Part 46

In July and August we find these little flowers in our eastern fields. The generic name, which signifies Jove’s own flower, hardly applies to these inconspicuous blossoms. Perhaps it was originally bestowed upon D. caryophyllus, a large and fragrant English member of the genus, which was the origin of our garden carnation.

PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE. Lythrum Salicaria. Loosestrife Family.

Stem.—Tall and slender. Leaves.—Lance-shaped, with a heart-shaped base, sometimes whorled in threes. Flowers.—Deep purple-pink, crowded and whorled in an interrupted spike. Calyx.—Five to seven-toothed, with little processes between the teeth. Corolla.—Of five or six somewhat wrinkled petals. Stamens.—Usually twelve, in two sets, six longer and six shorter. Pistil.—One, varying in size in the different blossoms, being of three different lengths.

PLATE LXXI

PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE.—L. Salicaria. ]

One who has seen an inland marsh in August aglow with this beautiful plant, is almost ready to forgive the Old Country some of the many pests she has shipped to our shores in view of this radiant acquisition. The botany locates it anywhere between Nova Scotia and Delaware. It may be seen in the perfection of its beauty along the marshy shores of the Hudson and in the swamps of the Wallkill Valley.

When we learn that these flowers are called “long purples,” by the English country people, the scene of Ophelia’s tragic death rises before us:

There is a willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream, There with fantastic garlands did she come, Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do dead men’s fingers call them.

Dr. Prior, however, says that it is supposed that Shakespeare intended to designate the purple-flowering orchis, O. mascula, which is said to closely resemble the showy orchis (Pl. LXII.) of our spring woods.

The flowers of the purple loosestrife are especially interesting to botanists on account of their trimorphism, which word signifies occurring in three forms, and refers to the stamens and pistils, which vary in size in the different blossoms, being of three different lengths, the pollen from any given set of stamens being especially fitted to fertilize a pistil of corresponding length.

MEADOW-BEAUTY. DEER-GRASS. Rhexia Virginica. Melastoma Family.

Stem.—Square, with wing-like angles. Leaves.—Opposite, narrowly oval. Flowers.—Purplish-pink, clustered. Calyx-tube.—Urn-shaped, four-cleft at the apex. Corolla.—Of four large rounded petals. Stamens.—Eight, with long curved anthers. Pistil.—One.

It is always a pleasant surprise to happen upon a bright patch of these delicate deep-hued flowers along the marshes or in the sandy fields of midsummer. Their fragile beauty is of that order which causes it to seem natural that they should belong to a genus which is the sole northern representative of a tropical family. In parts of New England they grow in profusion, while in Arkansas the plant is said to be a great favorite with the deer, hence one of its common names. The flower has been likened to a scarlet evening primrose, and there is certainly a suggestion of the evening primrose in the four rounded, slightly heart-shaped petals. The protruding stamens, with their long yellow anthers, are conspicuous.

PLATE LXXII

MEADOW-BEAUTY.—R. Virginica. ]

Of the plant in the late year, Thoreau writes: “The scarlet leaves and stem of the rhexia, sometime out of flower, make almost as bright a patch in the meadows now as the flowers did. Its seed-vessels are perfect little cream-pitchers of graceful form.”

CLAMMY CUPHEA. WAX-WEED. Cuphea viscosissima. Loosestrife Family.

Stem.—Sticky, hairy, branching. Leaves.—Usually opposite, rounded, lance-shaped. Flowers.—Deep purplish-pink, solitary or in racemes. Calyx.—Tubular, slightly spurred at the base on the upper side, six-toothed at the apex, usually with a slight projection between each tooth. Corolla.—Small, of six unequal petals. Stamens.—Eleven or twelve, of unequal sizes, in two sets. Pistil.—One, with a two-lobed stigma.

In the dry fields and along the roadsides of late summer this plant is found in blossom. Its rather wrinkled purplish-pink petals and unequal stamens suggest the flowers of the spiked loosestrife, L. Salicaria, to which it is closely related.

SEA PINK. Sabbatia stellaris. Gentian Family.

Stem.—Slender, loosely branched. Leaves.—Opposite, oblong to lance-shaped, the upper narrowly linear. Flowers.—Large, deep pure pink to almost white. Calyx.—Usually five-parted, the lobes long and slender. Corolla.—Usually five-parted, conspicuously marked with red and yellow in the centre. Stamens.—Usually five. Pistil.—One, with two-cleft style.

The advancing year has few fairer sights to show us than a salt meadow flushed with these radiant blossoms. They are so abundant, so deep-hued, so delicate! One feels tempted to lie down among the pale grasses and rosy stars in the sunshine of the August morning and drink his fill of their beauty. How often nature tries to the utmost our capacity of appreciation and leaves us still insatiate! At such times it is almost a relief to turn from the mere contemplation of beauty to the study of its structure; it rests our overstrained faculties.

PLATE LXXIII

SEA PINK.—S. stellaris. ]

The vivid coloring and conspicuous marking of these flowers indicate that they aim to attract certain members of the insect world. As in the fireweed the pistil of the freshly opened blossom is curved sideways, with its lobes so closed and twisted as to be inaccessible on their stigmatic surfaces to the pollen which the already mature stamens are discharging. When the effete anthers give evidence that they are hors de combat by their withered appearance, the style erects itself and spreads its stigmas.

S. angularis is a species which may be found in rich soil inland. Its somewhat heart-shaped, clasping, five-nerved leaves and angled stem serve to identify it.

S. chloroides is a larger and peculiarly beautiful species which borders brackish ponds along the coast. Its corolla is about two inches broad and eight to twelve-parted.

MARSH ST. JOHN’S-WORT. Elodes campanulata. St. John’s-wort Family.