Part 37

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.