Part 34

COW WHEAT. Melampyrum Americanum. Figwort Family.

Stem.—Low, erect, branching. Leaves.—Opposite, lance-shaped. Flowers.—Small, greenish-yellow, solitary in the axils of the upper leaves. Calyx.—Bell-shaped, four-cleft. Corolla.—Two-lipped, upper lip arched, lower three-lobed and spreading at the apex. Stamens.—Four. Pistil.—One.

In the open woods, from June until September, we encounter the pale yellow flowers of this rather insignificant little plant. The cow wheat was formerly cultivated by the Dutch as food for cattle. The Spanish name, Trigo de Vaca, would seem to indicate a similar custom in Spain. The generic name, Melampyrum, is from the Greek, and signifies black wheat, in reference to the appearance of the seeds of some species when mixed with grain. The flower would not be likely to attract one’s attention were it not exceedingly common in some parts of the country, flourishing especially in our more eastern woodlands.

MEADOW LILY. WILD YELLOW LILY. Lilium Canadense. Lily Family.

Stem.—Two to five feet high. Leaves.—Whorled, lance-shaped. Flowers.—Yellow, spotted with reddish-brown, bell-shaped, two to three inches long. Perianth.—Of six recurved sepals, with a nectar-bearing furrow at their base. Stamens.—Six, with anthers loaded with brown pollen. Pistil.—One, with a three-lobed stigma.

What does the summer bring which is more enchanting than a sequestered wood-bordered meadow hung with a thousand of these delicate, nodding bells which look as though ready to tinkle at the least disturbance and sound an alarum among the flowers?

PLATE XLV

MEADOW LILY.—L. Canadense. ]

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. ]