blue and purple flowers that, although now -abundant here and so perfectly at home, are really quite recent -immigrants from Europe and Asia. But our dryer, hotter climate never -brings to the perfection attained in England - - "The sweet forget-me-nots - That grow for happy lovers." - -Tennyson thus ignores the melancholy association of the flower in the -popular legend which tells how a lover, when trying to gather some of -these blossoms for his sweetheart, fell into a deep pool, and threw a -bunch on the bank, calling out, as he sank forever from her sight, -"Forget me not." Another dismal myth sends its hero forth seeking hidden -treasure caves in a mountain, under the guidance of a fairy. He fills -his pockets with gold, but not heeding the fairy's warning to "forget -not the best"--_i.e._, the myosotis--he is crushed by the closing -together of the mountain. Happiest of all is the folk-tale of the -Persians, as told by their poet Shiraz: "It was in the golden morning of -the early world, when an angel sat weeping outside the closed gates of -Paradise. He had fallen from his high estate through loving a daughter -of earth, nor was he permitted to enter again until she whom he loved -had planted the flowers of the forget-me-not in every corner of the -world. He returned to earth and assisted her, and together they went -hand in hand. When their task was ended, they entered Paradise together, -for the fair woman, without tasting the bitterness of death, became -immortal like the angel whose love her beauty had won when she sat by -the river twining forget-me-nots in her hair." - -It was the golden ring around the forget-me-not's centre that first led -Sprengel to believe the conspicuous markings at the entrance of many -flowers served as pathfinders to insects. This golden circle also -shelters the nectar from rain, and indicates to the fly or bee just -where it must probe between stigma and anthers to touch them with -opposite sides of its tongue. Since it may probe from any point of the -circle, it is quite likely that the side of the tongue that touched a -pollen-laden anther in one flower will touch the stigma in the next -one visited, and so cross-fertilize it. But forget-me-nots are not -wholly dependent on insects. When these fail, a fully mature flower is -still able to set fertile seed by shedding its own pollen directly on -the stigma. - - -Viper's Bugloss; Blue-weed; Viper's Herb or Grass; Snake-flower; Blue -Thistle; Blue Devil - -_Echium vulgare_ - -_Flowers_--Bright blue, afterward reddish purple, pink in the bud, -numerous, clustered on short, 1-sided curved spikes rolled up at first, -and straightening out as flowers expand. Calyx deeply 5-cleft; corolla 1 -in. long or less, funnel form, the 5 lobes unequal, acute; 5 stamens -inserted on corolla tube, the filaments spreading below, and united -above into slender appendage, the anthers forming a cone; 1 pistil with -2 stigmas. _Stem:_ 1 to 2 1/2 ft. high; bristly-hairy, erect, spotted. -_Leaves:_ Hairy, rough, oblong to lance-shaped, alternate, seated on -stem, except at base of plant. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry fields, waste places, roadsides - -_Flowering Season_--June-July. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Virginia, westward to Nebraska; -Europe and Asia. - -Years ago, when simple folk believed God had marked plants with some -sign to indicate the special use for which each was intended, they -regarded the spotted stem of the bugloss, and its seeds shaped like a -serpent's head, as certain indications that the herb would cure snake -bites. Indeed, the genus takes its name from _Echis_, the Greek viper. - - - - -VERVAIN FAMILY _(Verbenaceae)_ - - -Blue Vervain; Wild Hyssop; Simpler's Joy - -_Verbena hastata_ - -_Flowers_--Very small, purplish blue, in numerous slender, erect, -compact spikes. Calyx 5-toothed; corolla tubular, unequally 5-lobed; 2 -pairs of stamens; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ 3 to 7 ft. high, rough, branched -above, leafy, 4-sided. _Leaves:_ Opposite, stemmed, lance-shaped, -saw-edged rough, lower ones lobed at base. - -_Preferred Habitat--_Moist meadows, roadsides, waste places. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--United States and Canada in almost every part. - -Seeds below, a circle of insignificant purple-blue flowers in the -centre, and buds at the top of the vervain's slender spires do not -produce a striking effect, yet this common plant certainly does not lack -beauty. John Burroughs, ever ready to say a kindly, appreciative word -for any weed, speaks of its drooping, knotted threads, that "make a -pretty etching upon the winter snow." Bees, the vervain's benefactors, -are usually seen clinging to the blooming spikes, and apparently asleep -on them. Borrowing the name of Simpler's Joy from its European sister, -the flower has also appropriated much of the tradition and folk-lore -centred about that plant which herb-gatherers, or simplers, truly -delighted to see, since none was once more salable. - -Ages before Christians ascribed healing virtues to the vervain--found -growing on Mount Calvary, and therefore possessing every sort of -miraculous power, according to the logic of simple peasant folk--the -Druids had counted it among their sacred plants. "When the dog-star -arose from unsunned spots" the priests gathered it. Did not -Shakespeare's witches learn some of their uncanny rites from these -reverend men of old? One is impressed with the striking similarity of -many customs recorded of both. Two of the most frequently used -ingredients in witches cauldrons were the vervain and the rue. "The -former probably derived its notoriety from the fact of its being sacred -to Thor, an honor which marked it out, like other lightning plants, as -peculiarly adapted for occult uses," says Mr. Thiselton Dyer in his -"Folk-lore of Plants." "Although vervain, therefore, as the enchanter's -plant, was gathered by witches to do mischief in their incantations, -yet, as Aubrey says, it 'hinders witches from their will,' a -circumstance to which Drayton further refers when he speaks of the -vervain as ''gainst witchcraft much avayling.'" Now we understand why -the children of Shakespeare's time hung vervain and dill with a -horseshoe over the door. - -In his eighth Eclogue, Virgil refers to vervain as a charm to recover -lost love. Doubtless this was the verbena, the _herba sacra_ employed in -ancient Roman sacrifices, according to Pliny. In his day the bridal -wreath was of _verbena_, gathered by the bride herself. - - - - -MINT FAMILY _(Labiatae)_ - - -Mad-dog Skullcap or Helmet-flower; Mad weed; Hoodwort - -_Scutellaria lateriflora_ - -_Flowers_--Blue, varying to whitish; several or many, 1/4 in. long, -growing in axils of upper leaves or in 1-sided spike-like racemes. Calyx -2-lipped, the upper lip with a helmet-like protuberance; corolla -2-lipped; the lower, 3-lobed lip spreading; the middle lobe larger than -the side ones. Stamens, 4, in pairs, under the upper lip; upper pair the -shorter; 1 pistil, the style unequally cleft in two. _Stem:_ Square, -smooth, leafy, branched, 8 in. to 2 ft. high. _Leaves:_ Opposite, oblong -to lance-shaped, thin, toothed, on slender pedicles, 1 to 3 in. long, -growing gradually smaller toward top of stem. _Fruit:_ 4 nutlets. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Wet, shady ground. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Uneven throughout United States and the British -Possessions. - -By the helmet-like appendage on the upper lip of the calyx, which to the -imaginative mind of Linnaeus suggested _Scutellum_ (a little dish), -which children delight to spring open for a view of the four tiny seeds -attached at the base when in fruit, one knows this to be a member of the -skullcap tribe, a widely scattered genus of blue and violet two-lipped -flowers, some small to the point of insignificance, like the present -species, others showy enough for the garden, but all rich in nectar, -and eagerly sought by their good friends, the bees. - -The Larger or Hyssop Skullcap (_S. integrifolia_) rarely has a dent in -its rounded oblong leaves, which, like the stem, are covered with fine -down. Its lovely, bright blue flowers, an inch long, the lips of about -equal length, are grouped opposite each other at the top of a stem that -never lifts them higher than two feet; and so their beauty is often -concealed in the tall grass of roadsides and meadows and the undergrowth -of woods and thickets, where they bloom from May to August, from -southern New England to the Gulf of Mexico, westward to Texas. - - -Self-heal; Heal-all; Blue Curls; Heart-of-the-Earth; Brunella; -Carpenter-weed - -_Prunella vulgaris_ - -_Flowers_--Purple and violet, in dense spikes, somewhat resembling a -clover head; from 1/2 to 1 in. long in flower, becoming 4 times the -length in fruit. Corolla tubular, irregularly 2-lipped, the upper lip -darker and hood-like; the lower one 3-lobed, spreading, the middle and -largest lobe fringed; 4 twin-like stamens ascending under upper lip; -filaments of the lower and longer pair 2-toothed at summit, one of the -teeth bearing an anther, the other tooth sterile; style thread-like, -shorter than stamens, and terminating in a 2-cleft stigma. Calyx -2-parted, half the length of corolla, its teeth often hairy on edges. -_Stem:_ 2 in. to 2 ft. high, erect or reclining, simple or branched. -_Leaves:_ Opposite, oblong. _Fruit:_ 4 nutlets, round and smooth. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields, roadsides, waste places. - -_Flowering Season_--May-October - -_Distribution_--North America, Europe, Asia. - -This humble, rusty green plant, weakly lopping over the surrounding -grass, so that often only its insignificant purple, clover-like -flower-heads are visible, is another of those immigrants from the old -countries which, having proved fittest in the fiercer struggle for -existence there, has soon after its introduction here exceeded most of -our more favored native flowers in numbers. Everywhere we find the -heal-all, sometimes dusty and stunted by the roadside, sometimes truly -beautiful in its fresh purple, violet, and white when perfectly -developed under happy conditions. In England, where most flowers are -deeper hued than with us, the heal-all is rich purple. What is the -secret of this flower's successful march across three continents? As -usual, the chief reason is to be found in the facility it offers insects -to secure food; and the quantity of fertile seed it is therefore able to -ripen as the result of their visits is its reward. Also, its flowering -season is unusually long, and it is a tireless bloomer. It is finical in -no respect; its sprawling stems root easily at the joints, and it is -very hardy. - - -Motherwort - -_Leonurus Cardiaca_ - -_Flowers_--Dull purple pink, pale purple, or white, small, clustered in -axils of upper leaves. Calyx tubular, bell-shaped, with 5 rigid awl-like -teeth; corolla 2-lipped, upper lip arched, woolly without; lower lip -3-lobed, spreading, mottled; the tube with oblique ring of hairs inside. -Four twin-like stamens, anterior pair longer, reaching under upper lip; -style 2-cleft at summit. _Stem:_ 2 to 5 ft. tall, straight, branched, -leafy, purplish. _Leaves:_ Opposite, on slender petioles; lower ones -rounded, 2 to 4 in. broad, palmately cut into 2 to 5 lobes; upper leaves -narrower, 3-cleft or 3-toothed. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste places near dwellings. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia southward to North Carolina, west to -Minnesota and Nebraska. Naturalized from Europe and Asia. - -How the bees love this generous, old-fashioned entertainer! One nearly -always sees them clinging to the close whorls of flowers that are strung -along the stem, and of course transferring pollen, in recompense, as -they journey on. A more credulous generation imported the plant for its -alleged healing virtues. What is the significance of its Greek name, -meaning a lion's tail? Let no one suggest, by a far-stretched metaphor, -that our grandmothers, in Revolutionary days, enjoyed pulling it to vent -their animosity against the British. - - -Oswego Tea; Bee Balm; Indian's Plume; Fragrant Balm; Mountain Mint - -_Monarda didyma_ - -_Flowers_--Scarlet, clustered in a solitary, terminal, rounded head of -dark-red calices, with leafy bracts below it. Calyx narrow, tubular, -sharply 5-toothed; corolla tubular, widest at the mouth, 2-lipped, 1 1/2 -to 2 inches long; 2 long, anther-bearing stamens ascending, protruding; -1 pistil; the style 2-cleft. _Stem:_ 2 to 3 ft. tall. _Leaves:_ -Aromatic, opposite, dark green, oval to oblong lance-shaped, sharply -saw-edged, of ten hairy beneath, petioled; upper leaves and bracts -often red. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist soil, especially near streams, in hilly or -mountainous regions. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Canada to Georgia, west to Michigan. - -Gorgeous, glowing scarlet heads of Bee Balm arrest the dullest eye, -bracts and upper leaves often taking on blood-red color, too, as if it -had dripped from the lacerated flowers. Where their vivid doubles are -reflected in a shadowy mountain stream, not even the Cardinal Flower is -more strikingly beautiful. Thrifty clumps transplanted from Nature's -garden will spread about ours and add a splendor like the flowers of -salvia, next of kin, if only the roots get a frequent soaking. - -With even longer flower tubes than the Wild Bergamot's the Bee Balm -belies its name, for, however frequently bees may come about for nectar -when it rises high, only long-tongued bumblebees could get enough to -compensate for their trouble. Butterflies, which suck with their wings -in motion, plumb the depths. The ruby-throated humming bird--to which -the Brazilian salvia of our gardens has adapted itself--flashes about -these whorls of Indian plumes just as frequently--of course transferring -pollen on his needle-like bill as he darts from flower to flower. Even -the protruding stamens and pistil take on the prevailing hue. Most of -the small, blue, or purple flowered members of the mint family cater to -bees by wearing their favorite color; the bergamot charms butterflies -with magenta, and tubes so deep the short-tongued mob cannot pilfer -their sweets; and from the frequency of the humming bird's visits, from -the greater depth of the Bee Balm's tubes and their brilliant, flaring -red--an irresistibly attractive color to the ruby-throat--it would -appear that this is a bird flower. Certainly its adaptation is quite as -perfect as the salvia's. Mischievous bees and wasps steal nectar they -cannot reach legitimately through bungholes of their own making in the -bottom of the slender casks. - - -Wild Bergamot - -_Monarda fistulosa_ - -_Flowers_--Extremely variable, purplish lavender, magenta, rose, pink, -yellowish pink, or whitish, dotted; clustered in a solitary, nearly flat -terminal head. Calyx tubular, narrow, 5-toothed, very hairy within. -Corolla 1 to 1-1/2 in. long, tubular, 2-lipped, upper lip erect, -toothed; lower lip spreading, 3-lobed, middle lobe longest; 2 -anther-bearing stamens protruding; 1 pistil; the style 2-lobed. _Stem:_ -2 to 3 ft. high, rough, branched. _Leaves:_ Opposite, lance-shaped, -saw-edged, on slender petioles; aromatic; bracts and upper leaves -whitish or the color of flower. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Open woods, thickets, dry rocky hills. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Eastern Canada and Maine, westward to Minnesota, south -to Gulf of Mexico. - -Only a few bergamot flowers open at a time; the rest of the slightly -rounded head, thickly set with hairy calices, looks as if it might be -placed in a glass cup and make an excellent penwiper. If the cultivated -human eye (and stomach) revolt at magenta, it is ever a favorite shade -with butterflies. They flutter in ecstasy over the gay flowers; indeed, -they are the principal visitors and benefactors, for the erect corollas, -exposed organs, and level-topped heads are well adapted to their -requirements. - - - - -NIGHTSHADE FAMILY _(Solanaceae)_ - - -Nightshade; Blue Bindweed; Felonwort; Bittersweet; Scarlet or Snake -Berry; Poison-flower; Woody Nightshade - -_Solanum Dulcamara_ - -_Flowers_--Blue, purple, or, rarely, white with greenish spots on each -lobe; about 1/2 in. broad, clustered in slender, drooping cymes. Calyx -5-lobed, oblong, persistent on the berry; corolla deeply, sharply -5-cleft, wheel-shaped, or points curved backward; 5 stamens inserted on -throat, yellow, protruding, the anthers united to form a cone; stigma -small. _Stem:_ Climbing or straggling, woody below, branched, 2 to 8 ft. -long. _Leaves:_ Alternate, 2 to 4 in. long, 1 to 2 1/2 in. wide, pointed -at the apex, usually heart-shaped at base; some with 2 distinct leaflets -below on the petiole, others have leaflets united with leaf like lower -lobes or wings. _Fruit:_ A bright red, oval berry. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist thickets, fence rows. - -_Flowering Season_--May-September. - -_Distribution_--United States east of Kansas, north of New Jersey. -Canada, Europe, and Asia. - -More beautiful than the graceful flowers are the drooping cymes of -bright berries, turning from green to yellow, then to orange and -scarlet, in the tangled thicket by the shady roadside in autumn, when -the unpretending, shrubby vine, that has crowded its way through the -rank midsummer vegetation, becomes a joy to the eye. Another -bittersweet, so-called, festoons the hedgerows with yellow berries -which, bursting, show their scarlet-coated seeds. Rose hips and -mountain-ash berries, among many other conspicuous bits of color, arrest -attention, but not for us were they designed. Now the birds are -migrating, and, hungry with then-long flight, they gladly stop to feed -upon fare so attractive. Hard, indigestible seeds traverse the -alimentary canal without alteration and are deposited many miles from -the parent that bore them. Nature's methods for widely distributing -plants cannot but stir the dullest imagination. - - -Jamestown Weed; Thorn Apple; Stramonium; Jimson Weed; Devil's -Trumpet - -_Datura Stramonium_ - -_Flowers_--Showy, large, about 4 in. high, solitary, erect, growing from -the forks of branches. Calyx tubular, nearly half as long as the -corolla, 5-toothed, prismatic; corolla funnel-form, deep-throated, the -spreading limb 2 in. across or less, plaited, 5-pointed; stamens 5; 1 -pistil. _Stem:_ Stout, branching, smooth, 1 to 5 ft. high. _Leaves:_ -Alternate, large, rather thin, petioled, egg-shaped in outline, the -edges irregularly wavy-toothed or angled; rank-scented. _Fruit:_ A -densely prickly, egg-shaped capsule, the lower prickles smallest. The -seeds and stems contain a powerful narcotic poison. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Light soil, fields, waste land near dwellings, -rubbish heaps. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico, westward beyond the -Mississippi. - -When we consider that there are more than five million Gypsies wandering -about the globe, and that the narcotic seeds of the Thorn Apple, which -apparently heal, as well as poison, have been a favorite medicine of -theirs for ages, we can understand at least one means of the weed -reaching these shores from tropical Asia. (Hindoo, _dhatura_.) Our -Indians, who call it "white man's plant," associate it with the -Jamestown settlement--a plausible connection, for Raleigh's colonists -would have been likely to carry with them to the New World the seeds of -an herb yielding an alkaloid more esteemed in the England of their day -than the alkaloid of opium known as morphine. Daturina, the narcotic, -and another product, known in medicine as stramonium, smoked by -asthmatics, are by no means despised by up-to-date practitioners. Were -it not for the rank odor of its leaves, the vigorous weed, coarse as it -is, would be welcome in men's gardens. Indeed, many of its similar -relatives adorn them. The fragrant petunia and tobacco plants of the -flower beds, the potato, tomato, and egg-plant in the kitchen garden, -call it cousin. - - - - -FIGWORT FAMILY _(Scrophulariaceae)_ - - -Great Mullein; Velvet or Flannel Plant; Mullein Dock; Aaron's Rod - -_Verbascum Thapsus_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, 1 in. across or less, seated around a thick, dense, -elongated spike. Calyx 5-parted; corolla of 5 rounded lobes; 5 -anther-bearing stamens, the 3 upper ones short, woolly; 1 pistil. -_Stem:_ Stout, 2 to 7 ft. tall, densely woolly, with branched hairs. -_Leaves:_ Thick, pale green, velvety-hairy, oblong, in a rosette oil the -ground; others alternate, strongly clasping the stem. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry fields, banks, stony waste land. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Minnesota and Kansas, eastward to Nova Scotia and -Florida. Europe. - -Leaving the fluffy thistle-down he has been kindly scattering to the -four winds, the goldfinch spreads his wings for a brief, undulating -flight, singing in waves also as he goes to where tall, thick-set -mullein stalks stand like sentinels above the stony pasture. Here -companies of the exquisite little black and yellow minstrels delight to -congregate with their sombre families and feast on the seeds that -rapidly follow the erratic flowers up the gradually lengthening spikes. - -"I have come three thousand miles to see the mullein cultivated in a -garden, and christened the velvet plant," says John Burroughs in "An -October Abroad." But even in England it grows wild, and much more -abundantly in southern Europe, while its specific name is said to have -been given it because it was so common in the neighborhood of Thapsus; -but whether the place of that name in Africa, or the Sicilian town -mentioned by Ovid and Virgil, is not certain. Strange that Europeans -should labor under the erroneous impression that this mullein is native -to America, whereas here it is only an immigrant from their own land. -Rapidly taking its course of empire westward from our seaports into -which the seeds smuggled their passage among the ballast, it is now more -common in the Eastern states, perhaps, than any native. Forty or more -folk-names have been applied to it, mostly in allusion to its alleged -curative powers, its use for candle-wick and funeral torches in the -Middle Ages. The generic title, first used by Pliny, is thought to be a -corruption of _Barbascum_ (= with beards) in allusion to the hairy -filaments or, as some think, to the leaves. - -Of what use is this felt-like covering to the plant? The importance of -protecting the delicate, sensitive, active cells from intense light, -draught, or cold, have led various plants to various practices; none -more common, however, than to develop hairs on the epidermis of their -leaves, sometimes only enough to give it a downy appearance, sometimes -to coat it with felt, as in this case, where the hairs branch and -interlace. Fierce sunlight in the exposed dry situations where the -mullein grows; prolonged drought, which often occurs at flowering -season, when the perpetuation of the species is at stake; and the -intense cold which the exquisite rosettes formed by year-old plants must -endure through a winter before they can send up a flower-stalk the -second spring--these trials the well-screened, juicy, warm plant has -successfully surmounted through its coat of felt. Humming birds have -been detected gathering the hairs to line their tiny nests. The light, -strong stalk makes almost as good a cane as bamboo, especially when the -root end, in running under a stone, forms a crooked handle. Pale country -beauties rub their cheeks with the velvety leaves to make them rosy. - - -Moth Mullein - -_Verbascum Blattaria_ - -_Flowers_--Yellow, or frequently white, 5-parted, about 1 in. broad, -marked with brown; borne on spreading pedicles in a long, loose raceme; -all the filaments with violet hairs; 1 protruding pistil. _Stem:_ Erect, -slender, simple, about 2 ft. high, sometimes less, or much taller. -_Leaves:_ Seldom present at flowering time; oblong to ovate, toothed, -mostly sessile, smooth. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry, open waste land; roadsides, fields. - -_Flowering Season_--June-November. - -_Distribution_--Naturalized from Europe and Asia, more or less common -throughout the United States and Canada. - -"Of beautiful weeds quite a long list might be made without including -any of the so-called wild flowers," says John Burroughs. "A favorite of -mine is the little Moth Mullein that blooms along the highway, and -about the fields, and maybe upon the edge of the lawn." Even in winter, -when the slender stem, set with round brown seed-vessels, rises above -the snow, the plant is pleasing to the human eye, as it is to that of -hungry birds. - - -Butter-and-eggs; Yellow Toadflax; Eggs-and-bacon; Flaxweed; -Brideweed - -_Linaria vulgaris_ - -_Flowers_--Light canary yellow and orange, 1 in. long or over, -irregular, borne in terminal, leafy-bracted spikes. Corolla spurred at -the base, 2-lipped, the upper lip erect, 2-lobed; the lower lip -spreading, 3-lobed, its base an orange-colored palate closing the -throat; 4 stamens in pairs within; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. tall, -slender, leafy. _Leaves:_ Pale, grass-like. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste land, roadsides, banks, fields. - -_Flowering Season_--June-October. - -_Distribution_--Nebraska and Manitoba, eastward to Virginia and Nova -Scotia. Europe and Asia. - -An immigrant from Europe, this plebeian perennial, meekly content with -waste places, is rapidly inheriting the earth. Its beautiful spikes of -butter-colored cornucopias, apparently holding the yolk of a diminutive -egg, emit a cheesy odor, suggesting a close dairy. Perhaps half the -charm of the plant--and its charms increase greatly when it is grown in -a garden--consists in the pale bluish-green grass-like leaves with a -bloom on the surface, which are put forth so abundantly from the -sterile shoots. - - -Blue or Wild Toadflax; Blue Linaria - -_Linaria canadensis_ - -_Flowers_--Pale blue to purple, small, irregular, in slender spikes. -Calyx 5 pointed;-corolla 2-lipped, with curved spur longer than its -tube, which is nearly closed by a white, 2-ridged projection or palate; -the upper lip erect, 2-lobed; lower lip 3-lobed, spreading. Stamens 4, -in pairs, in throat; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Slender, weak, of sterile shoots, -prostrate; flowering stem, ascending or erect, 4 in. to 2 ft. high. -_Leaves:_ Small, linear, alternately scattered along stem, or oblong in -pairs or threes on leafy sterile shoots. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry soil, gravel or sand. - -_Flowering Season_--May-October. - -_Distribution_--North, Central, and South Americas. - -Wolf, rat, mouse, sow, cow, cat, snake, dragon, dog, toad, are among the -many animal prefixes to the names of flowers that the English country -people have given for various and often most interesting reasons. Just -as dog, used as a prefix, expresses an idea of worthlessness to them, so -toad suggests a spurious plant; the toadflax being made to bear what is -meant to be an odious name because before flowering it resembles the -true flax, _linum_, from which the generic title is derived. - - -Hairy Beard-tongue - -_Pentstemon hirsutus_ (P. _pubescens_) - -_Flowers_--Dull violet or lilac and white, about 1 in. long, borne in a -loose spike. Calyx 5-parted, the sharply pointed sepals overlapping; -corolla, a gradually inflated tube widening where the mouth divides -into a 2-lobed upper lip and a 3-lobed lower lip; the throat nearly -closed by hairy palate at base of lower lip; sterile fifth stamen -densely bearded for half its length; 4 anther-bearing stamens, the -anthers divergent. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. high, erect, downy above. -_Leaves:_ Oblong to lance-shaped, upper ones seated on stem; lower ones -narrowed into petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry or rocky fields, thickets, and open woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Ontario to Florida, Manitoba to Texas. - -It is the densely bearded, yellow, fifth stamen (_pente_ = five, -_stemon_ = a stamen) which gives this flower its scientific name and its -chief interest to the structural botanist. From the fact that a blossom -has a lip in the centre of the lower half of its corolla, that an insect -must use as its landing place, comes the necessity for the pistil to -occupy a central position. Naturally, a fifth stamen would be only in -its way, an encumbrance to be banished in time. In the figwort, for -example, we have seen the fifth stamen reduced, from long sterility, to -a mere scale on the roof of the corolla tube; in other lipped flowers, -the useless organ has disappeared; but in the beard-tongue, it goes -through a series of curious curves from the upper to the under side of -the flower to get out of the way of the pistil. Yet it serves an -admirable purpose in helping close the mouth of the flower, which the -hairy lip alone could not adequately guard against pilferers. A -long-tongued bee, thrusting in his head up to his eyes only, receives -the pollen in his face. The blossom is male (staminate) in its first -stage and female (pistillate) in its second. A western species of the -beard-tongue has been selected by gardeners for hybridizing into showy -but often less charming flowers. - - -Snake-head; Turtle-head; Balmony; Shellflower; Cod-head - -_Chelone glabra_ - -_Flowers_--White tinged with pink, or all white, about 1 in. long, -growing in a dense, terminal cluster. Calyx 5-parted, bracted at base; -corolla irregular broadly tubular, 2-lipped; upper lip arched, swollen, -slightly notched;, lower lip 3-lobed, spreading, woolly within; 5 -stamens, 1 sterile, 4 in pairs, anther-bearing, woolly; 1 pistil. -_Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. high, erect, smooth, simple, leafy. _Leaves:_ -Opposite, lance-shaped, saw-edged. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Ditches, beside streams, swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Florida, and half way across the -continent. - -It requires something of a struggle for even so strong and vigorous an -insect as the bumblebee to gain admission to this inhospitable-looking -flower before maturity; and even he abandons the attempt over and over -again in its earliest stage before the little heart-shaped anthers are -prepared to dust him over. As they mature, it opens slightly, but his -weight alone is insufficient to bend down the stiff, yet elastic, -lower lip. Energetic prying admits first his head, then he squeezes -his body through, brushing past the stamens as he finally disappears -inside. At the moment when he is forcing his way in, causing the lower -lip to spring up and down, the eyeless turtle seems to chew and chew -until the most sedate beholder must smile at the paradoxical show. Of -course it is the bee that is feeding, though the flower would seem to -be masticating the bee with the keenest relish! The counterfeit -tortoise soon disgorges its lively mouthful, however, and away flies -the bee, carrying pollen on his velvety back to rub on the stigma of -an older flower. - - -Monkey-flower - -_Mimulus ringens_ - -_Flowers_--Purple, violet, or lilac, rarely whitish; about 1 in. long, -solitary, borne on slender footstems from axils of upper leaves. Calyx -prismatic, 5-angled, 5-toothed; corolla irregular, tubular, narrow in -throat, 2-lipped; upper lip 2-lobed, erect; under lip 3-lobed, -spreading; 4 stamens, a long and a short pair, inserted on corolla tube; -1 pistil with 2-lobed, plate-like stigma. _Stem:_ Square, erect, usually -branched, 1 to 3 ft. high. _Leaves:_ Opposite, oblong to lance-shaped, -saw-edged, mostly seated on stem. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Swamps, beside streams and ponds. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Manitoba, Nebraska, and Texas, eastward to -Atlantic Ocean. - -Imaginative eyes see what appears to them the gaping (_ringens_) face of -a little ape or buffoon (_mimulus_) in this common flower whose -drolleries, such as they are, call forth the only applause desired--the -buzz of insects that become pollen-laden during the entertainment. - - -Common Speedwell; Fluellin; Paul's Betony; Groundhele - -_Veronica officinalis_ - -_Flowers_--Pale blue, very small, crowded on spike-like racemes from -axils of leaves, often from alternate axils. Calyx 4-parted; corolla of -4 lobes, lower lobe commonly narrowest; 2 divergent stamens inserted at -base and on either side of upper corolla lobe; a knob-like stigma on -solitary pistil. _Stem:_ From 3 to 10 in. long, hairy, often prostrate, -and rooting at joints. _Leaves:_ Opposite, oblong, obtuse, saw-edged, -narrowed at base. _Fruit:_ Compressed heart-shaped capsule, containing -numerous flat seeds. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry fields, uplands, open woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-August. - -_Distribution_--From Michigan and Tennessee eastward, also from Ontario -to Nova Scotia. Probably an immigrant from Europe and Asia. - -An ancient tradition of the Roman Church relates that when Jesus was on -His way to Calvary, He passed the home of a certain Jewish maiden, who, -when she saw drops of agony on His brow, ran after Him along the road to -wipe His face with her kerchief. This linen, the monks declared, ever -after bore the impress of the sacred features--_vera iconica_, the true -likeness. When the Church wished to canonize the pitying maiden, an -abbreviated form of the Latin words was given her, St. Veronica, and her -kerchief became one of the most precious relics at St. Peter's, where it -is said to be still preserved. Medieval flower lovers, whose piety -seems to have been eclipsed only by their imaginations, named this -little flower from a fancied resemblance to the relic. Of course, -special healing virtue was attributed to the square of pictured linen, -and since all could not go to Rome to be cured by it, naturally the next -step was to employ the common, wayside plant that bore the saint's name. -Mental healers will not be surprised to learn that because of the strong -popular belief in its efficacy to cure all fleshly ills, it actually -seemed to possess miraculous powers. For scrofula it was said to be the -infallible remedy, and presently we find Linnaeus grouping this flower, -and all its relatives, under the family name of _Scrofulariaceae_. - - -American Brooklime - -_Veronica americana_ - -_Flowers_--Light blue to white, usually striped with deep blue or -purple; structure of flower similar to that of _V. officinalis_, but -borne in long, loose racemes branching outward on stems that spring from -axils of most of the leaves. _Stem:_ Without hairs, usually branched, 6 -in. to 3 ft. long, lying partly on ground and rooting from lower joints. -_Leaves:_ Oblong, lance-shaped, saw-edged, opposite, petioled, and -lacking hairs; 1 to 3 in. long, 1/4 to 1 in. wide. _Fruit:_ A nearly -round, compressed, but not flat, capsule with flat seeds in 2 cells. - -_Preferred Habitat_--In brooks, ponds, ditches, swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--April-September. - -_Distribution_--From Atlantic to Pacific, Alaska to California and New -Mexico, Quebec to Pennsylvania. - -This, the perhaps most beautiful native speedwell, whose sheets of blue -along the brookside are so frequently mistaken for masses of -forget-me-nots by the hasty observer, of course shows marked differences -on closer investigation; its tiny blue flowers are marked with purple -pathfinders, and the plant is not hairy, to mention only two. But the -poets of England are responsible for most of whatever confusion still -lurks in the popular mind concerning these two flowers. Speedwell, a -common medieval benediction from a friend, equivalent to our farewell or -adieu, and forget-me-not of similar intent, have been used -interchangeably by some writers in connection with parting gifts of -small blue flowers. It was the germander speedwell that in literature -and botanies alike was most commonly known as the forget-me-not for more -than two hundred years, or until only fifty years ago. When the -_Mayflower_ and her sister ships were launched, "Speedwell" was -considered a happier name for a vessel than it proved to be. - - -Culver's-root; Culver's Physic - -_Veronica virginica (Leplandra virginica)_ - -_Flowers_--Small, white or rarely bluish, crowded in dense spike-like -racemes 3 to 9 in. long, usually several spikes at top of stem or from -upper axils. Calyx 4-parted, very small; corolla tubular, 4-lobed; 2 -stamens protruding; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Straight, erect, usually -unbranched, 2 to 7 ft. tall. _Leaves:_ Whorled, from 3 to 9 in a -cluster, lance-shaped or oblong, and long-tapering, sharply saw-edged. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Rich, moist woods, thickets, meadows. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Alabama, west to Nebraska. - -"The leaves of the herbage at our feet," says Ruskin, "take all kinds -of strange shapes, as if to invite us to examine them. Star-shaped, -heart-shaped, spear-shaped, arrow-shaped, fretted, fringed, cleft, -furrowed, serrated, in whorls, in tufts, in wreaths, in spires, -endlessly expressive, deceptive, fantastic, never the same from -footstalks to blossom, they seem perpetually to tempt our watchfulness, -and take delight in outstripping our wonder." Doubtless light is the -factor with the greatest effect in determining the position of the -leaves on the stem, if not their shape. After plenty of light has been -secured, any aid they may render the flowers in increasing their -attractiveness is gladly rendered. Who shall deny that the brilliant -foliage of the sumacs, the dogwood, and the pokeweed in autumn does not -greatly help them in attracting the attention of migrating birds to -their fruit, whose seeds they wish distributed? Or that the clustered -leaves of the Dwarf Cornel and Culver's-root, among others, do not set -off to great advantage their white flowers which, when seen by an insect -flying overhead, are made doubly conspicuous by the leafy background -formed by the whorl? - - -Downy False Foxglove - -_Gerardia flava (Dasystoma flava)_ - -_Flowers_--Pale yellow, 1-1/2 to 2 in. long; in showy, terminal, leafy -bracted racemes. Calyx bell-shaped, 5-toothed; corolla funnel form, the -5 lobes spreading, smooth outside, woolly within; 4 stamens in pairs, -woolly; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Grayish, downy, erect, usually simple, 2 to 4 -ft. tall. _Leaves:_ Opposite, lower ones oblong in outline, more or -less irregularly lobed and toothed; upper ones small, entire. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Gravelly or sandy soil, dry thickets, open woods. - -_Flowering Season_--July-August. - -_Distribution_--"Eastern Massachusetts to Ontario and Wisconsin, south -to southern New York, Georgia, and Mississippi" (Britton and Brown). - -In the vegetable kingdom, as in the spiritual, all degree of backsliding -sinners may be found, each branded with a mark of infamy according to -its deserts. We see how the dodder vine lost both leaf and roots after -it consented to live wholly by theft of its hard-working host's juices -through suckers that penetrate to the vitals; how the Indian Pipe's -blanched face tells the story of guilt perpetrated under cover of -darkness in the soil below; how the broom-rape and beech-drops lost -their honest green color; and, finally, the foxgloves show us plants -with their faces so newly turned toward the path of perdition, their -larceny so petty, that only the expert in criminal botany cases condemns -them. Like its cousins the gerardias, the Downy False Foxglove is only a -partial parasite, attaching its roots by disks or suckers to the roots -of white oak or witch hazel; not only that, but, quite as frequently, -groping blindly in the dark, it fastens suckers on its own roots, -actually thieving from itself! It is this piratical tendency which makes -transplanting of foxgloves into our gardens so very difficult, even when -lifted with plenty of their beloved vegetable mould. The term false -foxglove, it should be explained, is by no means one of reproach for -dishonesty; it was applied simply to distinguish this group of plants -from the true foxgloves cultivated, not wild, here, which yield -digitalis to the doctors. - - -Large Purple Gerardia - -_Gerardia purpurea_ - -_Flowers_--Bright purplish pink, deep magenta, or pale to whitish, about -1 in. long and broad, growing along the rigid, spreading branches. Calyx -5-toothed; corolla funnel form, the tube much inflated above and -spreading into 5 unequal, rounded lobes, spotted within, or sometimes -downy; 4 stamens in pairs, the filaments hairy; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ 1 to -2-1/2 ft. high, slender, branches erect or spreading. _Leaves:_ -Opposite, very narrow, 1 to 1-1/2 in. long. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Low fields and meadows; moist, sandy soil. - -_Flowering Season_--August-October. - -_Distribution_--Northern United States to Florida, chiefly along -Atlantic Coast. - -It is a special pity to gather the gerardias, which, as they grow, seem -to enjoy life to the full, and when picked, to be so miserable they turn -black as they dry. Like their relatives the foxgloves, they are -difficult to transplant except with a large ball of soil, because it is -said they are more or less parasitic, fastening their roots on those of -other plants. When robbery becomes flagrant, Nature brands sinners in -the vegetable kingdom by taking away their color, and perhaps their -leaves, as in the case of the broom-rape and Indian Pipe; but the fair -faces of the gerardias and foxgloves give no hint of the petty thefts -committed under cover of darkness in the soil below. - - -Scarlet Painted Cup; Indian Paint-brush - -_Castilleja coccinea_ - -_Flowers_--Greenish yellow, enclosed by broad, vermilion, 3-cleft floral -bracts; borne in a terminal spike. Calyx flattened, tubular, cleft above -and below into 2 lobes; usually green, sometimes scarlet; corolla very -irregular, the upper lip long and arched, the short lower lip 3-lobed; 4 -unequal stamens; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ 1 to 2 ft. high, usually unbranched, -hairy. _Leaves:_ Lower ones tufted, oblong, mostly uncut; stem leaves -deeply cleft into 3 to 5 segments, sessile. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Meadows, prairies, mountains, moist, sandy soil. - -_Flowering Season_--May-July. - -_Distribution_--Maine to Manitoba, south to Virginia, Kansas, and Texas. - -Here and there the meadows show a touch of as vivid a red as that in -which Vibert delighted to dip his brush. - - "Scarlet tufts - Are glowing in the green like flakes of fire; - The wanderers of the prairie know them well, - And call that brilliant flower the 'painted cup.'" - -Thoreau, who objected to this name, thought flame flower a better one, -the name the Indians gave to Oswego Tea; but here the floral bracts, not -the flowers themselves, are on fire. Whole mountainsides in the -Canadian Rockies are ablaze with the Indian Paint-brushes that range in -color there from ivory white and pale salmon through every shade of red -to deep maroon--a gorgeous conflagration of color. Lacking good, honest, -deep green, one suspects from the yellowish tone of calices, stem, and -leaves that this plant is something of a thief. That it still possesses -foliage, proves only petty larceny against it, similar to the -foxglove's. The roots of our painted cup occasionally break in and steal -from the roots of its neighbors such juices as the plant must work over -into vegetable tissue. Therefore it still needs leaves, indispensable -parts of a digestive apparatus. Were it wholly given up to piracy, like -the dodder, or as parasitic as the Indian Pipe, even the green and the -leaf that it hath would be taken away. - - -Wood Betony; Lousewort; Beefsteak Plant; High Heal-all - -_Pedicularis canadensis_ - -_Flowers_--Greenish yellow and purplish red, in a short, dense spike. -Calyx oblique, tubular, cleft on lower side, and with 2 or 3 scallops on -upper; corolla about 3/4 in. long, 2-lipped, the upper lip arched, -concave, the lower 3-lobed; 4 stamens in pairs; 1 pistil. _Stems:_ -Clustered, simple, hairy, 6 to 18 in. high. _Leaves:_ Mostly tufted, -oblong lance-shaped in outline, and pinnately lobed. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry, open woods and thickets. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to Manitoba, Colorado, -and Kansas. - -When the Italians wish to extol some one they say, "He has more virtues -than betony," alluding, of course, to the European species, _Betonica -officinalis_, a plant that was worn about the neck and cultivated in -cemeteries during the Middle Ages as a charm against evil spirits; and -prepared into plasters, ointments, syrups, and oils, was supposed to -cure every ill that flesh is heir to. Our commonest American species -fulfils its mission in beautifying roadside banks, and dry open woods -and copses with thick, short spikes of bright flowers, that rise above -large rosettes of coarse, hairy, fern-like foliage. At first, these -flowers, beloved of bumblebees, are all greenish yellow; but as the -spike lengthens with increased bloom, the arched, upper lip of the -blossom becomes dark purplish red, the lower one remains pale yellow, -and the throat turns reddish, while some of the beefsteak color often -creeps into stems and leaves as well. - -Farmers once believed that after their sheep fed on the foliage of -this group of plants a skin disease, produced by a certain tiny louse -(_pediculus_), would attack them--hence our innocent betony's -repellent name. - - - - -BROOM-RAPE FAMILY (_Orobanchaceae_) - - -Beech-drops - -_Epifagus virginiana_ - -_Flowers_--Small, dull purple and white, tawny, or brownish striped; -scattered along loose, tiny bracted, ascending branches. _Stem:_ -Brownish or reddish tinged, slender, tough, branching above, 6 in. to 2 -ft. tall, from brittle, fibrous roots. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Under beech, oak, and chestnut trees. - -_Flowering Season_--August-October. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick, westward to Ontario and Missouri, south -to the Gulf states. - -Nearly related to the broom-rape is this less attractive pirate, a -taller, brownish-purple plant, with a disagreeable odor, whose erect, -branching stem without leaves is still furnished with brownish scales, -the remains of what were once green leaves in virtuous ancestors, no -doubt. But perhaps even these relics of honesty may one day disappear. -Nature brands every sinner somehow; and the loss of green from a plant's -leaves may be taken as a certain indication that theft of another's food -stamps it with this outward and visible sign of guilt. The grains of -green to which foliage owes its color are among the most essential of -products to honest vegetables that have to grub in the soil for a -living, since it is only in such cells as contain it that assimilation -of food can take place. As chlorophyll, or leaf-green, acts only under -the influence of light and air, most plants expose all the leaf surface -possible; but a parasite, which absorbs from others juices already -assimilated, certainly has no use for chlorophyll, nor for leaves -either; and in the broom-rape, beech-drops, and Indian Pipe, among other -thieves, we see leaves degenerated into bracts more or less without -color, according to the extent of their crime. Now they cannot -manufacture carbo-hydrates, even if they would, any more than fungi can. -The beech-drop bears cleistogamous or blind flowers in addition to the -few showy ones needed to attract insects. - - - - -MADDER FAMILY (_Rubiaceae_) - - -Partridge Vine, Twin-berry; Mitchella Vine; Squaw-berry - -_Mitchella repens_ - -_Flowers_--Waxy, white (pink in bud), fragrant, growing in pairs at ends -of the branches. Calyx usually 4-lobed; corolla funnel form, about 1/2 -in. long, the 4 spreading lobes bearded within; 4 stamens inserted on -corolla throat; 1 style with 4 stigmas; the ovaries of the twin flowers -united (The style is long when the stamens are short, or _vice versa_.) -_Stem:_ Slender, trailing, rooting at joints, 6 to 12 in. long, with -numerous erect branches. _Leaves:_ Opposite, entire, short petioled, -oval or rounded, evergreen, dark, sometimes white veined. _Fruit:_ A -small, red, edible, double berry-like drupe. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Woods; usually, but not always, dry ones. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. Sometimes again in autumn. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to the Gulf states, westward to Minnesota -and Texas. - -A carpet of these dark, shining, little evergreen leaves, spread at the -foot of forest trees, whether sprinkled over in June with pairs of waxy, -cream-white, pink-tipped, velvety, lilac-scented flowers that suggest -attenuated arbutus blossoms, or with coral-red "berries" in autumn and -winter, is surely one of the loveliest sights in the woods. Transplanted -to the home garden in closely packed, generous clumps, with plenty of -leaf mould, or, better still, chopped sphagnum, about them, they soon -spread into thick mats in the rockery, the hardy fernery, or about the -roots of rhododendrons and the taller shrubs that permit some sunlight -to reach them. No woodland creeper rewards our care with greater -luxuriance of growth. Growing near our homes, the Partridge Vine offers -an excellent opportunity for study. - -What endless confusion arises through giving the same popular folk-names -to different species! The Bob White, which is called quail in New -England or wherever the ruffed grouse is known as partridge, is called -partridge in the Middle and Southern states, where the ruffed grouse is -known as pheasant. But as both these distributing agents, like most -winter rovers, whether bird or beast, are inordinately fond of this -tasteless partridge berry, as well as of the spicy fruit of quite -another species, the aromatic wintergreen, which shares with it a number -of common names, every one may associate whatever bird and berry best -suit him. The delicious little twin-flower beloved of Linnaeus also -comes in for a share of lost identity through confusion with the -Partridge Vine. - - -Button-bush; Honey-balls; Globe-flower; Button-ball Shrub; -River-bush - -_Cephalanthus occidentalis_ - -_Flowers_--Fragrant, white, small, tubular, hairy within, 4-parted, the -long, yellow-tipped style far protruding; the florets clustered on a -fleshy receptacle, in round heads (about 1 in. across), elevated on long -peduncles from leaf axils or ends of branches. _Stem:_ A shrub 3 to 12 -ft. high. _Leaves:_ Opposite or in small whorls, petioled, oval, -tapering at the tip, entire. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Beside streams and ponds; swamps, low ground. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to Florida and Cuba, westward to Arizona -and California. - -Delicious fragrance, faintly suggesting jessamine, leads one over -marshy ground to where the button-bush displays dense, creamy-white -globes of bloom, heads that Miss Lounsberry aptly likens to "little -cushions full of pins." Not far away the sweet breath of the -white-spiked Clethra comes at the same season, and one cannot but -wonder why these two bushes, which are so beautiful when most garden -shrubbery is out of flower, should be left to waste their sweetness, if -not on desert air exactly, on air that blows far from the homes of men. -Partially shaded and sheltered positions near a house, if possible, -suit these water-lovers admirably. Cultivation only increases their -charms. We have not so many fragrant wild flowers that any can be -neglected. John Burroughs, who included the blossoms of several trees -in his list of fragrant ones, found only thirty-odd species in New -England and New York. - - - - -Bluets; Innocence; Houstonia; Quaker Ladies; Quaker Bonnets; -Venus' Pride - - -_Houstonia caerulea_ - -_Flowers_--Very small, light to purplish blue or white, with yellow -centre, and borne at end of each erect slender stem that rises from 3 -to 7 in. high. Corolla funnel-shaped, with 4 oval, pointed, spreading -lobes that equal the slender tube in length; rarely the corolla has more -divisions; 4 stamens inserted on tube of corolla; 2 stigmas; calyx -4-lobed. _Leaves:_ Opposite, seated on stem, oblong, tiny; the lower -ones spatulate. _Fruit:_ A 2-lobed pod, broader than long, its upper -half free from calyx; seeds deeply concave. _Root-stalk:_ Slender, -spreading, forming dense tufts. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist meadows, wet rocks and banks. - -_Flowering Season_--April-July, or sparsely through summer. - -_Distribution_--Eastern Canada and United States west to Michigan, south -to Georgia and Alabama. - -Millions of these dainty wee flowers, scattered through the grass of -moist meadows and by the wayside, reflect the blue and the serenity of -heaven in their pure, upturned faces. Where the white variety grows, one -might think a light snowfall had powdered the grass, or a milky way of -tiny floral stars had streaked a terrestrial path. Linnaeus named the -flower for Doctor Houston, a young English physician, botanist, and -collector, who died in South America in 1733, after an exhausting tramp -about the Gulf of Mexico. Flies, beetles, and the common little meadow -fritillary butterfly visit these flowers. But small bees are best -adapted to it. - -John Burroughs found a single bluet in blossom one January, near -Washington, when the clump of earth on which it grew was frozen solid. A -pot of roots gathered in autumn and placed in a sunny window has sent up -a little colony of star-like flowers throughout a winter. - - - - -BLUEBELL FAMILY (_Campanulaceae_) - -Harebell or Hairbell; Blue Bells of Scotland; Lady's Thimble - -_Campanula rotundifolia_ - -_Flowers_--Bright blue or violet-blue, bell-shaped, 1/2 in. long, or -over, drooping from hair-like stalks. Calyx of 5-pointed, narrow, -spreading lobes; 5 slender stamens alternate with lobes of corolla, and -borne on summit of calyx tube, which is adherent to ovary; 1 pistil -with 3 stigmas in maturity only. _Stem:_ Very slender, 6 in. to 3 ft. -high, often several from same root; simple or branching. _Leaves:_ -Lower ones nearly round, usually withered and gone by flowering season; -stem leaves narrow, pointed, seated on stem. _Fruit:_ An egg-shaped, -pendent, 3-celled capsule with short openings near base; seeds very -numerous, tiny. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist rocks, uplands. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and America; southward -on this continent, through Canada to New Jersey and Pennsylvania; -westward to Nebraska, to Arizona in the Rockies, and to California in -the Sierra Nevadas. - -The inaccessible crevice of a precipice, moist rocks sprayed with the -dashing waters of a lake or some tumbling mountain stream, wind-swept -upland meadows, and shady places by the roadside may hold bright bunches -of these hardy bells, swaying with exquisite grace on tremulous, -hair-like stems that are fitted to withstand the fiercest mountain -blasts, however frail they appear. How dainty, slender, tempting these -little flowers are! One gladly risks a watery grave or broken bones to -bring down a bunch from its aerial cranny. - - -Venus' Looking-glass; Clasping Bellflower - -_Specularia perfoliata (Legouzia perfoliata)_ - -_Flowers_--Violet blue, from 1/2 to 3/4 in. across; solitary or 2 or 3 -together, seated, in axils of upper leaves. Calyx lobes varying from 3 -to 5 in earlier and later flowers, acute, rigid; corolla a 5-spoked -wheel; 5 stamens; 1 pistil with 3 stigmas. _Stem:_ 6 in. to 2 ft. long, -hairy, densely leafy, slender, weak. _Leaves:_ Round, clasped about stem -by heart-shaped base. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Sterile waste places, dry woods. - -_Flowering Season_--May-September. - -_Distribution_--From British Columbia, Oregon, and Mexico, east to -Atlantic Ocean. - -At the top of a gradually lengthened and apparently overburdened leafy -stalk, weakly leaning upon surrounding vegetation, a few perfect -blossoms spread their violet wheels, while below them are insignificant -earlier flowers, which, although they have never opened, nor reared -their heads above the hollows of the little shell-like leaves where they -lie secluded, have, nevertheless, been producing seed without imported -pollen while their showy sisters slept. But the later blooms, by -attracting insects, set cross-fertilized seed to counteract any evil -tendencies that might weaken the species if it depended upon -self-fertilization only. When the European Venus' Looking-glass used to -be cultivated in gardens here, our grandmothers tell us it was -altogether too prolific, crowding out of existence its less fruitful, -but more lovely, neighbors. - - - - -LOBELIA FAMILY (_Lobeliaceae_) - - -Cardinal Flower; Red Lobelia - -_Lobelia cardinalis_ - -_Flowers_--Rich vermilion, very rarely rose or white, 1 to 1-1/2 in. -long, numerous, growing in terminal, erect, green-bracted, more or less -1-sided racemes. Calyx 5-cleft; corolla tubular, split down one side, -2-lipped; the lower lip with 3 spreading lobes, the upper lip 2-lobed, -erect; 5 stamens united into a tube around the style; 2 anthers with -hairy tufts. _Stem:_ 2 to 4-1/2 ft. high, rarely branched. _Leaves:_ -Oblong to lance-shaped, slightly toothed, mostly sessile. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Wet or low ground, beside streams, ditches, and -meadow runnels. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to the Gulf states, westward to the -Northwest Territory and Kansas. - -The easy cultivation from seed of this peerless wild flower--and it is -offered in many trade catalogues--might save it to those regions in -Nature's wide garden that now know it no more. The ranks of floral -missionaries need recruits. - -Curious that the great Blue Lobelia should be the cardinal flower's twin -sister! Why this difference of color? Sir John Lubbock proved by -tireless experiment that the bees' favorite color is blue, and the -shorter-tubed Blue Lobelia elected to woo them as her benefactors. -Whoever has made a study of the ruby-throated humming bird's habits must -have noticed how red flowers entice him--columbines, painted cups, coral -honeysuckle, Oswego Tea, trumpet flower, and cardinal in Nature's -garden; cannas, salvia, gladioli, pelargoniums, fuchsias, phloxes, -verbenas, and nasturtiums among others in ours. - - -Great Lobelia; Blue Cardinal Flower - -_Lobelia syphilitica_ - -_Flowers_--Bright blue, touched with white, fading to pale blue, about 1 -in. long, borne on tall, erect, leafy spike. Calyx 5-parted, the lobes -sharply cut, hairy. Corolla tubular, open to base on one side, 2-lipped, -irregularly 5-lobed, the petals pronounced at maturity only. Stamens 5, -united by their hairy anthers into a tube around the style; larger -anthers smooth. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. high, stout, simple, leafy, slightly -hairy. _Leaves:_ Alternate, oblong, tapering, pointed, irregularly -toothed 2 to 6 in. long, 1/2 to 2 in. wide. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist or wet soil; beside streams. - -_Flowering Season_--July-October. - -_Distribution_--Ontario and northern United States west to Dakota, south -to Kansas and Georgia. - -To the evolutionist, ever on the lookout for connecting links, the -lobelias form an interesting group, because their corolla, slit down the -upper side and somewhat flattened, shows the beginning of the tendency -toward the strap or ray flowers that are nearly confined to the -composites of much later development, of course, than tubular single -blossoms. Next to massing their flowers in showy heads, as the -composites do, the lobelias have the almost equally advantageous plan of -crowding theirs along a stem so as to make a conspicuous advertisement -to attract the passing bee and to offer him the special inducement of -numerous feeding places close together. - -The handsome Great Lobelia, constantly and invidiously compared with its -gorgeous sister the cardinal flower, suffers unfairly. When asked what -his favorite color was, Eugene Field replied: "Why, I like any color at -all so long as it's red!" Most men, at least, agree with him, and -certainly humming birds do; our scarcity of red flowers being due, we -must believe, to the scarcity of humming birds, which chiefly fertilize -them. But how bees love the blue blossoms! - -Linnaeus named this group of plants for Matthias de l'Obel, a Flemish -botanist, or herbalist more likely, who became physician to James I -of England. - - - - -COMPOSITE FAMILY (_Compositae_) - -Iron-weed; Flat Top - -_Vernonia noveboracensis_ - -_Flower-head_--Composite of tubular florets only, intense reddish-purple -thistle-like heads, borne on short, branched peduncles and forming -broad, flat clusters; bracts of involucre, brownish purple, tipped with -awl-shaped bristles. _Stem:_ 3 to 9 ft. high, rough or hairy, branched. -_Leaves:_ Alternate, narrowly oblong or lanceolate, saw-edged, 3 to 10 -in. long, rough. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist soil, meadows, fields. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Massachusetts to Georgia, and westward to the -Mississippi. - -Emerson says a weed is a plant whose virtues we have not yet discovered; -but surely it is no small virtue in the iron-weed to brighten the -roadsides and low meadows throughout the summer with bright clusters of -bloom. When it is on the wane, the asters, for which it is sometimes -mistaken, begin to appear, but an instant's comparison shows the -difference between the two flowers. After noting the yellow disk in the -centre of an aster, it is not likely the iron-weed's thistle-like head -of ray florets only will ever again be confused with it. Another -rank-growing neighbor with which it has been comfounded by the novice is -the Joe-Pye Weed, a far paler, old-rose colored flower, as one who does -not meet them both afield may see on comparing the colored plates in -this book. - - -Joe-Pye Weed; Trumpet Weed; Purple Thoroughwort; Gravel or Kidney-root; -Tall or Purple Boneset - -_Eupatorium purpureum_ - -_Flower-heads_--Pale or dull magenta or lavender pink, slightly -fragrant, of tubular florets only, very numerous, in large, terminal, -loose, compound clusters, generally elongated. Several series of pink -overlapping bracts form the oblong involucre from which the tubular -floret and its protruding fringe of style-branches arise. _Stem:_ 3 to -10 ft. high, green or purplish, leafy, usually branching toward top. -_Leaves:_ In whorls of 3 to 6 (usually 4), oval to lance-shaped, -saw-edged, petioled, thin, rough. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist soil, meadows, woods, low ground. - -_Flowering Season_--August-September. - -_Distribution_--New Brunswick to the Gulf of Mexico, westward to -Manitoba and Texas. - -Towering above the surrounding vegetation of low-lying meadows, this -vigorous composite spreads clusters of soft, fringy bloom that, however -deep or pale of tint, are ever conspicuous advertisements, even when the -golden-rods, sunflowers, and asters enter into close competition for -insect trade. Slight fragrance, which to the delicate perception of -butterflies is doubtless heavy enough, the florets' color and slender -tubular form indicate an adaptation to them, and they are by far the -most abundant visitors, which is not to say that long-tongued bees and -flies never reach the nectar and transfer pollen, for they do. But an -excellent place for the butterfly collector to carry his net is to a -patch of Joe-Pye Weed in September. As the spreading style-branches that -fringe each tiny floret are furnished with hairs for three quarters of -their length, the pollen caught in them comes in contact with the -alighting visitor. Later, the lower portion of the style-branches, that -is covered with stigmatic papillae along the edge, emerges from the tube -to receive pollen carried from younger flowers when the visitor sips his -reward. If the hairs still contain pollen when the stigmatic part of the -style is exposed, insects self-fertilize the flower; and if in stormy -weather no insects are flying, the flower is nevertheless able to -fertilize itself, because the hairy fringe must often come in contact -with the stigmas of neighboring florets. It is only when we study -flowers with reference to their motives and methods that we understand -why one is abundant and another rare. Composites long ago utilized many -principles of success in life that the triumphant Anglo-Saxon carries -into larger affairs to-day. - -Joe-Pye, an Indian medicine-man of New England, earned fame and -fortune by curing typhus fever and other horrors with decoctions made -from this plant. - - -Boneset; Common Thorough wort; Agueweed; Indian Sage - -_Eupatorium perfoliatum_ - -_Flower-heads_--Composite, the numerous, small, dull, white heads of -tubular florets only, crowded in a scaly involucre and borne in -spreading, flat-topped terminal cymes. _Stem:_ Stout, tall, branching -above, hairy, leafy. _Leaves:_ Opposite, often united at their bases, or -clasping, lance-shaped, saw-edged, wrinkled. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Wet ground, low meadows, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--From the Gulf states north to Nebraska, Manitoba, and -New Brunswick. - -Frequently, in just such situations as its sister the Joe-Pye Weed -selects, and with similar intent, the boneset spreads its soft, -leaden-white bloom; but it will be noticed that the butterflies, which -love color, especially deep pinks and magenta, let this plant alone, -whereas beetles, that do not find the butterfly's favorite, fragrant -Joe-Pye Weed at all to their liking, prefer these dull, odorous flowers. -Many flies, wasps, and bees also, get generous entertainment in these -tiny florets, where they feast with the minimum loss of time, each head -in a cluster containing, as it does, from ten to sixteen restaurants. An -ant crawling up the stem is usually discouraged by its hairs long before -reaching the sweets. Sometimes the stem appears to run through the -centre of one large leaf that is kinky in the middle and taper-pointed -at both ends, rather than between a pair of leaves. - -An old-fashioned illness known as break-bone fever--doubtless paralleled -to-day by the grippe--once had its terrors for a patient increased a -hundredfold by the certainty he felt of taking nauseous doses of boneset -tea, administered by zealous old women outside the "regular practice." -Children who had to have their noses held before they would--or, indeed, -could--swallow the decoction, cheerfully munched boneset taffy instead. - - -Golden-rods - -_Solidago_ - -When these flowers transform whole acres into "fields of the -cloth-of-gold," the slender wands swaying by every roadside, and -Purple Asters add the final touch of imperial splendor to the autumn -landscape, already glorious with gold and crimson, is any parterre of -Nature's garden the world around more gorgeous than that portion of it -we are pleased to call ours? Within its limits eighty-five species of -golden-rod flourish, while a few have strayed into Mexico and South -America, and only two or three belong to Europe, where many of ours -are tenderly cultivated in gardens, as they would be here, had not -Nature been so lavish. To name all these species, or the asters, the -sparrows, and the warblers at sight is a feat probably no one living -can perform; nevertheless, certain of the commoner golden-rods have -well-defined peculiarities that a little field practice soon fixes in -the novice's mind. - -Along shady roadsides, and in moist woods and thickets, from August to -October, the Blue-stemmed, Wreath, or Woodland Golden-rod (_S. caesia_) -sways an unbranched stem with a bluish bloom on it. It is studded with -pale golden clusters of tiny florets in the axils of lance-shaped, -feather-veined leaves for nearly its entire length. Range from Maine, -Ontario, and Minnesota to the Gulf states. None is prettier, more -dainty, than this common species. - -In rich woodlands and thicket borders we find the Zig-zag or -Broad-leaved Golden-rod (_S. latifolia_)--its prolonged, angled stem -that grows as if waveringly uncertain of the proper direction to take, -strung with small clusters of yellow florets, somewhat after the manner -of the preceding species. But its saw-edged leaves are ovate, sharply -tapering to a point, and narrowed at the base into petioles. It blooms -from July to September. Range from New Brunswick to Georgia, and -westward beyond the Mississippi. - -During the same blooming period, and through a similar range, our only -albino, with an Irish-bull name, the White Golden-rod, or more properly -Silver-rod (_S. bicolor_), cannot be mistaken. Its cream-white florets -also grow in little clusters from the upper axils of a usually simple -and hairy gray stem six inches to four feet high. Most of the heads are -crowded in a narrow, terminal pyramidal cluster. This plant approaches -more nearly the idea of a rod than its relatives. The leaves, which are -broadly oblong toward the base of the stem, and narrowed into long -margined petioles, are frequently quite hairy, for the silver-rod elects -to live in dry soil and its juices must be protected from heat and too -rapid transpiration. - -When crushed in the hand, the _dotted_, bright green, lance-shaped, -entire leaves of the Sweet Golden-rod or Blue Mountain Tea (_S. odora_) -cannot be mistaken, for they give forth a pleasant anise scent. The -slender, simple smooth stem is crowned with a graceful panicle, whose -branches have the florets seated all on one side. Dry soil. New England -to the Gulf states. July to September. - -The Wrinkle-leaved, or Tall, Hairy Golden-rod or Bitterweed (_S. -rugosa_), a perversely variable species, its hairy stem perhaps only a -foot high, or, maybe, more than seven feet, its rough leaves broadly -oval to lance-shaped, sharply saw-edged, few if any furnished with -footstems, lifts a large, compound, and gracefully curved panicle, whose -florets are seated on one side of its spreading branches. Sometimes the -stem branches at the summit. One usually finds it blooming in dry soil -from July to November throughout a range extending from Newfoundland and -Ontario to the Gulf states. - -The unusually beautiful, spreading, recurved, branching panicle of bloom -borne by the early, Plume, or Sharp-toothed Golden-rod or Yellow-top -(_S. juncea_), so often dried for winter decoration, may wave four feet -high but, usually not more than two, at the summit of a smooth, rigid -stem. Toward the top, narrow, elliptical, uncut leaves are seated on the -stalk; below, much larger leaves, their sharp teeth slanting forward, -taper into a broad petiole, whose edges may be cut like fringe. In dry, -rocky soil this is, perhaps, the first and last golden-rod to bloom, -having been found as early as June, and sometimes lasting into November. -Range from North Carolina and Missouri very far north. - -Perhaps the commonest of all the lovely clan east of the Mississippi, or -throughout a range extending from Arizona and Florida northward to -British Columbia and New Brunswick, is the Canada Golden-rod or -Yellow-weed (_S. canadensis_). Surely every one must be familiar with -the large, spreading, dense-flowered panicle, with recurved sprays, that -crowns a rough, hairy stem sometimes eight feet tall, or again only two -feet. Its lance-shaped, acutely pointed, triple-nerved leaves are rough, -and the lower ones saw-edged. From August to November one cannot fail to -find it blooming in dry soil. - -Most brilliantly colored of its tribe is the low-growing Gray or Field -Golden-rod or Dyer's Weed (_S. nemoralis_). The rich, deep yellow of its -little spreading recurved, and usually one-sided panicles is admirably -set off by the ashy gray, or often cottony, stem, and the hoary, -grayish-green leaves in the open, sterile places where they arise from -July to November. Quebec and the Northwest Territory to the Gulf states. - - "Along the roadside, like the flowers of gold - That tawny Incas for their gardens wrought, - Heavy with sunshine droops the golden-rod." - -Bewildered by the multitude of species, and wondering at the enormous -number of representatives of many of them, we cannot but inquire into -the cause of such triumphal conquest of a continent by a single genus. -Much is explained simply in the statement that golden-rods belong to the -vast order of _Compositae_, flowers in reality made up sometimes of -hundreds of minute florets united into a far-advanced socialistic -community having for its motto, "In union there is strength." In the -first place, such an association of florets makes a far more conspicuous -advertisement than a single flower, one that can be seen by insects at a -great distance; for most of the composite plants live in large colonies, -each plant, as well as each floret, helping the others in attracting -their benefactors' attention. The facility with which insects are -enabled to collect both pollen and nectar makes the golden-rods -exceedingly popular restaurants. Finally, the visits of insects are more -likely to prove effectual, because any one that alights must touch -several or many florets, and cross-pollinate them simply by crawling -over a head. The disk florets mostly contain both stamens and pistil, -while the ray florets in one series are all male. Immense numbers of -wasps, hornets, bees, flies, beetles, and "bugs" feast without effort -here: indeed, the budding entomologist might form a large collection of -_Hymenoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera_, and _Hemiptera_ from among the -visitors to a single field of golden-rod alone. Usually to be discovered -among the throng are the velvety black _Lytta_ or _Cantharis_, that -impostor wasp-beetle, the black and yellow wavy-banded, red-legged -locust-tree borer, and the painted _Clytus_, banded with yellow and -sable, squeaking contentedly as he gnaws the florets that feed him. - -Where the slender, brown, plume-tipped wands etch their charming -outline above the snow-covered fields, how the sparrows, finches, -buntings, and juncos love to congregate, of course helping to scatter -the seeds to the wind while satisfying their hunger on the swaying, -down-curved stalks. Now that the leaves are gone, some of the golden-rod -stems are seen to bulge as if a tiny ball were concealed under the bark. -In spring a little winged tenant, a fly, will emerge from the gall that -has been his cradle all winter. - - -Blue and Purple Asters or Starworts - -_Aster_ - -Evolution teaches us that thistles, daisies, sunflowers, asters, and all -the triumphant horde of composites were once very different flowers from -what we see to-day. Through ages of natural selection of the fittest -among their ancestral types, having finally arrived at the most -successful adaptation of their various parts to their surroundings in -the whole floral kingdom, they are now overrunning the earth. Doubtless -the aster's remote ancestors were simple green leaves around the vital -organs, and depended upon the wind, as the grasses do--a most -extravagant method--to transfer their pollen. Then some rudimentary -flower changed its outer row of stamens into petals, which gradually -took on color to attract insects and insure a more economical method of -transfer. Gardeners to-day take advantage of a blossom's natural -tendency to change stamens into petals when they wish to produce double -flowers. As flowers and insects developed side by side, and there came -to be a better and better understanding between them of each other's -requirements, mutual adaptation followed. The flower that offered the -best advertisement, as the composites do, by its showy rays; that -secreted nectar in tubular flowers where no useless insect could pilfer -it; that fastened its stamens to the inside wall of the tube where they -must dust with pollen the underside of every insect, unwittingly -cross-fertilizing the blossom as he crawled over it; that massed a great -number of these tubular florets together where insects might readily -discover them and feast with the least possible loss of time--this -flower became the winner in life's race. Small wonder that our June -fields are white with daisies and the autumn landscape is glorified with -golden-rod and asters! - -Since North America boasts the greater part of the two hundred and fifty -asters named by scientists, and as variations in many of our common -species frequently occur, the tyro need expect no easy task in -identifying every one he meets afield. However, the following are -possible acquaintances to every one: - -In dry, shady places the Large, or Broad-leaved Aster (_A. -macrophyllus_), so called from its three or four conspicuous, -heart-shaped leaves on long petioles, in a clump next the ground, may be -more easily identified by these than by the pale lavender or violet -flower-heads of about sixteen rays each which crown its reddish angular -stem in August and September. The disk turns reddish brown. - -Much more branched and bushy is the Common Blue, Branching, Wood, or -Heart-leaved Aster (_A. cordifolius_), whose generous masses of small, -pale lavender flower-heads look like a mist hanging from one to five -feet above the earth in and about the woods and shady roadsides from -September even to December in favored places. - -By no means tardy, the Late Purple Aster, so-called, or Purple Daisy -(_A. patens_), begins to display its purplish-blue, daisy-like -flower-heads early in August, and farther north may be found in dry, -exposed places only until October. Rarely the solitary flowers, that -are an inch across or more, are a deep, rich violet. The twenty to -thirty rays which surround the disk, curling inward to dry, expose the -vase-shaped, green, shingled cups that terminate each little branch. -The thick, somewhat rigid, oblong leaves, tapering at the tip, broaden -at the base to clasp the rough, slender stalk. Range similar to the -next species. - -Certainly from Massachusetts, northern New York, and Minnesota southward -to the Gulf of Mexico one may expect to find the New England Aster or -Starwort (_A. novae-angliae_), one of the most striking and widely -distributed of the tribe, in spite of its local name. It is not unknown -in Canada. The branching clusters of violet or magenta-purple -flower-heads, from one to two inches across--composites containing as -many as forty to fifty purple ray florets around a multitude of perfect -five-lobed, tubular, yellow disk florets in a sticky cup--shine out with -royal splendor above the swamps, moist fields, and roadsides from August -to October. The stout, bristle-hairy stem bears a quantity of alternate -lance-shaped leaves lobed at the base where they clasp it. - -In even wetter ground we find the Red-stalked, Purple-stemmed, or Early -Purple Aster, Cocash, Swanweed, or Meadow Scabish (_A. puniceus_) -blooming as early as July or as late as November. Its stout, rigid -stem, bristling with rigid hairs, may reach a height of eight feet to -display the branching clusters of pale violet or lavender flowers. The -long, blade-like leaves, usually very rough above and hairy along the -midrib beneath, are seated on the stem. - -The lovely Smooth or Blue Aster (_A. laevis_), whose sky-blue or violet -flower-heads, about one inch broad, are common through September and -October in dry soil and open woods, has strongly clasping, oblong, -tapering leaves, rough margined, but rarely with a saw-tooth, toward the -top of the stem, while those low down on it gradually narrow into -clasping wings. - -In dry, sandy soil, mostly near the coast, from Massachusetts to -Delaware, grows one of the loveliest of all this beautiful clan, the -Low, Showy, or Seaside Purple Aster (_A. spectabilis_). The stiff, -usually unbranched stem does its best in attaining a height of two feet. -Above, the leaves are blade-like or narrowly oblong, seated on the stem, -whereas the tapering, oval basal leaves are furnished with long -footstems, as is customary with most asters. The handsome, bright, -violet-purple flower-heads, measuring about an inch and a half across, -have from fifteen to thirty rays, or only about half as many as the -familiar New England aster. Season: August to November. - - -White Asters or Starworts - -In dry, open woodlands, thickets, and roadsides, from August to October, -we find the dainty White Wood Aster (_A. divaricatus_)--_A. corymbosus_ -of Gray--its brittle zig-zag stem two feet high or less, branching at -the top, and repeatedly forked where loose clusters of flower-heads -spread in a broad, rather flat corymb. Only a few white rays--usually -from six to nine--surround the yellow disk, whose florets soon turn -brown. Range from Canada southward to Tennessee. - -The bushy little White Heath Aster (_A. ericoides_) every one must know, -possibly, as Michaelmas Daisy, Farewell Summer, White Rosemary, or -Frost-weed; for none is commoner in dry soil, throughout the eastern -United States at least. Its smooth, much-branched stem rarely reaches -three feet in height, usually it is not more than a foot tall, and its -very numerous flower-heads, white or pink tinged, barely half an inch -across, appear in such profusion from September even to December as to -transform it into a feathery mass of bloom. - -Growing like branching wands of golden-rod, the Dense-flowered, -White-wreathed, or Starry Aster (_A. multiflorus_) bears its minute -flower-heads crowded close along the branches, where many small, stiff -leaves, like miniature pine needles, follow them. Each flower measures -only about a quarter of an inch across. From Maine to Georgia and Texas -westward to Arizona and British Columbia the common bushy plant lifts -its rather erect, curving, feathery branches perhaps only a foot, -sometimes above a man's head, from August till November, in such dry, -open, sterile ground as the white Heath Aster also chooses. - - -Golden Aster - -_Chrysopsis mariana_ - -_Flower-heads_--Composite, yellow, 1 in. wide or less, a few corymbed -flowers on glandular stalks; each composed of perfect tubular disk -florets surrounded by pistillate ray florets; the involucre -campanulate, its narrow bracts overlapping in several series. _Stem:_ -Stout, silky, hairy when young, nearly smooth later, 1 to 2-1/2 ft. -tall. _Leaves:_ Alternate, oblong to spatulate, entire. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry soil, or sandy, not far inland. - -_Flowering Season_--August-September. - -_Distribution_--Long Island and Pennsylvania to the Gulf states. - -Whoever comes upon clumps of these handsome flowers by the dusty -roadside cannot but be impressed with the appropriateness of their -generic name (_Chrysos_ = gold; _opsis_ = aspect). Farther westward, -north and south, it is the Hairy Golden Aster (_C. villosa_), a pale, -hoary-haired plant with similar flowers borne at midsummer, that is the -common species. - - -Daisy Fleabane; Sweet Scabious - -_Erigeron annuus_ - -_Flower-heads_--Numerous, daisy-like, about 1/2 in. across; from 40 to -70 long, fine, white rays (or purple or pink tinged), arranged around -yellow disk florets in a rough, hemispheric cup whose bracts overlap. -_Stem:_ Erect, 1 to 4 ft. high, branching above, with spreading, rough -hairs. _Leaves:_ Thin, lower ones ovate, coarsely toothed, petioled; -upper ones sessile, becoming smaller, lance-shaped. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields, waste land, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--May-November. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Virginia, westward to Missouri. - -At a glance one knows this flower to be akin to Robin's plantain, the -asters and daisy. A smaller, more delicate species, with mostly entire -leaves and appressed hairs (_E. ramosus_)--_E. strigosum_ of Gray--has a -similar range and season of bloom. Both soon grow hoary-headed after -they have been fertilized by countless insects crawling over them -(_Erigeron_ = early old). That either of these plants, or the pinkish, -small-flowered, strong-scented Salt-marsh Fleabane (_Pluchea -camphorata_), drive away fleas, is believed only by those who have not -used them dried, reduced to powder, and sprinkled in kennels, from -which, however, they have been known to drive away dogs. - - -Robin's, or Poor Robin's, or Robert's Plantain; Blue Spring Daisy; -Daisy-leaved Fleabane - -_Erigeron pulchellus_ - -_Flower-heads_--Composite, daisy-like, 1 to 1-1/2 in. across; the outer -circle of about 50 pale bluish-violet ray florets; the disk florets -greenish yellow. _Stem:_ Simple, erect, hairy, juicy, flexible, from 10 -in. to 2 ft. high, producing runners and offsets from base. _Leaves:_ -Spatulate, in a flat tuft about the root; stem leaves narrow, more -acute, seated, or partly clasping. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist ground, hills, banks, grassy fields. - -_Flowering Season_--April-June. - -_Distribution_--United States and Canada, east of the Mississippi. - -Like an aster blooming long before its season, Robin's Plantain wears a -finely cut lavender fringe around a yellow disk of minute florets; but -one of the first, not the last, in the long procession of composites has -appeared when we see gay companies of these flowers nodding their heads -above the grass in the spring breezes as if they were village gossips. - - -Pearly, or Large-flowered, Everlasting; Immortelle, Silver Leaf; -Moonshine; Cottonweed; None-so-pretty - -_Anaphalis margaritacea_ - -_Flower-heads_--Numerous pearly-white scales of the involucre holding -tubular florets only; borne in broad, rather flat, compound corymbs at -the summit. _Stem:_ Cottony, 1 to 3 ft. high, leafy to the top. -_Leaves:_ Upper ones small, narrow, linear; lower ones broader, -lance-shaped, rolled backward, more or less woolly beneath. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Dry fields, hillsides, open woods, uplands. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--North Carolina, Kansas, and California, far north. - -When the small, white, overlapping scales of an everlasting's oblong -involucre expand stiff and straight, each pert little flower-head -resembles nothing so much as a miniature pond lily, only what would be a -lily's yellow stamens are in this case the true flowers, which become -brown in drying. It will be noticed that these tiny florets, so well -protected in the centre, are of two different kinds, separated on -distinct heads: the female florets with a tubular, five-cleft corolla, a -two-cleft style, and a copious pappus of hairy bristles; the staminate, -or male, florets more slender, the anthers tailed at the base. -Self-fertilization being, of course, impossible under such an -arrangement, the florets are absolutely dependent upon little winged -pollen carriers, whose sweet reward is well protected for them from -pilfering ants by the cottony substance on the wiry stem, a device -successfully employed by thistles also. - -An imaginary blossom that never fades has been the dream of poets from -Milton's day; but seeing one, who loves it? Our amaranth has the aspect -of an artificial flower--stiff, dry, soulless, quite in keeping with the -decorations on the average farmhouse mantelpiece. Here it forms the most -uncheering of winter bouquets, or a wreath about flowers made from the -lifeless hair of some dear departed. - - -Elecampane; Horseheal; Yellow Starwort - -_Inula Helenium_ - -_Flower-heads_--Large, yellow, solitary or a few, 2 to 4 in. across, on -long, stout peduncles; the scaly green involucre nearly 1 in. high, -holding disk florets surrounded by a fringe of long, very narrow, -3-toothed ray florets. _Stem:_ Usually unbranched, 2 to 6 ft. high, -hairy above. _Leaves:_ Alternate, large, broadly oblong, pointed, -saw-edged, rough above, woolly beneath; some with heart-shaped, -clasping bases. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides, fields, fence-rows, damp pastures. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to the Carolinas, and westward to Minnesota -and Missouri. - -The elecampane has not always led a vagabond existence. Once it had its -passage paid across the Atlantic, because special virtue was attributed -to its thick, mucilaginous roots as a horse medicine. For more than two -thousand years it has been employed by home doctors in Europe and Asia; -and at first Old World immigrants thought they could not live here -without the plant on their farms. Once given a chance to naturalize -itself, no composite is slow in seizing it. The vigorous elecampane, -rearing its fringy, yellow disks above lichen-covered stone walls in New -England, the Virginia rail fence, and the rank weedy growth along -barbed-wire barriers farther west, now bids fair to cross the continent. - - -Black-eyed Susan; Yellow or Ox-eye Daisy; Nigger-head; Golden -Jerusalem; Purple Cone-flower - -_Rudbeckia hirta_ - -_Flower-heads_--From 10 to 20 orange-yellow neutral rays around a -conical, dark purplish-brown disk of florets containing both stamens -and pistil. _Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. tall, hairy, rough, usually unbranched, -often tufted. _Leaves:_ Oblong to lance-shaped, thick, sparingly -notched, rough. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Open sunny places; dry fields. - -_Flowering Season_--May-September. - -_Distribution_--Ontario and the Northwest Territory south to Colorado -and the Gulf states. - -So very many weeds having come to our Eastern shores from Europe, and -marched farther and farther west year by year, it is but fair that -black-eyed Susan, a native of Western clover fields, should travel -toward the Atlantic in bundles of hay whenever she gets the chance, to -repay Eastern farmers in their own coin. Do these gorgeous heads know -that all our showy rudbeckias--some with orange red at the base of their -ray florets--have become prime favorites of late years in European -gardens, so offering them still another chance to overrun the Old World, -to which so much American hay is shipped? Thrifty farmers may decry the -importation into their mowing lots, but there is a glory to the -cone-flower beside which the glitter of a gold coin fades into paltry -nothingness. Having been instructed in the decorative usefulness of all -this genus by European landscape gardeners, we Americans now importune -the Department of Agriculture for seeds through members of Congress, -even Representatives of States that have passed stringent laws against -the dissemination of "weeds." Inasmuch as each black-eyed Susan puts -into daily operation the business methods of the white daisy, methods -which have become a sort of creed for the entire composite horde to live -by, it is plain that she may defy both farmers and legislators. Bees, -wasps, flies butterflies, and beetles could not be kept away from an -entertainer so generous; for while the nectar in the deep, tubular brown -florets may be drained only by long, slender tongues, pollen is -accessible to all. Any one who has had a jar of these yellow daisies -standing on a polished table indoors, and tried to keep its surface free -from a ring of golden dust around the flowers, knows how abundant their -pollen is. The black-eyed Susan, like the English sparrow, has come to -stay--let farmers and law-makers do what they will. - - -Tall or Giant Sunflower - -_Helianthus giganteus_ - -_Flower-heads_--Several, on long, rough-hairy peduncles; 1-1/2 to 2-1/4 -in. broad; 10 to 20 pale yellow neutral rays around a yellowish disk -whose florets are perfect, fertile. _Stem:_ 3 to 12 ft. tall, -bristly-hairy, usually branching above, often reddish; from a perennial, -fleshy root. _Leaves:_ Rough, firm, lance-shaped, saw-toothed, sessile. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Low ground, wet meadows, swamps. - -_Flowering Season_--August-October. - -_Distribution_--Maine to Nebraska and the Northwest Territory, south to -the Gulf of Mexico. - -To how many sun-shaped golden disks with outflashing rays might not the -generic name of this clan (_helios_ = the sun, _anthos_ = a flower) be -as fittingly applied: from midsummer till frost the earth seems given up -to floral counterparts of his worshipful majesty. If, as we are told, -one ninth of all flowering plants in the world belong to the composite -order, of which more than sixteen hundred species are found in North -America north of Mexico, surely more than half this number are made up -after the daisy pattern, the most successful arrangement known, and the -majority of these are wholly or partly yellow. Most conspicuous of the -horde are the sunflowers, albeit they never reach in the wild state the -gigantic dimensions and weight that cultivated, dark-brown centred -varieties produced from the common sunflower have attained. For many -years the origin of the latter flower, which suddenly shone forth in -European gardens with unwonted splendor, was in doubt. Only lately it -was learned that when Champlain and Segur visited the Indians on Lake -Huron's eastern shores about three centuries ago, they saw them -cultivating this plant, which must have been brought by them from its -native prairies beyond the Mississippi--a plant whose stalks furnished -them with a textile fibre, its leaves fodder, its flowers a yellow dye, -and its seeds, most valuable of all, food and hair-oil! Early settlers -in Canada were not slow in sending home to Europe so decorative and -useful an acquisition. Swine, poultry, and parrots were fed on its rich -seeds. Its flowers, even under Indian cultivation, had already reached -abnormal size. Of the sixty varied and interesting species of wild -sunflowers known to scientists, all are North American. - -Moore's pretty statement, - - "As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets - The same look which she turn'd when he rose," - -lacks only truth to make it fact. The flower does not travel daily on -its stalk from east to west. Often the top of the stem turns sharply -toward the light to give the leaves better exposure, but the presence or -absence of a terminal flower affects its action not at all. - - -Sneeze weed; Swamp Sunflower - -_Helenium autumnale_ - -_Flower-heads_--Bright yellow, 1 to 2 in. across, numerous, borne on -long peduncles in corymb-like clusters; the rays 3 to 5 cleft, and -drooping around the yellow or yellowish-brown disk. _Stem:_ 2 to 6 ft. -tall, branched above. _Leaves:_ Alternate, firm, lance-shaped to oblong, -toothed, seated on stem or the bases slightly decurrent; bitter. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Swamps, wet ground, banks of streams. - -_Flowering Season_--August-October. - -_Distribution_--Quebec to the Northwest Territory; southward to Florida -and Arizona. - -Most cows know enough to respect the bitter leaves' desire to be let -alone; but many a pail of milk has been spoiled by a mouthful of -_Helenium_ among the herbage. Whoever cares to learn from experience why -this was called sneezeweed, must take a whiff of snuff made of the dried -and powdered leaves. - - -Yarrow; Milfoil; Old Man's Pepper; Nosebleed - -_Achillea Millefolium_ - -_Flower-heads_--Grayish-white, rarely pinkish, in a hard, close, -flat-topped, compound cluster. Ray florets 4 to 6, pistillate, fertile; -disk florets yellow, afterward brown, perfect, fertile. _Stem:_ Erect, -from horizontal root-stalk, 1 to 2 ft. high, leafy, sometimes hairy. -_Leaves:_ Very finely dissected (_Millefolium_ = thousand leaf), -narrowly oblong in outline. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Waste land, dry fields, banks, roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-November. - -_Distribution_--Naturalized from Europe and Asia throughout North -America. - -Everywhere this commonest of common weeds confronts us; the compact, -dusty-looking clusters appearing not by waysides only, around the -world, but in the mythology, folk-lore, medicine, and literature of -many peoples. Chiron, the centaur, who taught its virtues to Achilles -that he might make an ointment to heal his Myrmidons wounded in the -siege of Troy, named the plant for this favorite pupil, giving his own -to the beautiful Blue Cornflower (_Centaurea Cyanus_). As a love-charm; -as an herb-tea brewed by crones to cure divers ailments, from loss of -hair to the ague; as an inducement to nosebleed for the relief of -congestive headache; as an ingredient of an especially intoxicating -beer made by the Swedes, it is mentioned in old books. Nowadays we are -satisfied merely to admire the feathery masses of lace-like foliage -formed by young plants, to whiff the wholesome, nutty, autumnal odor of -its flowers, or to wonder at the marvellous scheme it employs to -overrun the earth. - - -Dog's or Foetid Camomile: Mayweed; Pig-sty Daisy; Dillweed; -Dog-fennel - -_Anthemis Cotula (Maruta Cotula)_ - -_Flower-heads_--Like smaller daisies, about 1 in. broad; 10 to 18 white, -notched, neutral ray florets around a convex or conical yellow disk, -whose florets are fertile, containing both stamens and pistil, their -tubular corollas 5-cleft. _Stem:_ Smooth, much branched, 1 to 2 ft. -high, leafy, with unpleasant odor and acrid taste. _Leaves:_ Very finely -dissected into slender segments. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides, dry waste land, sandy fields. - -_Flowering Season_--June-November. - -_Distribution_--Throughout North America, except in circumpolar regions. - -"Naturalized from Europe, and widely distributed as a weed in Asia, -Africa, and Australasia" (Britton and Brown's "Flora"). Little wonder -the camomile encompasses the earth, for it imitates the triumphant -daisy, putting into practice those business methods of the modern -department store, by which the composite horde have become the most -successful strugglers for survival. - -Dog, used as a prefix by several of the plant's folk-names, implies -contempt for its worthlessness. It is quite another species, the Garden -Camomile (_A. nobilis_), which furnishes the apothecary with those -flowers which, when steeped into a bitter, aromatic tea, have been -supposed for generations to make a superior tonic and blood purifier. - - -Common Daisy; White-weed; White or Ox-eye Daisy; Marguerite; Love-me, -Love-me-not - -_Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum_ - -_Flower-heads_--Disk florets yellow, tubular, 4 or 5 toothed, containing -stamens and pistil; surrounded by white ray florets, which are -pistillate, fertile. _Stem:_ Smooth, rarely branched, 1 to 3 ft. high. -_Leaves:_ Mostly oblong in outline, coarsely toothed and divided. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Meadows, pastures, roadsides, waste land. - -_Flowering Season_--May-November. - -_Distribution_--Throughout the United States and Canada; not so common -in the South and West. - -Myriads and myriads of daisies, whitening our fields as if a belated -blizzard had covered them with a snowy mantle in June, fill the farmer -with dismay, the flower-lover with rapture. When vacation days have -come; when chains and white-capped old women are to be made of daisies -by happy children turned out of schoolrooms into meadows; when pretty -maids, like Goethe's Marguerite, tell their fortunes by the daisy -"petals"; when music bubbles up in a cascade of ecstasy from the -throats of bobolinks nesting among the daisies, timothy, and clover; -when the blue sky arches over the fairest scenes the year can show, and -all the world is full of sunshine and happy promises of fruition, must -we Americans always go to English literature for a song to fit our -joyous mood? - - "When daisies pied, and violets blue, - And lady-smocks all silver white, - And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, - Do paint the meadows with delight--" - -sang Shakespeare. His lovely suggestion of an English spring recalls no -familiar picture to American minds. No more does Burns's. - - "Wee, modest, crimson-tippit flower." - -Shakespeare, Burns, Chaucer, Wordsworth, and all the British poets who -have written familiar lines about the daisy, extolled a quite different -flower from ours--_Bellis perennis_, the little pink and white blossom -that hugs English turf as if it loved it--the true day's-eye, for it -closes at nightfall and opens with the dawn. - -Now, what is the secret of the large, white daisy's triumphal conquest -of our territory? A naturalized immigrant from Europe and Asia, how -could it so quickly take possession? In the over-cultivated Old World -no weed can have half the chance for unrestricted colonizing that it has -in our vast, unoccupied area. Most of our weeds are naturalized -foreigners, not natives. Once released from the harder conditions of -struggle at home (the seeds bring safely smuggled in among the ballast -of freight ships, or hay used in packing), they find life here easy, -pleasant; as if to make up for lost time, they increase a thousandfold. -If we look closely at a daisy--and a lens is necessary for any but the -most superficial acquaintance--we shall see that, far from being a -single flower, it is literally a host in itself. Each of the so-called -white "petals" is a female floret, whose open corolla has grown large, -white, and showy, to aid its sisters in advertising for insect -visitors--a prominence gained only by the loss of its stamens. The -yellow centre is composed of hundreds of minute tubular florets huddled -together in a green cup as closely as they can be packed. Inside each of -these tiny yellow tubes stand the stamens, literally putting their heads -together. As the pistil within the ring of stamens develops and rises -through their midst, two little hair brushes on its tip sweep the pollen -from their anthers as a rounded brush would remove the soot from a lamp -chimney. Now the pollen is elevated to a point where any insect crawling -over the floret must remove it. The pollen gone, the pistil now spreads -its two arms, that were kept tightly closed together while any danger of -self-fertilization lasted. Their surfaces become sticky, that pollen -brought from another flower may adhere to them. Notice that the pistils -in the white ray florets have no hair brushes on their tips, because, no -stamens being there, there is no pollen to be swept out. Because daisies -are among the most conspicuous of flowers, and have facilitated dining -for their visitors by offering them countless cups of refreshment that -may be drained with a minimum loss of time, almost every insect on wings -alights on them sooner or later. In short, they run their business on -the principle of a cooperative department store. Immense quantities of -the most vigorous, because cross-fertilized, seed being set in every -patch, small wonder that our fields are white with daisies--a long and a -merry life to them! - - -Tansy; Bitter-buttons - -_Tanacetum vulgare_ - -_Flower-heads_--Small, round, of tubular florets only, packed within a -depressed involucre, and borne in flat-topped corymbs. _Stem:_ 1-1/2 to -3 ft. tall, leafy. _Leaves:_ Deeply and pinnately cleft into narrow, -toothed divisions; strong scented. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides; commonly escaped from gardens. - -_Flowering Season_--July-September. - -_Distribution_--Nova Scotia, westward to Minnesota, south to Missouri -and North Carolina. Naturalized from Europe. - -"In the spring time, are made with the leaves hereof newly sprung up, -and with eggs, cakes or Tansies which be pleasant in taste and goode for -the Stomache," wrote quaint old Gerarde. That these were popular -dainties in the seventeenth century we further know through Pepys who -made a "pretty dinner" for some guests, to wit: "A brace of stewed -carps, six roasted chickens, and a jowl of salmon, hot, for the first -course; a tansy, and two neat's tongues, and cheese, the second." Cole's -"Art of Simpling," published in 1656, assures maidens that tansy leaves -laid to soak in buttermilk for nine days "maketh the complexion very -fair." Tansy tea, in short, cured every ill that flesh is heir to, -according to the simple faith of medieval herbalists--a faith surviving -in some old women even to this day. The name is said to be a corruption -of _athanasia_, derived from two Greek words meaning immortality. When -some monks in reading Lucian came across the passage where Jove, -speaking of Ganymede to Mercury, says, "Take him hence, and when he has -tasted immortality let him return to us," their literal minds inferred -that this plant must have been what Ganymede tasted, hence they named it -athanasia! So great credence having been given to its medicinal powers -in Europe, it is not strange the colonists felt they could not live in -the New World without tansy. Strong-scented pungent tufts topped with -bright yellow buttons--runaways from old gardens--are a conspicuous -feature along many a roadside leading to colonial homesteads. - - -Common or Plumed Thistle - -_Cirsium_ - -Is land fulfilling the primal curse because it brings forth thistles? -So thinks the farmer, no doubt, but not the goldfinches which daintily -feed among the fluffy seeds, nor the bees, nor the "painted lady," -which may be seen in all parts of the world where thistles grow, -hovering about the beautiful rose-purple flowers. In the prickly -cradle of leaves, the caterpillar of this thistle butterfly weaves a -web around its main food store. - -When the Danes invaded Scotland, they stole a silent night march upon -the Scottish camp by marching barefoot; but a Dane inadvertently stepped -on a thistle, and his sudden, sharp cry, arousing the sleeping Scots, -saved them and their country; hence the Scotch emblem. - -From July to November blooms the Common, Burr, Spear, Plume, Bank, -Horse, Bull, Blue, Button, Bell, or Roadside Thistle (_C. lanceolatum_ -or _Carduus lanceolatus_), a native of Europe and Asia, now a most -thoroughly naturalized American from Newfoundland to Georgia, westward -to Nebraska. Its violet flower-heads, about an inch and a half across, -and as high as wide, are mostly solitary at the ends of formidable -branches, up which few crawling creatures venture. But in the deep tube -of each floret there is nectar secreted for the flying visitor who can -properly transfer pollen from flower to flower. Such a one suffers no -inconvenience from the prickles, but, on the contrary, finds a larger -feast saved for him because of them. Dense, matted, wool-like hairs, -that cover the bristling stems of most thistles, make climbing mighty -unpleasant for ants, which ever delight in pilfering sweets. Perhaps one -has the temerity to start upward. - - "Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall," - "If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all," - -might be the ant's passionate outburst to the thistle, and the thistle's -reply, instead of a Sir Walter and Queen Elizabeth couplet. Long, -lance-shaped, deeply cleft, sharply pointed, and prickly dark green -leaves make the ascent almost unendurable; nevertheless, the ant -bravely mounts to where the bristle-pointed, overlapping scales of the -deep green cup hold the luscious flowers. Now his feet becoming -entangled in the cottony fibres wound about the scaly armor, and a -bristling bodyguard thrusting spears at him in his struggles to escape, -death happily releases him. All this tragedy to insure the thistle's -cross-fertilized seed that, seated on the autumn winds, shall be blown -far and wide in quest of happy conditions for the offspring! - -Sometimes the Pasture or Fragrant Thistle (_C. pumilum_ or _Carduus -odoratus_) still further protects its beautiful, odorous purple or -whitish flower-head, that often measures three inches across, with a -formidable array of prickly small leaves just below it. In case a -would-be pilferer breaks through these lines, however, there is a slight -glutinous strip on the outside of the bracts that compose the cup -wherein the nectar-filled florets are packed; and here, in sight of -Mecca, he meets his death, just as a bird is caught on limed twigs. The -Pasture Thistle, whose range is only from Maine to Delaware, blooms from -July to September. - - -Chicory; Succory; Blue Sailors; Bunk - -_Cichorium Intybus_ - -_Flower-head_--Bright, deep azure to gray blue, rarely pinkish or white, -1 to 1-1/2 in. broad, set close to stem, often in small clusters for -nearly the entire length; each head a composite of ray flowers only, -5-toothed at upper edge, and set in a flat green receptacle. _Stem:_ -Rigid, branching, 1 to 3 ft. high. _Leaves:_ Lower ones spreading on -ground, 3 to 6 in. long, spatulate, with deeply cut or irregular edges, -narrowed into petioles, from a deep tap-root; upper leaves of stem and -branches minute, bract-like. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Roadsides, waste places, fields. - -_Flowering Season_--July-October. - -_Distribution_--Common in eastern United States and Canada, south to the -Carolinas; also sparingly westward to Nebraska. - -At least the dried and ground root of this European invader is known to -hosts of people who buy it undisguised or not, according as they count -it an improvement to their coffee or a disagreeable adulterant. So great -is the demand for chicory that, notwithstanding its cheapness, it is -often in its turn adulterated with roasted wheat, rye, acorns, and -carrots. Forced and blanched in a warm, dark place, the bitter leaves -find a ready market as a salad known as "barbe de Capucin" by the -fanciful French. Endive and dandelion, the chicory's relatives, appear -on the table, too in spring, where people have learned the possibilities -of salads, as they certainly have in Europe. - -From the depth to which the tap-root penetrates, it is not unlikely -the succory derived its name from the Latin _succurrere_ = to run -under. The Arabic name _chicourey_ testifies to the almost universal -influence of Arabian physicians and writers in Europe after the -Conquest. As _chicoree, achicoria, chicoria, cicorea, chicorie, -cichorei, cikorie, tsikorei_, and _cicorie_ the plant is known -respectively to the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Germans, -Dutch, Swedes, Russians, and Danes. - -On cloudy days or in the morning only throughout midsummer the "peasant -posy" opens its "dear blue eyes" - - "Where tired feet - Toil to and fro; - Where flaunting Sin - May see thy heavenly hue, - Or weary Sorrow look from thee - Toward a tenderer blue!" - --Margaret Deland. - -In his "Humble Bee" Emerson, too, sees only beauty in the - - "Succory to match the sky;" - -but, _mirabile dictu_, Vergil, rarely caught in a prosaic, practical -mood, wrote, - - "And spreading succ'ry chokes the rising field." - - -Common Dandelion; Blowball; Lion's-tooth; Peasant's Clock - -_Taraxacum officinale (T. Dens-leonis)_ - -_Flower-head_--Solitary, golden yellow, 1 to 2 in. across, containing -150 to 200 perfect ray florets on a flat receptacle at the top of a -hollow, milky scape 2 to 18 in. tall. _Leaves:_ From a very deep, thick, -bitter root; oblong to spatulate in outline, irregularly jagged. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Lawns, fields, grassy waste places. - -_Flowering Season_--Every month in the year. - -_Distribution_--Around the civilized world. - - "Dear common flower that grow'st beside the way, - Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold. - - * * * * * - - "Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow - Through the primeval hush of Indian seas, - Nor wrinkled the lean brow - Of age, to rob the lover's heart of ease. - 'Tis the spring's largess, which she scatters now - To rich and poor alike, with lavish hand; - Though most hearts never understand - To take it at God's value, but pass by - The offered wealth with unrewarded eye." - -Let the triumphant Anglo-Saxon with dreams of expansion that include the -round earth, the student of sociology who wishes an insight into -cooperative methods as opposed to individualism, the young man anxious -to learn how to get on, parents with children to be equipped for the -struggle for existence, business men and employers of labor, all sit -down beside the dandelion and take its lesson to heart. How has it -managed without navies and armies--for it is no imperialist--to land its -peaceful legions on every part of the civilized world and take -possession of the soil? How can this neglected wayside composite weed -triumph over the most gorgeous hothouse individual on which the -horticulturist expends all the science at his command; to flourish where -others give up the struggle defeated; to send its vigorous offspring -abroad prepared for similar conquest of adverse conditions wherever met; -to attract myriads of customers to its department store, and by -consummate executive ability to make every visitor unwittingly -contribute to its success? Any one who doubts the dandelion's fitness to -survive should humble himself by spending days and weeks on his knees, -trying to eradicate the plant from even one small lawn with a knife, -only to find the turf starred with golden blossoms, or, worse still from -his point of view, hoary with seed balloons the following spring. - -Deep, very deep, the stocky bitter root penetrates where heat and -drought affect it not, nor nibbling rabbits, moles, grubs of insects, -and other burrowers break through and steal. Cut off the upper portion -only with your knife, and not one, but several, plants will likely -sprout from what remains; and, however late in the season, will -economize stem and leaf to produce flowers and seeds, cuddled close -within the tuft, that set all your pains at naught. "Never say die" is -the dandelion's motto. An exceedingly bitter medicine is extracted -from the root of this dandelion. Likewise are the leaves bitter. -Although they appear so early in the spring, they must be especially -tempting to grazing cattle and predaceous insects, the rosettes remain -untouched, while other succulent, agreeable plants are devoured -wholesale. Only Italians and other thrifty Old World immigrants, who -go about then with sack and knife collecting the fresh young tufts, -give the plants pause; but even they leave the roots intact. When -boiled like spinach or eaten with French salad dressing, the bitter -juices are extracted from the leaves or disguised--mean tactics by an -enemy outside the dandelion's calculation. All nations know the plant -by some equivalent for the name _dent de lion_ = lion's tooth, which -the jagged edges of the leaves suggest. - -After flowering, it again looks like a bud, lowering its head to mature -seed unobserved. Presently rising on a gradually lengthened scape to -elevate it where there is no interruption for the passing breeze from -surrounding rivals, the transformed head, now globular, white, airy, is -even more exquisite, set as it is with scores of tiny parachutes ready -to sail away. A child's breath puffing out the time of day, a vireo -plucking at the fluffy ball for lining to put in its nest, the summer -breeze, the scythe, rake, and mowing machines, sudden gusts of winds -sweeping the country before thunderstorms--these are among the agents -that set the flying vagabonds free. In the hay used for packing they -travel to foreign lands in ships, and, once landed, readily adapt -themselves to conditions as they find them. After soaking in the briny -ocean for twenty-eight days--long enough for a current to carry them a -thousand miles along the coast--they are still able to germinate. - - -Tall or Wild Lettuce; Wild Opium; Horse-weed - -_Lactuca canadensis_ - -_Flower-heads_--Numerous, small, about 1/4 in. across, involucre, -cylindric, rays pale yellow; followed by abundant, soft, bright white -pappus; the heads growing in loose, branching, terminal clusters. -_Stem:_ Smooth, 3 to 10 ft. high, leafy up to the flower panicle; -juice milky. _Leaves:_ Upper ones lance-shaped; lower ones often 1 -ft. long, wavy-lobed, often pinnatifid, taper pointed, narrowed into -flat petioles. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, open ground; roadsides. - -_Flowering Season_--June-November. - -_Distribution_--Georgia, westward to Arkansas, north to the British -Possessions. - -Few gardeners allow the table lettuce (_sativa_) to go to seed; but as -it is next of kin to this common wayside weed, it bears a strong -likeness to it in the loose, narrow panicles of cream-colored flowers, -followed by more charming, bright, white little pompons. Where the -garden varieties originated, or what they were, nobody knows. Herodotus -says lettuce was eaten as a salad in 550 B.C.; in Pliny's time it was -cultivated, and even blanched, so as to be had at all seasons of the -year by the Romans. Among the privy-purse expenses of Henry VIII is a -reward to a certain gardener for bringing "lettuze" and cherries to -Hampton Court. Quaint old Parkinson, enumerating "the vertues of the -lettice," says, "They all cool a hot and fainting stomache." When the -milky juice has been thickened (_lactucarium_), it is sometimes used as -a substitute for opium by regular practitioners--a fluid employed by the -plants themselves, it is thought, to discourage creatures from feasting -at their expense. Certain caterpillars, however, eat the leaves readily; -but offer lettuce or poppy foliage to grazing cattle, and they will go -without food rather than touch it. - - "What's one man's poison, Signer, - Is another's meat or drink." - -Rabbits, for example, have been fed on the deadly nightshade for a week -without injury. - - -Orange or Tawny Hawkweed; Golden Mouse-ear Hawkweed; Devil's -Paint-brush - -_Hieracium aurantiacum_ - -_Flower-heads_--Reddish orange; 1 in. across or less, the 5-toothed rays -overlapping in several series; several heads on short peduncles in a -terminal cluster. _Stem_: Usually leafless, or with 1 to 2 small sessile -leaves; 6 to 20 in. high, slender, hairy, from a tuft of hairy, -spatulate, or oblong leaves at the base. - -_Preferred Habitat_--Fields, woods, roadsides, dry places. - -_Flowering Season_--June-September. - -_Distribution_--Pennsylvania and Middle states northward into British -Possessions. - -A popular title in England, from whence the plant originally came, is -Grimm the Collier. All the plants in this genus take their name from -_hierax_--a hawk, because people in the old country once thought that -birds of prey swooped earthward to sharpen their eyesight with leaves of -the hawkweed, hawkbit, or speerhawk, as they are variously called. -Transplanted into the garden, the orange hawkweed forms a spreading mass -of unusual, splendid color. - -The Rattlesnake-weed, Early or Vein-leaf Hawkweed, Snake or Poor Robin's -Plantain (_H. venosum_), with flower-heads only about half an inch -across, sends up a smooth, slender stem, paniculately branched above, to -display the numerous dandelion-yellow disks as early as May, although -October is not too late to find this generous bloomer in pine woodlands, -dry thickets, and sandy soil. Purplish-veined oval leaves, more or less -hairy, that spread in a tuft next the ground, are probably as -efficacious in curing shake bites as those of the Rattlesnake Plantain. -When a credulous generation believed that the Creator had indicated with -some sign on each plant the special use for which each was intended, -many leaves were found to have veinings suggesting the marks on a -snake's body; therefore, by simple reasoning, they must extract venom. -How delightful is faith cure! - - - - -COLOR KEY - -BLUE TO PURPLE FLOWERS - -Asters, Blue and Purple -Beard-tongues -Bittersweet (Nightshade) -Bluets -Brooklime, American -Chicory -Day-flowers -Eye-bright -Flags, Blue -Fluellin -Forget-me-nots -Gentians -Harebell -Iron-weed -Liverwort -Monkey-flower -Orchids, Purple-fringed -Peanut, Hog -Pickerel-weed -Plantain, Robin's -Self-heal -Skullcaps -Speedwells -Tare, Blue -Thistles -Toadflax, Blue -Venus' Looking Glass -Vervain, Blue -Violets, Blue and Purple -Viper's Bugloss - - -MAGENTA TO PINK - -Arbutus, Trailing -Arethusa -Bergamot, Wild -Bindweed, Hedge -Bitter-bloom -Calopogon -Campion, Corn -Catch-flies -Clovers -Dogbanes -Geraniums, Wild -Gerardias -Hardhack -Herb-Robert -Honeysuckle, Wild -Joe-Pye weed -Knotwood, Pink -Laurels -Lobelias, Blue -Lupine, Wild -Milkworts -Moccasin Flower, Pink -Motherwort -Orchid, Showy -Persicaria, Common -Pink, Moss -Pipsissewa -Polygala, Fringed -Raspberry, Purple-flowering -Rhododendron, American -Rose, Mallow -Roses, Wild -Snake-head -Soapwort -Willow-herb, Spiked -Wood-sorrel, Violet -Wood-sorrel, White - - -WHITE AND GREENISH - -Anemone, Wood -Arrow-head, Broad-leaved -Aster, White -Baneberries -Blackberries -Bloodroot -Button-Bush -Camomile -Campion, Starry -Carrot, Wild -Chickweed, Common -Clover, White Sweet -Cohosh, Black -Coolwort -Culver's Root -Dodder, Gronovius' -Dogwoods -Dutchman's Breeches -Everlastings -Gold-thread -Grass of Parnaoeas -Hawthorn, Common -Hellebore, White -Indian Pipe -Jamestown weed -Ladies' Tresses -May Apple -Meadow-rues -Meadow-sweets -Mitrewort, False -New Jersey Tea -Orchids, White-fringed -Partridge Vine -Pokeweed -Saxifrage, Early -Shepherd's Purse -Solomon's Seals -Spikenard, American -Spikenard, Wild -Spring Beauty -Squirrel Corn -Star-flower -Star-grass -Sundews -Violets, White -Virgin's Bower -Wake-Robin, Early -Water-lily, White -Wintergreen, Creeping -Yarrow - - -YELLOW AND ORANGE - -Adder's Tongue, Yellow -Aster, Golden -Barberry, American -Black-eyed Susan -Butter-and-eggs -Buttercups -Butterfly-weed -Carrion-flower -Celandine, Greater -Clintonia, Yellow -Dandelions -Devil's Paint-brush -Elecampane -Evening Primrose -Five-finger -Foxgloves, False -Golden-rods -Hawkweeds -Indigo, Wild -Jewel-weed -Lettuce, Wild -Lily, Blackberry -Lily, Wild Yellow -Marigold, Marsh -Meadow-gowan -Moccasin-flower, Yellow -Mullein, Great -Mullein, Moth -Mustards -Orchis, Yellow-fringed -Parsnips, Wild -Rockrose, Canadian -St. John's-wort -Senna, Wild -Sneezeweed -Star-grass -Tansy -Violets, Yellow -Water-lily, Yellow -Witch-hazel - - -RED AND INDEFINITES - -Betony, Wood -Cardinal Flower -Columbine, Wild -Ground-nut -Jack-in-the-Pulpit -Lily, Red, Wood -Oswego Tea -Painted Cups, Scarlet -Pine Sap -Pitcher-plant -Skunk Cabbage - - - - -GENERAL INDEX OF NAMES - -Aaron's rod -_Achillea Millefolium_ -_Actaea alba_ -Adder's tongue -_Agrostemma Githago_ -Agueweed -_Alismaceae_ -Alleluia -_Alsine media_ -_Althaea officinalis_ -Alum-root -_Amaryllidaceae_ -Amaryllis family -American brooklime -American cowslip -American laurel -American rhododendron -American senna -American white hellebore -_Amphicarpa monoica_ -_Anagallis arvensis_ -_Anaphalis margarilacea_ -Anemone, Star -Anemone, Wood -_Anemonella thalictroides_ -Angel's hair -_Anthemis Cotula_ -_Apios_ -_Apocynaceae_ -_Apocynum androsaemifolium_ -Apple, May or Hog -Apple, Thorn -_Aquilegia canadensis_ -_Araceae_ -_Aralia_ -_Araliaceae_ -Arbutus, Trailing -Arethusa -_Arisaema triphyllum_ -Arrow-head, Broad-leaved -Arum family -_Asclepiadaceae_ -_Asclepias_ -Asters, Blue and Purple -Aster, Golden -Asters, White -Azalea, Clammy -Azalea, Pink, Purple, or Wild -Azalea, White -Balm, Bee or Fragrant -Balmony -Balsam, Wild -_Balsaminaceae_ -Baneberry, White -Bank thistle -_Baptisia tinctoria_ -Barberry -Barberry family -Bay -Beard-tongue, Hairy -Bee balm -Beech-drops -Beech-drops, False -Beefsteak plant -_Belamcanda chinensis_ -Bell-bind -Bellflower, Clasping -Bell thistle -_Berberidaceae_ -_Berberis vulgaris_ -Bergamot, Wild -Berry, Scarlet or Snake -Betony, Paul's -Betony, Wood -Bindweed, Blue -Bindweed, Hedge or Great -Bird's-foot violet -Bird's-nest -Bird's-nest, Yellow -Birth-root -Bishop's cap -Bitter-bloom -Bitter-buttons -Bitter-root -Bittersweet -Bitterweed -Blackberry, Highbush -Blackberry lily -Black-eyed Susan -Blind gentian -Blister-flower -Bloodroot -Blowball -Blue bells of Scotland -Blue Curls -Blue-devil -Blue-eyed grass, Pointed -Blue Mountain tea -Blue-sailors -Blue star -Blue-stemmed golden-rod -Blue-thistle -Blue-weed -Bluebell family -Bluets -Bokhara clover -Boneset -Boneset, Tall or Purple -Borage family -_Boraginaceae_ -Bottle gentian -Bouncing Bet -Boxberry -Bramble -Branching aster -_Brassica_ -Brideweed -Broad-leaved golden-rod -Broad-leaved aster -Broad-leaved kalmia -Brooklime, American -Broom, Yellow or Indigo -Broom-rape family -Bruisewort -Brunella -Buckthorn family -Buckwheat family -Bugbane, Tall -Bulbous buttercup -Bull thistle -Bunchberry -Bunk -Burnet rose -Burr thistle -Butter-and-eggs -Buttercups -Butter-flower -Butterfly-weed -Button-ball shrub -Button-bush -Button thistle -Calf-kill -Calico bush -Calmoun -Calopogon -_Caltha palustris_ -Camomile, Dog's or Foetid -_Campanula rotundifolia_ -_Campanulaceae_ -Campion, Corn or Red -Campion, Starry -Canada golden-rod -Canada lily -Canadian rockrose -Canker-root -_Capsella Bursa-pastoris_ -Cardinal flower -Cardinal flower, Blue -_Carduus_ -Carpenter weed -Carrion-flower -Carrot, Wild -_Caryophyllaceae_ -_Cassia marylandica_ -_Castalia odorata_ -_Castilleja coccinea_ -Catchfly -_Ceanothus americanus_ -Celandine, Greater -Centaury, Rosy -_Cephalanthus occidentalis_ -_Chamaenerion angustifolium_ -Charlock -Checker-berry -_Chelidonium majus_ -_Chelone glabra_ -Cherokee rose -Chickweed, Common -Chickweed, Red -Chickweed wintergreen -Chicory -_Chimaphila_ -_Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum_ -_Chrysopsis_ -_Cichorium Intybus_ -_Cimicifuga racemosa_ -Cinquefoil, Common -_Cirsium_ -_Cistaceae_ -Clammy Azalea -Clasping bell-flower -Claytonia -Clematis, Virginia -Clintonia -Closed gentian -Clover, Common red, Purple, Meadow or Honeysuckle -Clover, White or Dutch -Clover, White sweet, Bokhara, or Tree -Cocash -Cockle, Corn -Cod-head -Cohosh -Cohosh, Black -Columbine, Wild -_Commelina virginica_ -_Commelinaceae_ -_Compositae_ -Composite family -Cone-flower, Purple -_Convolvulaceae_ -Convolvulus family -Coolwort -_Coptis trifolia_ -Corn campion -Corn cockle, rose or campion -Corn mustard -Corn, Squirrel -_Cornaceae_ -Cornel, Low or Dwarf -Cornel, Silky -_Cornus_ -Corpse-plant -Cottonweed -Cow lily -Cow vetch -Cowslip, American -Crane's-bill -_Crataegus coccinea_ -Creeping wintergreen -Crosswort -Crowfoot family -Crowfoot, Tall -Crown-of-the-field -_Cruciferae_ -Cuckoo flower -Culver's root or physic -Curls, Blue -_Cuscuta gronovii_ -_Cypripedium acaule_ -_Cypripedium pubescens or hirsutum_ -Daisy, Blue spring -Daisy, Common -Daisy fleabane -Daisy-leaved fleabane -Daisy, Michaelmas -Daisy, Ox-eye -Daisy, Pig-sty -Daisy, Purple -Daisy, White or Ox-eye -Daisy, Yellow or Ox-eye -Dandelion, Common -_Dasystoma flava_ -_Daucus carota_ -Day-flower -Deer berry -Dense-flowered aster -Devil's paint-brush -Devil's trumpet -Dew-plant -_Dicentra canadensis_ -_Dicentra Cucuilaria_ -Dillweed -Dock, Mullein -Dodder, Gronovius' or Common -_Dodecathon Meadia_ -Dog-fennel -Dog-tooth "violet" -Dogbane family -Dogbane, Spreading or Fly-trap -Dog's Camomile -Dogwood family -Dogwood, Flowering -Dogwood, Swamp -Downy false foxglove -Downy yellow violet -Dragon's blood -_Droseraceae_ -Dutch clover -Dutchman's breeches -Dwarf cornel -Dwarf wake-robin -Dyer's weed -Ear-drops -Early hawkweed -Early purple aster -Early saxifrage -Eggs-and-bacon -Elecampane -English violet -_Epifagus virginiana_ -_Epigaea repens_ -_Epilobium angustifolium_ -_Ericaceae_ -_Erigeron_ -_Erythronium americanum_ -_Eupatorium_ -Evening primrose -Evening primrose family -Everlasting, Pearly or Large-flowered -Eye-bright -_Falcata comosa_ -False beech-drops -False foxglove, Downy -False miterwort -False sarsaparilla -False Solomon's seal -Farewell summer -Felonwort -Field golden-rod -Field lily -Field milkwort -Field mustard or kale -Field parsnip -Figwort family -Fire-weed -Five-finger -Flag, Larger blue -Flame lily -Flannel plant -Flat top -Flaxweed -Fleabane, Daisy -Fleabane, Daisy-leaved -Fleabane, Salt-marsh -Fleur-de-lis -Flower-de-luce -Flowering dogwood -Flowering wintergreen -Fluellin -Fly-trap dogbane -Foam-flower -Foetid camomile -Forget-me-not -Four-leaved loosestrife -Foxglove, Downy false -Fragrant balm -Fragrant thistle -Fringed gentian -Fringed milkwort -Frost-flower or Frost-wort -Frost-weed -Frost-weed, Hoary -Frost-weed, Long-branched -Fuller's herb -_Fumariaceae_ -Fumitory family -Garget -_Gaultheria procumbens_ -Gay orchis -Gay wings -Gentian, Closed, Blind, or Bottle -Gentian family -Gentian, Fringed -_Gentiana_ -_Gentianaceae_ -_Geraniaceae_ -Geranium family -Geranium Robertianum -Geranium, Wild or Spotted -_Gerardia_ -Gerardia, Large purple -Ghost-flower -Giant St. John's-wort -Giant sunflower -Ginseng family -Globe-flower -Gold-thread -Goldcups -Golden Jerusalem -Golden mouse-ear hawkweed -Golden-rods -Grass of Parnassus -Grass pink -Gravel-root -Great bindweed -Great laurel -Great lobelia -Great mullein -Great rhododendron -Great St. John's-wort -Great willow-herb -Greater celandine -Gronovius' dodder -Ground laurel -Ground-nut -Ground pink -Groundhele -Gulf orchis -_Habenaria blephariglottis_ -_Habenaria ciliaris_ -_Habenaria fimbriata_ or _grandiflora_ -_Habenaria flava_ -Hairbell -Hairy beard-tongue -Hairy golden aster -_Hamamelidaceae_ -Hardhack -Harebell -Haw, Red -Hawkweed, Early or Vein leaf -Hawkweed, Golden mouse-ear -Hawkweed, Orange or Tawny -Hawthorn -Heal-all -Heal-all, High -Heart-leaved aster -Heart-of-the-earth -Hearts, White -Heath aster, White -Heath family -Hedge bindweed -Hedge mustard -Hedge pink -_Helenium autumnale_ -_Helianthemum_ -_Helianthus giganteus_ -Hellebore -Helmet-flower -Hepatica -Herb Robert -_Hibiscus Moscheutos_ -_Hieracium_ -Highbush blackberry -High heal-all -Hoary frost-weed -Hog apple -Hog peanut -Honey-balls -Honey-bloom -Honey lotus -Honeysuckle clover -Honeysuckle, Swamp -Honeysuckle, Wild -Hooded blue violet -Hoodwort -Horse thistle -Horse-weed -Horsefly-weed -Horseheal -Houstonia -Huntsman's cup -_Hypericaceae_ -_Hypericum_ -_Hypoxis hirsuta_ or _erecta_ -Hyssop, Wild -Ice-plant -Ill-scented wake-robin -Immortelle -_Impatiens aurea_ or _pallida_ -_Impatiens biflora_ or _fulva_ -Indian dipper -Indian paint -Indian paint-brush -Indian pink -Indian pipe -Indian poke -Indian root -Indian sage -Indian turnip -Indian's plume -Indigo broom -Indigo, Wild -Ink-berry -Innocence -_Inula Helenium_ -_Iridaceae_ -Iris, Blue -Iris family -_Iris versicolor_ -Iron-weed -Itch-weed -Jack-in-the-pulpit -Jamestown weed -Jewel-weed -Jimson weed -Joe-Pye weed -Jointweed, Pink -_Kalmia_ -Kalmia, Broad-leaved -Kidney liver-leaf -Kidney-root -Kingcup -Kinnikinnick -Knotweed, Pink -_Labiatae_ -_Lactuca canadensis_ -Lady's eardrops -Lady's nightcap -Lady's slippers -Lady's thimble -Lady's tresses or traces, Nodding -Lamb-kill -Lance-leaved violet -Large aster -Larger blue flag -Large-flowered everlasting -Large-flowered wake-robin -Large purple gerardia -Large yellow lady's slipper -Large yellow pond or water lily -Late purple aster -Laurel, Great -Laurel, Ground -Laurel, Mountain or American -Laurel, Narrow-leaved -_Legouzia perfoliata_ -_Leguminosae_ -Lemon, Wild -_Leonurus Cardiaca_ -_Leptandra virginica_ -Lettuce, Tall or Wild -_Liliaceae_ -_Lilium canadense_ -_Lilium philadelphicum_ -_Lilium superbum_ -Lily, Cow -Lily family -Lily, Large yellow pond or water -Lily, Pond -Lily, Sweet-scented white water -_Limodorum tuberosum_ -_Linaria_ -Lion's Tooth -Liver-leaf -Liverwort -Lobelia family -Lobelia, Great -Lobelia, Red -_Lobeliaceae_ -Long-branched frost-weed -Loosestrife, Four-leaved or Whorled -Lotus, Honey -Lousewort -Love-me, love-me-not -Love me -Love vine -Low cornel -Low purple aster -Lupine, Wild -_Lupinus perennis_ -_Lysimachia quadrifolia_ -Mad-dog skullcap -Madder family -Madnep -Madweed -Mallow family -Mallow, Marsh -Mallow rose -_Malvaceae_ -Mandrake -March violet -Marguerite -Marigold, Marsh -Marsh buttercup -Marsh mallow -Marsh marigold -Marsh pink -_Maruta Cotula_ -May apple -May weed -Mayflower -Meadow buttercup, Common -Meadow clover -Meadow-gowan -Meadow lily -Meadow rose -Meadow-rues -Meadow scabish -Meadow-sweet -Meadow violet -Melilot, White -_Melilotus alba_ -Michaelmas daisy -Milfoil -Milkweed, Common -Milkweed family -Milkweed, Orange -Milkweed, Purple -Milkwort, Common, Field, or Purple -Milkwort family -Milkwort, Fringed -_Mimulus ringens_ -Mint family -Mitchella vine -Miterwort -Miterwort, False -_Mitella diphylla_ -Moccasin flowers -_Monarda_ -Monkey-flower -_Monotropa Hypopitis_ -_Monotropa uniflora_ -Moonshine -Morning-glory, Wild -Moss pink -Moth mullein -Mother's heart -Motherwort -Mountain laurel -Mountain mint -Mountain tea -Mouse-ear -Mouse-ear hawkweed, Golden -Mullein dock -Mullein, Great -Mullein, Moth -Mustard family -Mustards -_Myosotis scorpioides_ or _palustris_ -Nancy-over-the-ground -Narrow-leaved laurel -New England aster -New Jersey tea -Nigger-head -Night willow-herb -Nightshade -Nightshade family -Noble liverwort -Nodding ladies' tresses or traces -Nodding wake-robin -None-so-pretty -Nosebleed -_Nuphar advena_ -_Nymphaea advena_ -_Nymphaea odorata_ -_Nymphaeaceae_ -_Oenothera biennis_ -Old maid's bonnets -Old maid's pink -Old man's beard -Old man's pepper -_Onagraceae_ -Opium, Wild -Orange-root -_Orchidaceae_ -Orchis family -Orchis, Gulf, Tubercled, or Small pale -green -Orchis, Large or Early purple-fringed -_Orchis spectabilis_ -Orchis, White-fringed -Orchis, Yellow-fringed -_Orobanchaceae_ -Oswego tea -Ox-eye daisy -_Oxalidaceae_ -_Oxalis acetosella_ -_Oxalis violacea_ -Paint-brush, Devil's -Paint-brush, Indian -Paint, Indian -Painted cup, Scarlet -Painted trillium -Pale touch-me-not -_Papaveraceae_ -_Pardanthus chinensis_ -_Parnassia_ -Parnassus, Grass of -Partridge-berry -Partridge vine -Parsley family -Parsnip, Wild or Field -_Pastinaca sativa_ -Pasture thistle -Paul's betony -Pea, Wild -Peanut, Wild or Hog -Pearly everlasting -Peasant's clock -_Pedicularis canadensis_ -_Pentstemon hirsutus_ or _pubescens_ -Pepperidge-bush -Persicaria, Common -Philadelphia lily -_Phlox subulata_ -Physic, Culver's -_Phytolaccaceae_ -Pickerel-weed -Pig-sty daisy -Pigeon-berry -Pimpernel, Scarlet -Pine, Prince's -Pine sap -Pink family -Pink, Grass -Pink, Ground or Moss -Pink, Hedge or Old maid's -Pink, Indian -Pink, Sea or Marsh -Pink, Swamp -Pink, Wild -Pinxter flower -Pipe, Indian -Pipsissewa -Pipsissewa, Spotted -Pitcher-plant -Pitcher-plant family -Plantain, Snake or Poor Robin's -Pleurisy-root -Plume golden-rod -Plume thistle -Plumed thistle -_Podophyllum peltatum_ -Pointed blue-eyed grass -Poison-flower -Pokeweed family -_Polemoniaceae_ -Polemonium family -Polygala, Fringed -Polygala, Purple -_Polygala sanguinea_ or _viridescens_ -_Polygalaceae_ -_Polygonaceae_ -_Polygonatum biflorum_ -_Polygonum pennsylvanicum_ -Pond lily -_Pontederia cordata_ -Poor man's weatherglass -Poor Robin's plantain -Poppy family -_Portulacaceae_ -_Potentilla canadensis_ -Pride of Ohio -Primrose, Evening -Primrose family -Primrose-leaved violet -_Primulaceae_ -Prince's pine -_Prunella vulgaris_ -Puccoon, Red -Pulse family -Purple-flowering raspberry -Purple-fringed orchis, Large or Early -Purple-stemmed aster -Purslane family -Quaker bonnets -Quaker ladies -Quaker lady -Queen Anne's lace -Queen-of-the-meadow -_Ranunculaceae_ -_Ranunculus acris_ -Raspberry, Purple-flowering or Virginia -Rattlesnake-weed -Red-root -Red-stalked aster -_Rhamnaceae_ -Rhododendron, American or Great -_Rhododendron maximum_ -_Rhododendron nudiflorum_ -_Rhododendron viscosum_ -River-bush -Roadside thistle -Robert, Herb -Robert's plantain -Robin, Red -Robin's plantain -Rockrose, Canadian -Rockrose family -Root, Indian -_Rosa_ -_Rosaceae_ -Rose, Burnet -Rose, Corn -Rose family -Rose, Mallow -Rose mallow, Swamp -Rose of Plymouth -Rose-pink -Rose-tree -Rose, Wild -Rosemary, White -Rosy centaury -Round-leaved sundew -Round-lobed liver-leaf -_Rubiaceae_ -_Rubus odoratus_ -_Rubus villosus_ -_Rudbeckia hirta_ -Rue anemone -Rutland beauty -_Sabbatia_ -Sabbatia, Square-stemmed -_Sagittaria latifolia_ -_Sagittaria variabilis_ -Sailors, Blue -St. John's-wort family -St. John's-worts -Salt-marsh fleabane -_Sanguinaria canadensis_ -_Saponaria officinalis_ -_Sarracenaceae_ -Sarsaparilla, Wild or False -_Saxifragaceae_ -Saxifrage family -Scabious, Sweet -Scabish, Meadow -Scoke -Scorpion grass -_Scrophularaceae_ -_Scutellaria laterifolia_ -Sea pink -Seaside purple aster -Self-heal -Senna, Wild or American -Sessile-flowered wake-robin -Shanks, Red -Sharp-toothed golden-rod -Sheep-laurel -Sheep-poison -Shellflower -Shepherd's purse -Shepherd's weatherglass or clock -Shooting star -Showy orchis -Showy purple aster -Shrubby St. John's-wort -Side-saddle flower -_Silene pennsylvanica_ or _caroliniana_ -_Silene stellata_ -Silkweed -Silky cornel -Silver cap -Silver leaf -Simpler's joy -_Sisymbrium officinale_ -_Sisyrinchium angustifolium_ -Skullcap, Mad-dog -Skunk cabbage -Small pale green orchis -Smartweed -_Smilacina racemosa_ -_Smilax herbacea_ -Smooth aster -Smooth yellow violet -Smoother rose -Snake berry -Snake-flower -Snake grass -Snake-head -Snake plantain -Snakeroot, Black -Snap weed -Sneezeweed -Snowball, Wild -Soapwort -_Solanaceae_ -Soldier's cap -_Solidago_ -Solomon's seal -Solomon's seal, False -Solomon's zig-zag -Spatterdock -Spear thistle -_Specularia perfoliata_ -Speedwell, Common -Spice berry -Spiderwort family -Spignet -Spiked willow-herb -Spikenard -Spikenard, Wild -_Spiraea salicifolia_ -_Spiraea tomentosa_ -_Spiranthes cernua_ -Spoonwood -Spotted geranium -Spotted touch-me-not -Spotted wintergreen or pipsissewa -Spreading dogbane -Spring beauty -Spring daisy, Blue -Spring orchis -Square-stemmed sabbatia -Squaw-berry -Squirrel corn -Squirrel cup -Star anemone -Star, Blue -Star-flower -Star-grass, Yellow -Star, Shooting -Starry aster -Starry campion -Starwort -Starwort, Yellow -Starworts -Starworts, Blue and Purple -Steeple bush -_Stellaria media_ -Stemless lady's slipper -Stramonium -Strangle-weed -Succory -Sundew family -Sundial -Sunflower, Swamp -Sunflower, Tall or Giant -Swallow-wort -Swamp buttercup -Swamp cabbage -Swamp dogwood -Swamp pink or honeysuckle -Swamp rose -Swamp rose-mallow -Swamp sunflower -Swanweed -Sweet clover, White -Sweet golden-rod -Sweet scabious -Sweet-scented white water-lily -Sweet violet -Sweet white violet -Sweetbrier -_Symplocarpus foetidus_ -_Syndesmon thalictroides_ -Tall boneset -Tall bugbane -Tall crowfoot -Tall hairy golden-rod -Tall lettuce -Tall meadow-rue -Tall sunflower -_Tanacetum vulgare_ -Tank -Tansy -Tare, Blue, Tufted, or Cow -Tawny hawkweed -Tea, Mountain or Ground -Tea, Oswego -_Thalictrum_ -Thistle, Burr, Spear, Plume, Bank, Common, Horse, Bull, Blue, Button, - Bell, or Roadside -Thistle, Common or Plumed -Thistle, Pasture or Fragrant -Thorn apple -Thorn, White or Scarlet fruited -Thoroughwort, Common -Thoroughwort, Purple -_Tiarella cordifolia_ -Tinegrass -Toadflax, Blue or Wild -Toadflax, Yellow -Touch-me-not family -Trailing arbutus -Traveller's joy -Tree clover -_Trientalis americana_ -_Trifolium pratense_ -_Trifolium repens_ -Trilliums -Trout lily -True wood-sorrel -Trumpet-leaf -Trumpet weed -Tubercled orchis -Tufted buttercup -Tufted vetch -Turban lily -Turk's cap -Turtle-head -Twin-berry -_Umbelliferae_ -Vein-leaf hawkweed -Velvet plant -Venus' lady's slipper -Venus' looking-glass -Venus' pride -_Veratrum viride_ -_Verbascum_ -_Verbenaceae_ -_Vernonia noveboracensis_ -_Veronica_ -Vervain, Blue -Vervain family -Vetch, Blue, Tufted, or Cow -_Vicia Cracea_ -_Viola_ -_Violaceae_ -Violet, Bird's-foot -Violet, Common purole, Meadow, or Hooded blue -"Violet," Dog-tooth -Violet, Downy yellow -Violet, English, March or Sweet -Violet family -Violet, Lance-leaved -Violet, Primrose-leaved -Violet, Smooth yellow -Violet, Sweet white -Violet wood-sorrel -Viper's bugloss -Viper's herb or grass -Virginia clematis -Virginia day-flower -Virginia raspberry -Virgin's bower -Wake-robin -Water cabbage -Water-lily family -Water nymph -Water-plantain family -Weatherglass, Poor Man's or Shepherd's -Whippoorwill's shoe -White-fringed orchis -White-weed -White-wreathed aster -Whorled loosestrife -Wicky -Wild azalea -Wild balsam -Wild bergamot -Wild carrot -Wild columbine -Wild geranium -Wild honeysuckle -Wild hyssop -Wild indigo -Wild lady's slipper -Wild lemon -Wild lettuce -Wild lupine -Wild morning-glory -Wild opium -Wild parsnip -Wild pea -Wild peanut -Wild pink -Wild rose -Wild sarsaparilla -Wild senna -Wild snowball -Wild toadflax -Wild yellow lily -Willow-herb, Creator Spiked -Willow-herb, Night -Wind-flower -Wintergreen, Chickweed -Wintergreen, Creeping -Wintergreen, Flowering -Wintergreen, Spotted -Witch-hazel family -Wood anemone -Wood aster -Wood aster, White -Wood betony -Wood lily -Wood lily, White -Woodland golden-rod -Wood-sorrel family -Wood-sorrel, Violet -Wood-sorrel, White or True -Woody nightshade -Wreath golden-rod -Wrinkle-leaved golden-rod -Yarrow -Yellow-fringed orchis -Yellow-top -Yellow-weed 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