Part 43

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.

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. ]

“I must not forget to mention that delicate and lovely flower of May, the fringed polygala. You gather it when you go for the fragrant showy orchis—that is, if you are lucky enough to find it. It is rather a shy flower, and is not found in every wood. One day we went up and down through the woods looking for it—woods of mingled oak, chestnut, pine, and hemlock,—and were about giving it up when suddenly we came upon a gay company of them beside an old wood-road. It was as if a flock of small rose-purple butterflies had alighted there on the ground before us. The whole plant has a singularly fresh and tender aspect. Its foliage is of a slightly purple tinge and of very delicate texture. Not the least interesting feature about the plant is the concealed fertile flower which it bears on a subterranean stem, keeping, as it were, one flower for beauty and one for use.”

It seems unnecessary to tempt “odorous comparisons” by endeavoring to supplement the above description of Mr. Burroughs.

MOSS POLYGALA. Polygala cruciata. Milkwort Family.

Stems.—Three to ten inches high, almost winged at the angles, with spreading opposite leaves and branches. Leaves.—Linear, nearly all whorled in fours. Flowers.—Greenish or purplish-pink, growing in short, thick spikes which terminate the branches.