Chapter CIV: JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT, Arisæma triphyllum, 281 (4)

These too are true “lilies of the field,” less gorgeous, less imposing than the Turks’ caps, but with an unsurpassed grace and charm of their own. “Fairy-caps,” these pointed blossoms are sometimes called; “witch-caps,” would be more appropriate still. Indeed they would make dainty headgear for any of the dim inhabitants of Wonder-Land.

The growth of this plant is very striking when seen at its best. The erect stem is surrounded with regular whorls of leaves, from the upper one of which curves a circle of long-stemmed, nodding flowers. They suggest an exquisite design for a church candelabra.

PRICKLY PEAR. INDIAN FIG.
_Opuntia Rafinesquii._ Cactus Family.

_Flowers._—Yellow, large, two and a half to three and a half inches
across. _Calyx._—Of numerous sepals. _Corolla._—Of ten or twelve
petals. _Stamens._—Numerous. _Pistil._—One, with numerous stigmas.
_Fruit._—Shaped like a small pear, often with prickles over its
surface.

This curious-looking plant is one of the only two representatives of the Cactus family in the Northeastern States. It has deep green, fleshy, prickly, rounded joints and large yellow flowers, which are often conspicuous in summer in dry, sandy places along the coast.

_O. vulgaris_, the only other species found in Northeastern America, has somewhat smaller flowers, but otherwise so closely resembles _O. Rafinesquii_ as to make it difficult to distinguish between the two.

FOUR-LEAVED LOOSESTRIFE.
_Lysimachia quadrifolia._ Primrose Family.

_Stem._—Slender, one or two feet high. _Leaves._—Narrowly oblong,
whorled in fours, fives, or sixes. _Flowers._—Yellow, spotted or
streaked with red, on slender, hair-like flower-stalks from the axils
of the leaves. _Calyx._—Five or six-parted. _Corolla._—Very deeply
five or six-parted. _Stamens._—Four or five. _Pistil._—One.

PLATE XLVI

FOUR-LEAVED LOOSESTRIFE.—_L. quadrifolia._
]

This slender pretty plant grows along the roadsides and attracts one’s notice in June by its regular whorls of leaves and flowers. Linnæus says that this genus is named after Lysimachus, King of Sicily. Loosestrife is the English for Lysimachus; but whether the ancient superstition that the placing of these flowers upon the yokes of oxen rendered the beasts gentle and submissive arose from the peace-suggestive title or from other causes, I cannot discover.

YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE.
_Lysimachia stricta._ Primrose Family.

The yellow loosestrife bears its flowers, which are similar to those of _L. quadrifolia_, in a terminal raceme; it has opposite lance-shaped leaves. Its bright yellow clusters border the streams and brighten the marshes from June till August.

ROCK-ROSE. FROST-WEED.
_Helianthemum Canadense._ Rock-rose Family.

About one foot high. _Leaves._—Set close to the stem, simple,
lance-oblong. _Flowers._—Of two kinds: the earlier, more noticeable
ones, yellow, solitary, about one inch across; the later ones small
and clustered, usually without petals. _Calyx._—(Of the petal-bearing
flowers) of five sepals. _Corolla._—Of five early falling petals which
are crumpled in the bud. _Stamens._—Numerous. _Pistil._—One, with a
three-lobed stigma.

These fragile bright yellow flowers are found in gravelly places in early summer. Under the influence of the sunshine they open once; by the next day their petals have fallen, and their brief beauty is a thing of the past. On June 17th Thoreau finds this “broad, cup-like flower, one of the most delicate yellow flowers, with large spring-yellow petals, and its stamens laid one way.”

In the Vale of Sharon a nearly allied rose-colored species abounds. This is believed by some of the botanists who have travelled in that region to be the Rose of Sharon which Solomon has celebrated.

The name of frost-weed has been given to our plant because of the crystals of ice which shoot from the cracked bark at the base of the stem in late autumn.

PLATE XLVII

YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE.—_L. stricta._
]

——— ———
_Steironema ciliatum._ Primrose Family.

_Stem._—Erect, two to four feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite, narrowly
oval, on fringed leaf-stalks. _Flowers._—Yellow, on slender stalks
from the axils of the leaves. _Calyx._—Deeply five-parted.
_Corolla._—Deeply five-lobed, wheel-shaped, yellow, with a reddish
centre. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One.

This plant is nearly akin to the yellow loosestrifes, but unfortunately it has no English name. It abounds in low grounds and thickets, putting forth its bright wheel-shaped blossoms early in July.

COMMON BARBERRY.
_Berberis vulgaris._ Barberry Family.

A shrub. _Leaves._—Oblong, toothed, in clusters from the axil of a
thorn. _Flowers._—Yellow, in drooping racemes. _Calyx._—Of six sepals,
with from two to six bractlets without. _Corolla._—Of six petals.
_Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One. _Fruit._—An oblong scarlet berry.

This European shrub has now become thoroughly wild and very plentiful in parts of New England. The drooping yellow flowers of May and June are less noticeable than the oblong clustered berries of September, which light up so many overgrown lanes, and often decorate our lawns and gardens as well.

The ancients extracted a yellow hair-dye from the barberry; and to-day it is used to impart a yellow color to wool. Both its common and botanical names are of Arabic origin.

YELLOW STAR-GRASS.
_Hypoxis erecta._ Amaryllis Family.

_Scapes._—Slender, few-flowered. _Leaves._—Linear, grass-like, hairy.
_Flowers_.—Yellow. _Perianth._—Six-parted, spreading, the divisions
hairy and greenish outside, yellow within. _Stamens._—Six.
_Pistil._—One.

When our eyes fall upon what looks like a bit of evening sky set with golden stars, but which proves to be only a piece of shaded turf gleaming with these pretty flowers, we recall Longfellow’s musical lines:

Spake full well in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth on the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers so blue and golden,
Stars, which in earth’s firmament do shine.

The plant grows abundantly in open woods and meadows, flowering in early summer.

PLATE XLVIII

YELLOW STAR-GRASS.—_H. erecta._
]

WILD INDIGO.
_Baptisia tinctoria._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

Two or three feet high. _Stems._—Smooth and slender. _Leaves._—Divided
into three rounded leaflets, somewhat pale with a whitish bloom,
turning black in drying. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, clustered
in many short, loose racemes.

This rather bushy-looking, bright-flowered plant is constantly encountered in our rambles throughout the somewhat dry and sandy parts of the country in midsummer. It is said that it is found in nearly every State in the Union, and that it has been used as a homœopathic remedy for typhoid fever. Its young shoots are eaten at times in place of asparagus. Both the botanical and common names refer to its having yielded an economical but unsuccessful substitute for indigo.

YELLOW CLOVER. HOP CLOVER.
_Trifolium agrarium._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

Six to twelve inches high. _Leaves._—Divided into three oblong
leaflets. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, small, in close heads.

Although this little plant is found in such abundance along our New England roadsides and in many other parts of the country as well, comparatively few people seem to recognize it as a member of the clover group, despite a marked likeness in the leaves and blossoms to others of the same family.

The name clover probably originated in the Latin _clava_-clubs, in reference to the fancied resemblance between the three-pronged club of Hercules and the clover leaf. The clubs of our playing-cards and the _trèfle_ (trefoil) of the French are probably an imitation of the same leaf.

The nonesuch, _Medicago lupulina_, with downy, procumbent stems, and flowers which grow in short spikes, is nearly allied to the hop clover. In its reputed superiority as fodder its English name is said to have originated. Dr. Prior says that for many years this plant has been recognized in Ireland as the true shamrock.

DYER’S GREEN-WEED. WOOD-WAXEN. NEW ENGLAND WHIN.
_Genista tinctoria._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

A shrubby plant from one to two feet high. _Leaves._—Lance-shaped.
_Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, growing in spiked racemes.

This is another foreigner which has established itself in Eastern New York and Massachusetts, where it covers the barren hill-sides with its yellow flowers in early summer. It is a common English plant, formerly valued for the yellow dye which it yielded. It is an undesirable intruder in pasture-lands, as it gives a bitter taste to the milk of cows which feed upon it.

YELLOW SWEET CLOVER. YELLOW MELILOT.
_Melilotus officinalis._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

Two to four feet high. _Stem._—Upright. _Leaves._—Divided into three
toothed leaflets. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, growing in
spike-like racemes.

This plant is often found blossoming along the roadsides in early summer. It was formerly called in England “king’s-clover,” because, as Parkinson writes, “the yellowe flowers doe crown the top of the stalkes.” The leaves become fragrant in drying.

RATTLEBOX.
_Crotalaria sagittalis._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

_Stem._—Hairy, three to six inches high. _Leaves._—Undivided, oval or
lance-shaped. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, but few in a cluster.
_Pod._—Inflated, many-seeded, blackish.

The yellow flowers of the rattlebox are found in the sandy meadows and along the roadsides during the summer. Both the generic and English names refer to the rattling of the loose seeds within the inflated pod.

BUTTER-AND-EGGS. TOADFLAX.
_Linaria vulgaris._ Figwort Family.

_Stem._—Smooth, erect, one to three feet high. _Leaves._—Alternate,
linear or nearly so. _Flowers._—Of two shades of yellow, growing in
terminal racemes. _Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Pale yellow tipped
with orange, long-spurred, two-lipped, closed in the throat.
_Stamens._—Four. _Pistil._—One.

The bright blossoms of butter-and-eggs grow in full, close clusters which enliven the waste places along the roadside so commonly, that little attention is paid to these beautiful and conspicuous flowers. They would be considered a “pest” if they did not display great discrimination in their choice of locality, usually selecting otherwise useless pieces of ground. The common name of butter-and-eggs is unusually appropriate, for the two shades of yellow match perfectly their namesakes. Like nearly all our common weeds, this plant has been utilized in various ways by the country people. It yielded what was considered at one time a valuable skin lotion, while its juice mingled with milk constitutes a fly-poison. Its generic name, _Linaria_, and its English title, toadflax, arose from a fancied resemblance between its leaves and those of the flax.

WILD SENNA.
_Cassia Marilandica._ Pulse Family.

_Stem._—Three or four feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into from six to
nine pairs of narrowly oblong leaflets. _Flowers._—Yellow, in short
clusters from the axils of the leaves. _Calyx._—Of five sepals.
_Corolla._—Of five slightly unequal, spreading petals, usually
somewhat spotted with reddish-brown. _Stamens._—Five to ten, unequal,
some of them often imperfect. _Pistil._—One. _Pod._—Long and narrow,
slightly curved, flat.

This tall, striking plant, with clusters of yellow flowers which appear in midsummer, grows abundantly along many of the New England roadsides, and also far south and west, thriving best in sandy soil. Although a member of the Pulse family its blossoms are not papilionaceous.

PLATE XLIX

BUTTER-AND-EGGS.—_L. vulgaris._
]

PARTRIDGE-PEA.
_Cassia Chamæcrista._ Pulse Family.

_Stems._—Spreading, eight inches to a foot long. _Leaves._—Divided
into from ten to fifteen pairs of narrow delicate leaflets, which
close at night and are somewhat sensitive to the touch.
_Flowers._—Yellow, rather large and showy, on slender stalks beneath
the spreading leaves; not papilionaceous. _Calyx._—Of five sepals.
_Corolla._—Of five rounded, spreading, somewhat unequal petals, two or
three of which are usually spotted at the base with red or purple.
_Stamens._—Ten, unequal, dissimilar. _Pistil._—One, with a slender
style. _Pod._—Flat.

The partridge-pea is closely related to the wild senna, and a pretty, delicate plant it is, with graceful foliage, and flowers in late summer which surprise us with their size, abounding in gravelly, sandy places where little else will flourish, brightening the railway embankments and the road’s edge. It is at home all over the country south of Massachusetts and east of the Rocky Mountains, but it grows with a greater vigor and luxuriance in the south than elsewhere. The leaves can hardly be called sensitive to the touch, yet when a branch is snapped from the parent-stem or is much handled, the delicate leaflets will droop and fold, displaying their curious mechanism.

COMMON ST. JOHN’S-WORT.
_Hypericum perforatum._ St. John’s-wort Family.

_Stem._—Much branched. _Leaves._—Small, opposite, somewhat oblong,
with pellucid dots. _Flowers._—Yellow, numerous, in leafy clusters.
_Calyx._—Of five sepals. _Corolla._—Of five bright yellow petals,
somewhat spotted with black. _Stamens._—Indefinite in number.
_Pistil._—One, with three spreading styles.

“Too well known as a pernicious weed which it is difficult to extirpate,” is the scornful notice which the botany gives to this plant whose bright yellow flowers are noticeable in waste fields and along roadsides nearly all summer. Its rank, rapid growth proves very exhausting to the soil, and every New England farmer wishes it had remained where it rightfully belongs—on the other side of the water.

PLATE L

COMMON ST. JOHN’S-WORT.—_H. perforatum._
]

Perhaps more superstitions have clustered about the St. John’s-wort than about any other plant on record. It was formerly gathered on St. John’s eve, and was hung at the doors and windows as a safeguard against thunder and evil spirits. A belief prevailed that on this night the soul had power to leave the body and visit the spot where it would be finally summoned from its earthly habitation, hence the all-night vigils which were observed at that time.

The wonderful herb whose leaf will decide
If the coming year shall make me a bride,

is the St. John’s-wort, and the maiden’s fate is favorably forecast by the healthy growth and successful blossoming of the plant which she has accepted as typical of her future.

In early times poets and physicians alike extolled its properties. An ointment was made of its blossoms, and one of its early names was “balm-of-the-warrior’s-wound.” It was considered so efficacious a remedy for melancholia that it was termed “fuga dæmonum.” Very possibly this name gave rise to the general idea that it was powerful in dispelling evil spirits.

ST. ANDREW’S CROSS.
_Ascyrum Crux-Andreæ._ St. John’s-wort Family.

_Stem._—Low, branched. _Leaves._—Opposite, narrowly oblong,
black-dotted. _Flowers._—Light-yellow. _Calyx._—Of four sepals, the
two outer broad and leaf-like, the inner much smaller. _Corolla._—Of
four narrowly oblong petals. _Stamens._—Numerous. _Pistil._—One, with
two short styles.

From July till September these flowers may be found in the pine-barrens of New Jersey and farther south and westward, and on the island of Nantucket as well.

COMMON MULLEIN.
_Verbascum Thapsus._ Figwort Family.

_Stem._—Tall and stout, from three to five feet high.
_Leaves._—Oblong, woolly. _Flowers._—In a long dense spike.
_Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Yellow, with five slightly unequal
rounded lobes. _Stamens._—Ten, the three upper with white wool on
their filaments. _Pistil._—One.

PLATE LI

COMMON MULLEIN.—_V. Thapsus._
]

The common mullein is a native of the island of Thapsos, from which it takes its specific name. It was probably brought to this country from Europe by the early colonists, notwithstanding the title of “American velvet plant,” which it is rumored to bear in England. The Romans called it “candelaria,” from their custom of dipping the long dried stalk in suet and using it as a funeral torch, and the Greeks utilized the leaves for lamp-wicks. In more modern times they have served as a remedy for the pulmonary complaints of men and beasts alike, “mullein tea” being greatly esteemed by country people. Its especial efficacy with cattle has earned the plant its name of “bullocks’ lungwort.”

A low rosette of woolly leaves is all that can be seen of the mullein during its first year, the yellow blossoms on their long spikes opening sluggishly about the middle of the second summer. It abounds throughout our dry, rolling meadows, and its tall spires are a familiar feature in the summer landscape.

MOTH MULLEIN.
_Verbascum Blattaria._ Figwort Family.

_Stem._—Tall and slender. _Leaves._—Oblong, toothed, the lower
sometimes lyre-shaped, the upper partly clasping. _Flowers._—Yellow or
white, tinged with red or purple, in a terminal raceme.
_Calyx._—Deeply five-parted. _Corolla._—Butterfly-shape, of five
rounded, somewhat unequal lobes. _Stamens._—Five, with filaments
bearded with violet wool and anthers loaded with orange-colored
pollen. _Pistil._—One.

Along the highway from July till October one encounters a slender weed on whose erect stem it would seem as though a number of canary-yellow or purplish-white moths had alighted for a moment’s rest. These are the fragile, pretty flowers of the moth mullein, and they are worthy of a closer examination. The reddened or purplish centre of the corolla suggests the probability of hidden nectar, while the pretty tufts of violet wool borne by the stamens are well fitted to protect it from the rain. A little experience of the canny ways of these innocent-looking flowers lead one to ask the wherefore of every new feature.

YELLOW FRINGED ORCHIS. ORANGE ORCHIS.
_Habenaria ciliaris._ Orchis Family (p. 17).

_Stem._—Leafy, one to two feet high. _Leaves._—The lower oblong to
lance-shaped, the upper passing into pointed bracts. _Flowers._—Deep
orange color, with a slender spur and deeply fringed lip; growing in
an oblong spike.

PLATE LII

YELLOW FRINGED ORCHIS.—_H. ciliaris._
]

Years may pass without our meeting this the most brilliant of our orchids. Suddenly one August day we will chance upon just such a boggy meadow as we have searched in vain a hundred times, and will behold myriads of its deep orange, dome-like spires erecting themselves in radiant beauty over whole acres of land. The separate flowers, with their long spurs and deeply fringed lips, will repay a close examination. They are well calculated, massed in such brilliant clusters, to arrest the attention of whatever insects may specially affect them. Although I have watched many of these plants I have never seen an insect visit one, and am inclined to think that they are fertilized by night moths.

Mr. Baldwin declares: “If I ever write a romance of Indian life, my dusky heroine, Birch Tree or Trembling Fawn, shall meet her lover with a wreath of this orchis on her head.”

JEWEL-WEED. TOUCH-ME-NOT.
Geranium Family.

_Impatiens pallida._ Pale Touch-me-not.

_Flowers._—Pale yellow, somewhat spotted with reddish-brown; common
northward.

_Impatiens fulva._ Spotted Touch-me-not.

_Flowers._—Orange-yellow, spotted with reddish-brown; common
southward.

Two to six feet high. _Leaves._—Alternate, coarsely toothed, oval.
_Flowers._—Nodding, loosely clustered, or growing from the axils of
the leaves. _Calyx_ and _Corolla_.—Colored alike, and difficult to
distinguish; of six pieces, the largest one extended backward into a
deep sac ending in a little spur, the two innermost unequally
two-lobed. _Stamens._—Five, very short, united over the pistil.
_Pistil._—One.

These beautiful plants are found along shaded streams and marshes, and are profusely hung with brilliant jewel-like flowers during the summer months. In the later year they bear those closed inconspicuous blossoms which fertilize in the bud and are called cleistogamous flowers. The jewel-weed has begun to appear along the English rivers, and it is said that the ordinary showy blossoms are comparatively rare, while the cleistogamous ones abound. Does not this look almost like a determination on the part of the plant to secure a firm foothold in its new environment before expending its energy on flowers which, though radiant and attractive, are quite dependent on insect-visitors for fertilization and perpetuation?

PLATE LIII

PALE JEWEL-WEED.—_I. pallida._
]

The name touch-me-not refers to the seed-pods, which burst open with such violence when touched, as to project their seeds to a comparatively great distance. This ingenious mechanism secures the dispersion of the seeds without the aid of the wind or animals. In parts of New York the plant is called “silver-leaf,” from its silvery appearance when touched with rain or dew, or when held beneath the water.

AGRIMONY.
_Agrimonia Eupatoria._ Rose Family.

One or two feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into several coarsely toothed
leaflets. _Flowers._—Small, yellow, in slender spiked racemes.
_Calyx._—Five-cleft, beset with hooked teeth. _Corolla._—Of five
petals. _Stamens._—Five to fifteen. _Pistils._—One to four.

The slender yellow racemes of the agrimony skirt the woods throughout the later summer. In former times the plant was held in high esteem by town physician and country herbalist alike. Emerson longed to know

Only the herbs and simples of the wood,
Rue, cinquefoil, gill, vervain, and agrimony.

Up to a recent date the plant has been dried and preserved by country people and might be seen exposed for sale in the shops of French villages. It has also been utilized in a dressing for shoe-leather. When about to flower it yields a pale yellow dye.

Chaucer calls it _egremoine_. The name is supposed to be derived from the Greek title for an eye-disease, for which the juice of a plant similarly entitled was considered efficacious. The crushed flower yields a lemon-like odor.

YELLOW WOOD SORREL.
_Oxalis stricta._ Geranium Family.

_Stem._—Erect. _Leaves._—Divided into three delicate clover-like
leaflets. _Flowers._—Golden-yellow. _Calyx._—Of five sepals.
_Corolla._—Of five petals. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One, with five
styles.

All summer the small flowers of the yellow wood sorrel show brightly against their background of delicate leaves. The plant varies greatly in its height and manner of growth, flourishing abundantly along the roadsides. The small leaflets are open to the genial influence of sun and air during the hours of daylight, but at night they protect themselves from chill by folding one against another.

SUNDROPS.
_Œnothera fruticosa._ Evening Primrose Family.

This is a day-blooming species of the evening primrose, with large,
pale yellow blossoms and alternate oblong or narrowly lance-shaped
leaves, and of a much less rank habit. In early summer our roadsides
are illuminated with these flowers.

_Œnothera pumila_ is also a diurnal species. Its loosely spiked blossoms are much smaller than those of the sundrops.

EVENING PRIMROSE.
_Œnothera biennis._ Evening Primrose Family.

Stout, erect, one to five feet high. _Leaves._—Alternate, lance-shaped
to oblong. _Flowers._—Pale yellow, in a leafy spike, opening at night.
_Calyx._—With a long tube, four-lobed. _Corolla._—Of four somewhat
heart-shaped petals. _Stamens._—Eight, with long anthers.
_Pistil._—One, with a stigma divided into four linear lobes.

Along the roadsides in midsummer we notice a tall, rank-growing plant, which seems chiefly to bear buds and faded blossoms. And unless we are already familiar with the owl-like tendencies of the evening primrose, we are surprised, some dim twilight, to find this same plant resplendent with a mass of fragile yellow flowers, which are exhaling their faint delicious fragrance on the evening air.

One brief summer night exhausts the vitality of these delicate blossoms. The faded petals of the following day might serve as a text for a homily against all-night dissipation, did we not know that by its strange habit the evening primrose guards against the depredations of those myriad insects abroad during the day, which are unfitted to transmit its pollen to the pistil of another flower.

We are impressed by the utilitarianism in vogue in this floral world, as we note that the pale yellow of these blossoms gleams so vividly through the darkness as to advertise effectively their whereabouts, while their fragrance serves as a mute invitation to the pink night-moth, which is their visitor and benefactor. Why they change their habits in the late year and remain open during the day, I have not been able to discover.

HORSE BALM. RICH-WEED. STONE-ROOT.
_Collinsonia Canadensis._ Mint Family (p. 16).

One to three feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite, large, ovate, toothed,
pointed. _Flowers._—Yellowish, lemon-scented, clustered loosely.
_Calyx._—Two-lipped, the upper lip three-toothed, the lower two-cleft.
_Corolla._—Elongated, somewhat two-lipped, the four upper lobes nearly
equal, the lower large and long, toothed or fringed. _Stamens._—Two
(sometimes four, the upper pair shorter), protruding, diverging.
_Pistil._—One, with a two-lobed style.

In the damp rich woods of midsummer these strong-scented herbs, with their loose terminal clusters of lemon-colored, lemon-scented flowers are abundant. The plant was introduced into England by the amateur botanist and flower-lover, Collinson, after whom the species is named. The Indians formerly employed it as an application to wounds.

BLACK-EYED SUSAN. CONE-FLOWER.
_Rudbeckia hirta._ Composite Family (p. 13).

_Stem._—Stout and hairy, one to two feet high. _Leaves._—Rough and
hairy, the upper long, narrow, set close to the stem; the lower
broader, with leaf-stalks. _Flower-heads._—Composed of both ray and
disk-flowers; the former yellow, the latter brown and arranged on a
cone-like receptacle.

By the middle of July our dry meadows are merry with black-eyed Susans, which are laughing from every corner and keeping up a gay midsummer carnival in company with the yellow lilies and brilliant milkweeds. They seem to revel in the long days of blazing sunlight, and are veritable salamanders among the flowers. Although now so common in our eastern fields they were first brought to us with clover-seed from the West, and are not altogether acceptable guests, as they bid fair to add another anxiety to the already harassed life of the New England farmer.

PLATE LIV

EVENING PRIMROSE.—_Œ. biennis._
]

——— ———
_Rudbeckia laciniata._ Composite Family (p. 13).

Two to seven feet high. _Stem._—Smooth, branching. _Leaves._—The lower
divided into lobed leaflets, the upper irregularly three to
five-parted. _Flower-heads._—Yellow, rather large, composed of both
ray and disk-flowers, the former drooping and yellow, the later dull
greenish and arranged on a columnar receptacle.

This graceful, showy flower is even more decorative than the black-eyed Susan. Its drooping yellow rays are from one to two inches long. It may be found throughout the summer in the low thickets which border the swamps and meadows.

GOLDEN ASTER.
_Chrysopsis Mariana._ Composite Family (p. 13).

_Stem._—Silky, with long weak hairs when young. _Leaves._—Alternate,
oblong. _Flower-heads._—Golden-yellow, rather large, composed of both
ray and disk-flowers.

In dry places along the roadsides of Southern New York and farther south, one can hardly fail to notice in late summer and autumn the bright clusters of the golden aster.

_C. falcata_ is a species which may be found in dry sandy soil as far north as Massachusetts, with very woolly stems, crowded linear leaves, and small, clustered flower-heads.

GOLDEN-ROD.
_Solidago._ Composite Family (p. 13).

_Flower-heads._—Golden-yellow, composed of both ray and disk-flowers.

About eighty species of golden-rod are native to the United States: of these forty-two species can be found in our Northeastern States. Many of them are difficult of identification, and it would be useless to describe any but a few of the more conspicuous forms.

PLATE LV

BLACK-EYED SUSAN.—_R. hirta._
]

A common and noticeable species which flowers early in August is _S. Canadensis_, with a tall stout stem from three to six feet high, lance-shaped leaves, which are usually sharply toothed and pointed, and small flower-heads clustered along the branches which spread from the upper part of the stem.

Another early flowering species is _S. rugosa_. This is a lower plant than _S. Canadensis_, with broader leaves. Still another is the dusty golden-rod, _S. nemoralis_, which has a hoary aspect and very bright yellow flowers which are common in dry fields.

_S. lanceolata_ has lance-shaped or linear leaves, and flowers which grow in flat-topped clusters, unlike other members of the family; the information that this is a golden-rod often creates surprise, as for some strange reason it seems to be confused with the tansy.

The sweet golden-rod, _S. odorata_, is easily recognized by its fragrant, shining, dotted leaves. _S. cæsia_, or the blue-stemmed, is a wood-species and among the latest of the year, putting forth its bright clusters for nearly the whole length of its stem long after many of its brethren look like brown wraiths of their former selves. The silver rod, _S. bicolor_, whose whitish flowers are a departure from the family habit, also survives the early cold and holds its own in the dry woods.

The only species native to Great Britain is _S. Virga-aurea_.

The generic name is from two Greek words which signify _to make whole_, and refer to the healing properties which have been attributed to the genus.

ELECAMPANE.
_Inula Helenium._ Composite Family (p. 13).

_Stem._—Stout, three to five feet high. _Leaves._—Alternate, large,
woolly beneath, the upper partly clasping. _Flower-heads._—Yellow,
large, composed of both ray and disk-flowers.

PLATE LVI

ELECAMPANE.—_I. Helenium._
]

When we see these great yellow disks peeping over the pasture walls or flanking the country lanes, we feel that midsummer is at its height. Flowers are often subservient courtiers, and make acknowledgment of whatever debt they owe by that subtlest of flatteries—imitation. Did not the blossoms of the dawning year frequently wear the livery of the snow which had thrown its protecting mantle over their first efforts? And these newcomers—whose gross, rotund countenances so clearly betray the results of high living—do not they pay their respects to their great benefactor after the same fashion?—with the result that a myriad miniature suns shine upward from meadow and roadside.

The stout, mucilaginous root of this plant is valued by farmers as a horse-medicine, especially in epidemics of epizootic, one of its common names in England being horse-heal.

In ancient times the elecampane was considered an important stimulant to the human brain and stomach, and it was mentioned as such in the writings of Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” over two thousand years ago.

The common name is supposed to be a corruption of _ala campania_, and refers to the frequent occurrence of the plant in that ancient province of Southern Italy.

FALL DANDELION.
_Leontodon autumnalis._ Composite Family (p. 13).

_Scape._—Five to fifteen inches high, branching. _Leaves._—From the
root, toothed or deeply incised. _Flower-heads._—Yellow, composed
entirely of strap-shaped flowers; smaller than those of the common
dandelion.

From June till November we find the fall dandelion along the New England roadsides, as well as farther south. While the yellow flower-heads somewhat suggest small dandelions the general habit of the plant recalls some of the hawkweeds.

WILD SUNFLOWER.
_Helianthus giganteus._ Composite Family (p. 13).

_Stem._—Rough or hairy, from three to ten feet high, branched above.
_Leaves._—Lance-shaped, pointed, rough to the touch, set close to the
stem. _Flower-heads._—Yellow, composed of both ray and disk-flowers.

PLATE LVII

WILD SUNFLOWER.—_H. giganteus._
]

In late summer many of our lanes are hedged by this beautiful plant, which, like other members of its family, lifts its yellow flowers sunward in pale imitation of the great life-giver itself. We have twenty-two different species of sunflower. _H. divaricatus_ is of a lower growth, with opposite, widely spreading leaves and larger flower-heads. _H. annuus_ is the garden species familiar to all; this is said to be a native of Peru. Mr. Ellwanger writes regarding it: “In the mythology of the ancient Peruvians it occupied an important place, and was employed as a mystic decoration in ancient Mexican sculpture. Like the lotus of the East, it is equally a sacred and an artistic emblem, figuring in the symbolism of Mexico and Peru, where the Spaniards found it rearing its aspiring stalk in the fields, and serving in the temples as a sign and a decoration, the sun-god’s officiating handmaidens wearing upon their breasts representations of the sacred flower in beaten gold.”

Gerarde describes it as follows: “The Indian Sun or the golden floure of Peru is a plant of such stature and talnesse that in one Sommer, being sowne of a seede in April, it hath risen up to the height of fourteen foot in my garden, where one floure was in weight three pound and two ounces, and crosse overthwart the floure by measure sixteen inches broad.”

The generic name is from _helios_—the sun, and _anthos_—a flower.

SNEEZEWEED. SWAMP SUNFLOWER.
_Helenium autumnale._ Composite Family (p. 13).

One to six feet high. _Stem._—Angled, erect, branching.
_Leaves._—Alternate, lance-shaped. _Flower-heads._—Yellow, composed of
both ray and disk-flowers, the rays being somewhat cleft.

As far north as Connecticut we see masses of these bright flowers bordering the streams and swamps in September.

STICK-TIGHT. BUR MARIGOLD, BEGGAR-TICKS.
_Bidens frondosa._ Composite Family (p. 13).

Two to six feet high. _Stem._—Branching. _Leaves._—Opposite, three to
five-divided. _Flower-heads._—Consisting of brownish-yellow tubular
flowers, with a leaf-like involucre beneath.

PLATE LVIII

STICK-TIGHT.—_B. frondosa._
]

If one were only describing the attractive wild flowers, the stick-tight would certainly be omitted, as its appearance is not prepossessing, and the small barbed seed-vessels so cleverly fulfil their destiny in making one’s clothes a means of conveyance to “fresh woods and pastures new” as to cause all wayfarers heartily to detest them. “How surely the desmodium growing on some cliff-side, or the bidens on the edge of a pool, prophesy the coming of the traveller, brute or human, that will transport their seeds on his coat,” writes Thoreau. But the plant is so constantly encountered in late summer, and yet so generally unknown, that it can hardly be overlooked.

The larger bur marigold, _B. chrysanthemoides_, does its best to retrieve the family reputation for ugliness, and surrounds its dingy disk-flowers with a circle of showy golden rays which are strictly decorative, having neither pistils nor stamens, and leaving all the work of the household to the less attractive but more useful disk-flowers. Their effect is pleasing, and late into the autumn the moist ditches look as if sown with gold through their agency. The plant varies in height from six inches to two feet. Its leaves are opposite, lance-shaped, and regularly toothed.

SMOOTH FALSE FOXGLOVE.
_Gerardia quercifolia._ Figwort Family.

_Stem._—Smooth, three to six feet high, usually branching.
_Leaves._—The lower usually deeply incised, the upper narrowly oblong,
incised, or entire. _Flowers._—Yellow, large, in a raceme or spike.
_Calyx._—Five-cleft. _Corolla._—Two inches long, somewhat tubular,
swelling above, with five more or less unequal, spreading lobes,
woolly within. _Stamens._—Four, in pairs, woolly. _Pistil._—One.

These large pale yellow flowers are very beautiful and striking when seen in the dry woods of late summer. They are all the more appreciated because there are few flowers abroad at this season save the Composites, which are decorative and radiant enough, but usually somewhat lacking in the delicate charm we look for in a flower.

The members of this genus, which is named after Gerarde, the author of the famous “Herball,” are supposed to be more or less parasitic in their habits, drawing their nourishment from the roots of other plants.

PLATE LIX

SMOOTH FALSE FOXGLOVE.—_G. quercifolia._
]

The downy false foxglove, _G. flava_, is usually a somewhat lower plant, with a close down, a less-branched stem, more entire leaves, and smaller, similar flowers.

TANSY.
_Tanacetum vulgare._ Composite Family (p. 13).

_Stem._—Two to four feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into toothed
leaflets. _Flower-heads._—Yellow, composed of tiny flowers which are
nearly, if not all, tubular in shape; borne in flat-topped clusters.

With the name of tansy we seem to catch a whiff of its strong-scented breath and a glimpse of some New England homestead beyond whose borders it has strayed to deck the roadside with its deep yellow, flat-topped flower-clusters. The plant has been used in medicine since the Middle Ages, and in more recent times it has been gathered by the country people for “tansy wine” and “tansy tea.” In the Roman Church it typifies the bitter herbs which were to be eaten at the Paschal season; and cakes made of eggs and its leaves are called “tansies,” and eaten during Lent. It is also frequently utilized in more secular concoctions.

The common name is supposed to be a corruption of the Greek word for _immortality_.

WITCH-HAZEL.
_Hamamelis Virginiana._ Witch-hazel Family.

A tall shrub. _Leaves._—Oval, wavy-toothed, mostly falling before the
flowers appear. _Flowers._—Honey-yellow, clustered, autumnal.
_Calyx._—Four-parted. _Corolla._—Of four long narrow petals.
_Stamens._—Eight. _Pistils._—Two. _Fruit._—A capsule which bursts
elastically, discharging its large seeds with vigor.

PLATE LX

TANSY.—_T. vulgare._
]

It seems as though the flowers of the witch-hazel were fairly entitled to the “booby-prize,” of the vegetable world. Surely no other blossoms make their first appearance so invariably late upon the scene of action. The fringed gentian often begins to open its “meek and quiet eye” quite early in September. Certain species of golden-rod and aster continue to flower till late in the year, but they began putting forth their bright clusters before the summer was fairly over; while the elusively fragrant, pale yellow blossoms of the witch-hazel need hardly be expected till well on in September, when its leaves have fluttered earthward and its fruit has ripened. Does the pleasure which we experience at the spring-like apparition of this leafless yellow-flowered shrub in the autumn woods arise from the same depraved taste which is gratified by strawberries at Christmas, I wonder? Or is it that in the midst of death we have a foretaste of life; a prophecy of the great yearly resurrection which even now we may anticipate?

Thoreau’s tastes in such directions were certainly not depraved, and he writes: “The witch-hazel loves a hill-side with or without woods or shrubs. It is always pleasant to come upon it unexpectedly as you are threading the woods in such places. Methinks I attribute to it some elfish quality apart from its fame. I love to behold its gray speckled stems.” Under another date he writes: “Heard in the night a snapping sound, and the fall of some small body on the floor from time to time. In the morning I found it was produced by the witch-hazel nuts on my desk springing open and casting their seeds quite across my chamber, hard and stony as these nuts were.”

The Indians long ago discovered the value of its bark for medicinal purposes, and it is now utilized in many well-known extracts. The forked branches formerly served as divining-rods in the search for water and precious ores. This belief in its mysterious power very possibly arose from its suggestive title, which Dr. Prior says should be spelled _wych_-hazel, as it was called after the wych-elm, whose leaves it resembles, and which was so named because the chests termed in old times “wyches” were made of its wood—

His hall rofe was full of bacon flytches,
The chambre charged was with wyches
Full of egges, butter, and chese.[4]

NOTE.—The flowers of the American Woodbine and of the Fly Honeysuckle (p. 228), and of the Golden Corydalis (p. 192) are also yellow.

III
PINK

TRAILING ARBUTUS. MAYFLOWER. GROUND LAUREL.
_Epigæa repens._ Heath Family.

_Stem._—With rusty hairs, prostrate or trailing. _Leaves._—Rounded,
heart-shaped at base, evergreen. _Flowers._—Pink, clustered, fragrant.
_Calyx._—Of five sepals. _Corolla._—Five-lobed, salver-shaped, with a
slender tube which is hairy within. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One,
with a five-lobed stigma.

Pink, small, and punctual,
Aromatic, low,

describes, but does scant justice to the trailing arbutus, whose waxy blossoms and delicious breath are among the earliest prophecies of perfume-laden summer. We look for these flowers in April—not beneath the snow—where tradition rashly locates them—but under the dead brown leaves of last year; and especially among the pines and in light sandy soil. Appearing as they do when we are eager for some tangible assurance that

—the Spring comes slowly up this way,

they win from many of us the gladdest recognition of the year.

In New England they are called Mayflowers, being peddled about the streets of Boston every spring, under the suggestive and loudly emphasized title of “Ply-y-mouth Ma-ayflowers!” Whether they owe this name to the ship which is responsible for so much, or to their season of blooming, in certain localities, might remain an open question had we not the authority of Whittier for attributing it to both causes. In a note prefacing “The Mayflowers,” the poet says: “The trailing arbutus or Mayflower grows abundantly in the vicinity of Plymouth, and was the first flower to greet the Pilgrims after their fearful winter.” In the poem itself he wonders what the old ship had

Within her ice-rimmed bay
In common with the wild-wood flowers,
The first sweet smiles of May?

and continues—

Yet “God be praised!” the Pilgrim said,
Who saw the blossoms peer
Above the brown leaves, dry and dead,
“Behold our Mayflower here!”

God wills it, here our rest shall be,
Our years of wandering o’er,
For us the Mayflower of the sea
Shall spread her sails no more.

O sacred flowers of faith and hope,
As sweetly now as then,
Ye bloom on many a birchen slope,
In many a pine-dark glen.

· · · · ·

So live the fathers in their sons,
Their sturdy faith be ours,
And ours the love that overruns
Its rocky strength with flowers.

If the poet’s fancy was founded on fact, and if our lovely and wide-spread Mayflower was indeed the first blossom noted and christened by our forefathers, it seems as though the problem of a national flower must be solved by one so lovely and historic as to silence all dispute. And when we read the following prophetic stanzas which close the poem, showing that during another dark period in our nation’s history these brave little blossoms, struggling through the withered leaves, brought a message of hope and courage to the heroic heart of the Quaker poet, our feeling that they are peculiarly identified with our country’s perilous moments is intensified:

The Pilgrim’s wild and wintry day
At shadow round us draws;
The Mayflower of his stormy bay
Our Freedom’s struggling cause.

But warmer suns erelong shall bring
To life the frozen sod;
And, through dead leaves of hope shall spring
Afresh the flowers of God!

PLATE LXI

TRAILING ARBUTUS.—_E. repens._

TWIN-FLOWER.—_L. borealis._
]

TWIN-FLOWER.
_Linnæa borealis._ Honeysuckle Family.

_Stem._—Slender, creeping and trailing. _Leaves._—Rounded, shining and
evergreen. _Flowers._—Growing in pairs, delicate pink, fragrant,
nodding on thread-like, upright flower-stalks. _Calyx._—Five-toothed.
_Corolla._—Narrowly bell-shaped, five-lobed, hairy within.
_Stamens._—Four, two shorter than the others. _Pistil._—One.

Whoever has seen

—beneath dim aisles, in odorous beds,
The slight Linnæa hang its twin-born heads,[5]

will not soon forget the exquisite carpeting made by its nodding pink flowers and dark shining leaves; or the delicious perfume which actually filled the air and drew one’s attention to the spot from which it was exhaled, tempting one to exclaim with Richard Jefferies, “Sweetest of all things is wild-flower air!” That this little plant should have been selected as “the monument of the man of flowers” by the great Linnæus himself, bears testimony to his possession of that appreciation of the beautiful which is supposed to be lacking in men of long scientific training. I believe that there is extant at least one contemporary portrait of Linnæus in which he wears the tiny flowers in his buttonhole. The rosy twin-blossoms are borne on thread-like, forking flower-stalks, and appear in June in the deep, cool, mossy woods of the North.

SHOWY ORCHIS.
_Orchis spectabilis._ Orchis Family (p. 17).

_Stem._—Four-angled, with leaf-like bracts, rising from fleshy,
fibrous roots. _Leaves._—Two, oblong, shining, three to six inches
long. _Flowers._—In a loose spike, purple-pink, the lower lip white.

This flower not only charms us with its beauty when its clusters begin to dot the rich May woods, but interests us as being usually the first member of the Orchis family to appear upon the scene; although it is claimed in certain localities that the beautiful Calypso always, and the Indian moccason occasionally, precedes it.

PLATE LXII

SHOWY ORCHIS.—_O. spectabilis._
]

A certain fascination attends the very name of orchid. Botanist and unscientific flower-lover alike pause with unwonted interest when the discovery of one is announced. With the former there is always the possibility of finding some rare species, while the excitement of the latter is apt to be whetted with the hope of beholding a marvellous imitation of bee or butterfly fluttering from a mossy branch with roots that draw their nourishment from the air! While this little plant is sure to fail of satisfying the hopes of either, it is far prettier if less rare than many of its brethren, and its interesting mechanism will repay our patient study. It is said closely to resemble the “long purples,” _O. mascula_, which grew near the scene of Ophelia’s tragic death.

TWISTED STALK.
_Streptopus roseus._ Lily Family.

_Stems._—Rather stout and zigzag, forking and diverging.
_Leaves._—Taper-pointed, slightly clasping. _Flowers._—Dull
purplish-pink, hanging on thread-like flower-stalks from the axils of
the leaves. _Perianth._—Somewhat bell-shaped, of six distinct sepals.
_Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One, with a three-cleft stigma.

This plant presents a graceful group of forking branches and pointed leaves. No blossom is seen from above, but on picking a branch one finds beneath each of its outspread leaves one or two slender, bent stalks from which hang the pink, bell-like flowers. In general aspect the plant somewhat resembles its relations, the Solomon’s seal, with which it is found blossoming in the woods of May or June. The English title is a translation of the generic name, _Streptopus_.

WILD PINK.
_Silene Pennsylvanica._ Pink Family.

_Stems._—Four to eight inches high. _Leaves._—Those from the root
narrowly wedge-shaped, those on the stem lance-shaped, opposite.
_Flowers._—Bright pink, clustered. _Calyx._—Five-toothed.
_Corolla._—Of five petals. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One, with three
styles.

PLATE LXIII

TWISTED STALK.—_S. roseus._
]

When a vivid cluster of wild pinks gleams from some rocky opening in the May woods, it is difficult to restrain one’s eagerness, for there is something peculiarly enticing in these fresh, vigorous-looking flowers. They are quite unlike most of their fragile contemporaries, for they seem to be already imbued with the glowing warmth of summer, and to have no memory of that snowy past which appears to leave its imprint on so many blossoms of the early year.

In waste places, from June until September or later, we find the small clustered pink flowers, which open transiently in the sunshine of the sleepy catchfly, _S. antirrhina_.

PINK LADY’S SLIPPER. MOCCASON-FLOWER.
_Cypripedium acaule._ Orchis Family (p. 17).

_Scape._—Eight to twelve inches high, two-leaved at base, downy,
one-flowered. _Leaves._—Two, large, many-nerved and plaited, sheathing
at the base. _Flower._—Solitary, purple-pink. _Perianth._—Of three
greenish spreading sepals, the two lateral petals narrow, spreading,
greenish, the pink lip in the shape of a large inflated pouch.
_Stamens._—Two, the short filaments each bearing a two-celled anther.
_Stigma._—Broad, obscurely three-lobed, moist and roughish.

Graceful and tall the slender, drooping stem,
With two broad leaves below,
Shapely the flower so lightly poised between,
And warm her rosy glow,

writes Elaine Goodale of the moccason-flower. This is a blossom whose charm never wanes. It seems to be touched with the spirit of the deep woods, and there is a certain fitness in its Indian name, for it looks as though it came direct from the home of the red man. All who have found it in its secluded haunts will sympathize with Mr. Higginson’s feeling that each specimen is a rarity, even though he should find a hundred to an acre. Gray assigns it to “dry or moist woods,” while Mr. Baldwin writes: “The finest specimens I ever saw sprang out of cushions of crisp reindeer moss high up among the rocks of an exposed hill-side, and again I have found it growing vigorously in almost open swamps, but nearly colorless from excessive moisture.” The same writer quotes a lady who is familiar with it in the Adirondacks. She says: “It seems to have a great fondness for decaying wood, and I often see a whole row perched like birds along a crumbling log.” While I recall a mountain lake where the steep cliffs rise from the water’s edge, here and there, on a tiny shelf strewn with pine-needles, can be seen a pair of large veiny leaves, above which, in early June, the pink balloon-like blossom floats from its slender scape.

PLATE LXIV

PINK LADY’S SLIPPER.—_C. acaule._
]

——— ———
_Calopogon pulchellus._ Orchis Family (p. 17).

_Scape._—Rising about one foot from a small solid bulb.
_Leaf._—Linear, grass-like. _Flowers._—Two to six on each scape,
purple-pink, about one inch broad, the lip as if hinged at its
insertion, bearded toward the summit with white, yellow, and purple
hairs. The peculiarity of this orchid is that the ovary is not
twisted, and consequently the lip is on the upper instead of the lower
side of the flower.

One may hope to find these bright flowers growing side by side with the glistening sundew in the rich bogs of early summer. Mr. Baldwin assigns still another constant companion to the _Calopogon_, an orchid which staggers under the terrifying title of _Pogonia ophioglossoides_. The generic name of _Calopogon_ is from two Greek words signifying _beautiful beard_ and has reference to the delicately bearded lip.

PINK AZALEA. WILD HONEYSUCKLE. PINXTER FLOWER. SWAMP PINK.
_Rhododendron nudiflorum._ Heath Family.

A shrub from two to six feet high. _Leaves._—Narrowly oblong, downy
underneath, usually appearing somewhat later than the flowers.
_Flowers._—Pink, clustered. _Calyx._—Minute. _Corolla._—Funnel-shaped,
with five long recurved lobes. _Stamens._—Five or ten, long,
protruding noticeably. _Pistil._—One, long, protruding.

Our May swamps and moist woods are made rosy by masses of the pink azalea which is often known as the wild honeysuckle, although not even a member of the Honeysuckle family. It is in the height of its beauty before the blooming of the laurel, and heralds the still lovelier pageant which is even then in rapid course of preparation.

PLATE LXV

PINK AZALEA.—_R. nudiflorum._
]

In the last century the name of Mayflower was given to the shrub by the Swedes in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. Peter Kalm, the pupil of Linnæus, after whom our laurel, _Kalmia_, is named, writes the following description of the shrub in his “Travels,” which were published in English in 1771, and which explain the origin of one of its titles: “Some of the Swedes and Dutch call them Pinxter-bloem (Whitsunday-flower) as they really are in bloom about Whitsuntide; and at a distance they have some similarity to the Honeysuckle or ‘Lonicera.’... Its flowers were now open and added a new ornament to the woods.... They sit in a circle round the stem’s extremity and have either a dark red or a lively red color; but by standing for some time the sun bleaches them, and at last they get to a whitish hue.... They have some smell, but I cannot say it is very pleasant. However, the beauty of the flower entitles them to a place in every flower-garden.” While our pink azalea could hardly be called “dark red” under any circumstances, it varies greatly in the color of its flowers.

The azalea is the national flower of Flanders.

——— ———
_Rhododendron Rhodora._ Heath Family.

A shrub from one to two feet high. _Leaves._—Oblong, pale.
_Flowers._—Purplish-pink. _Calyx._—Small. _Corolla._—Two-lipped,
almost without any tube. _Stamens._—Ten, not protruding.
_Pistil._—One, not protruding.

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals, fallen in the pool,
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being;
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask, I never knew;
But in my simple ignorance, suppose
The self-same Power that brought me there, brought you.[6]

SHEEP LAUREL. LAMBKILL.
_Kalmia angustifolia._ Heath Family.

A shrub from one to three feet high. _Leaves._—Narrowly oblong,
light green. _Flowers._—Deep pink, in lateral clusters.
_Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Five-lobed, between wheel and
bell-shaped, with stamens caught in its depressions as in the
mountain laurel. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One.

This low shrub grows abundantly with the mountain laurel, bearing smaller deep pink flowers at the same season, and narrower, paler leaves. It is said to be the most poisonous of the genus, and to be especially deadly to sheep, while deer are supposed to feed upon its leaves with impunity.

AMERICAN CRANBERRY.
_Vaccinium macrocarpon._ Heath Family.

_Stems._—Slender, trailing, one to four feet long. _Leaves._—Oblong,
obtuse. _Flowers._—Pale pink, nodding. _Calyx._—With short teeth.
_Corolla._—Four-parted. _Stamens._—Eight or ten, protruding.
_Fruit._—A large, acid, red berry.

In the peat-bogs of our Northeastern States we may look in June for the pink nodding flowers, and in late summer for the large red berries of this well-known plant.

ADDER’S MOUTH.
_Pogonia ophioglossoides._ Orchis Family (p. 17).

_Stem._—Six to nine inches high, from a fibrous root. _Leaves._—An
oval or lance-oblong one near the middle of the stem, and a smaller or
bract-like one near the terminal flower, occasionally one or two
others, with a flower in their axils. _Flower._—Pale pink, sometimes
white, sweet-scented, one inch long, lip bearded and fringed.

Mr. Baldwin maintains that there is no wild flower of as pure a pink as this unless it be the _Sabbatia._ Its color has also been described as a “peach-blossom red.” As already mentioned, the plant is found blossoming in bogs during the early summer in company with the Calopogons and sundews. Its violet-like fragrance greatly enhances its charm.

COMMON MILKWORT.
_Polygala sanguinea._ Milkwort Family.

_Stem._—Six inches to a foot high, sparingly branched above, leafy to
the top. _Leaves._—Oblong-linear. _Flowers._—Growing in round or
oblong heads which are somewhat clover-like in appearance, bright pink
or almost red, occasionally paler. _Calyx._—Of five sepals, three of
which are small and often greenish, while the two inner ones are much
larger and colored like the petals. _Corolla._—Of three petals
connected with each other, the lower one keel-shaped. _Stamens._—Six
or eight. _Pistil._—One. (Flowers too difficult to be analyzed by the
non-botanist.)

This pretty little plant abounds in moist and also sandy places, growing on mountain heights as well as in the salt meadows which skirt the sea. In late summer its bright flower-heads gleam vividly through the grasses, and from their form and color might almost be mistaken for pink clover. Occasionally they are comparatively pale and inconspicuous.

——— ———
_Polygala polygama._ Milkwort Family.

_Stems._—Very leafy, six to nine inches high, with cleistogamous
flowers on underground runners. _Leaves._—Lance-shaped or oblong.
_Flowers._—Purple-pink, loosely clustered in a terminal raceme. _Keel
of Corolla._—Crested. _Stamens._—Eight. _Pistil._—One.

Like its more attractive sister, the fringed polygala, this little plant hides its most useful, albeit unattractive, blossoms in the ground, where they can fulfil their destiny of perpetuating the species without danger of molestation by thievish insects or any of the distractions incidental to a more worldly career. Exactly what purpose the little above-ground flowers, which appear so plentifully in sandy soil in July, are intended to serve, it is difficult to understand.

FRINGED POLYGALA.
_Polygala paucifolia._ Milkwort Family.

_Flowering stems._—Three or four inches high, from long, prostrate or
underground shoots which also bear cleistogamous flowers.
_Leaves._—The lower, small and scale-like, scattered, the upper,
ovate, and crowded at the summit. _Flowers._—Purple-pink, rarely
white, rather large. _Keel of Corolla._—Conspicuously fringed and
crested. _Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One.

PLATE LXVI

MILKWORT.
]