Part 21

of Burns. This was first called “day’s eye,” because it closed at night and opened at dawn,—

That well by reason men it call may, The Daisie, or else the eye of the day,

sang Chaucer nearly four hundred years ago. In England our flower is called “ox-eye” and “moon daisy;” in Scotland, “dog-daisy.”

The plant is not native to this country, but was brought from the Old World by the early colonists.

DAISY FLEABANE. SWEET SCABIOUS. Erigeron annuus. Composite Family (p. 13).

Stem.—Stout, from three to five feet high, branched, hairy. Leaves.—Coarsely and sharply toothed, the lowest ovate, the upper narrower. Flower-heads.—Small, clustered, composed of both ray and disk-flowers, the former white, purplish, or pinkish, the latter yellow.

During the summer months the fields and waysides are whitened with these very common flowers which look somewhat like small white daisies or asters.

Another common species is E. strigosus, a smaller plant, with smaller flower-heads also, but with the white ray-flowers longer. The generic name is from two Greek words signifying spring and an old man, in allusion to the hoariness of certain species which flower in the spring. The fleabanes were so named from the belief that when burned they were objectionable to insects. They were formerly hung in country cottages for the purpose of excluding such unpleasant intruders.

MAYWEED. CHAMOMILE. Anthemis Cotula. Composite Family (p. 13).

Stem.—Branching. Leaves.—Finely dissected. Flower-heads.—Composed of white ray and yellow disk-flowers, resembling the common white daisy.

In midsummer the pretty daisy-like blossoms of this strong-scented plant are massed along the roadsides. So nearly a counterpart of the common daisy do they appear that they are constantly mistaken for that flower. The smaller heads, with the yellow disk-flowers crowded upon a receptacle which is much more conical than that of the daisy, and the finely dissected, feathery leaves, serve to identify the Mayweed. The country-folk brew “chamomile tea” from these leaves, and through their agency raise painfully effective blisters in an emergency.

NEW JERSEY TEA. RED-ROOT. Ceanothus Americanus. Buckthorn Family.

Root.—Dark red. Stem.—Shrubby, one to three feet high. Flowers.—White, small, clustered. Calyx.—White, petal-like, five-lobed, incurved. Corolla.—With five long-clawed hooded petals. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One, with three stigmas.

This shrubby plant is very common in dry woods. In July its white feathery flower-clusters brighten many a shady nook in an otherwise flowerless neighborhood. During the Revolution its leaves were used as a substitute for tea.

BASTARD TOADFLAX. Comandra umbellata. Sandalwood Family.

Stem.—Eight to ten inches high, branching, leafy. Leaves.—Alternate, oblong, pale. Flowers.—Greenish-white, small, clustered. Calyx.—Bell or urn-shaped. Corolla.—None. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One.

The bastard toadflax is commonly found in dry ground, flowering in May or June. Its root forms parasitic attachments to the roots of trees.

WINTERGREEN. CHECKERBERRY. MOUNTAIN TEA. Gaultheria procumbens. Heath Family.

Stem.—Three to six inches high, slender, leafy at the summit. Leaves.—Oval, shining, evergreen. Flowers.—White, growing from the axils of the leaves. Calyx.—Five-lobed. Corolla.—Urn-shaped, with five small teeth. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—A globular red berry.

He who seeks the cool shade of the evergreens on a hot July day is likely to discover the nodding wax-like flowers of this little plant. They are delicate and pretty, with a background of shining leaves. These leaves when young have a pleasant aromatic flavor similar to that of the sweet birch; they are sometimes used as a substitute for tea. The bright red berries are also edible and savory, and are much appreciated by the hungry birds and deer during the winter. If not thus consumed they remain upon the plant until the following spring when they either drop or rot upon the stem, thus allowing the seeds to escape.

WHITE SWEET CLOVER. WHITE MELILOT. Melilotus alba. Pulse Family (p. 16).

Stem.—Two to four feet high. Leaves.—Divided into three-toothed leaflets. Flowers.—Papilionaceous, white, growing in spike-like racemes.

Like its yellow sister, M. officinalis, this plant is found blossoming along the roadsides throughout the summer. The flowers are said to serve as flavoring in Gruyère cheese, snuff, and smoking-tobacco, and to act like camphor when packed with furs to preserve them from moths, besides imparting a pleasant fragrance.

WATERLEAF. Hydrophyllum Virginicum. Waterleaf Family.

One to two feet high. Leaves.—Divided into five to seven oblong, pointed, toothed divisions. Flowers.—White or purplish, in one-sided raceme-like clusters which are usually coiled from the apex when young. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Five-cleft, bell-shaped. Stamens.—Five, protruding. Pistil.—One.

This plant is found flowering in summer in the rich woods.

PLATE XX

WINTERGREEN.—G. procumbens. ]