Part 48

In late summer and early autumn these pretty noticeable flowers brighten the low-lying ground along the coast and in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes. The sandy fields of New England and Long Island are oftentimes a vivid mass of color owing to their delicate blossoms. The plant varies somewhat in the size of its flowers and in the manner of its growth.

The little seaside gerardia, G. maritima, is from four inches to a foot high. Its smaller blossoms are also found in salt marshes.

The slender gerardia, G. tenuifolia, is common in mountainous regions. The leaves of this species are exceedingly narrow. Like the false foxglove (Pl. LIX.) and other members of this genus, these plants are supposed to be parasitic in their habits.

JOE-PYE-WEED. TRUMPET-WEED. Eupatorium purpureum. Composite Family (p. 13).

Stem.—Stout and tall, two to twelve feet high, often dotted. Leaves.—In whorls of three to six, oblong or oval, pointed, rough, veiny, toothed. Flower-heads.—Purplish-pink, small, composed entirely of tubular blossoms, with long protruding styles, growing in large clusters at or near the summit of the stem.

PLATE LXXVII

JOE-PYE-WEED.—E. purpureum. ]

The summer is nearly over when the tall, conspicuous Joe-Pye-weed begins to tinge with “crushed raspberry” the lowlands through which we pass. In parts of the country it is nearly as common as the golden-rods and asters which appear at about the same season. With the deep purple of the iron-weed it gives variety to the intense hues which herald the coming of autumn.

“Joe Pye” is said to have been the name of an Indian who cured typhus fever in New England by means of this plant. The tiny trumpet-shaped blossoms which make up the flower-heads may have suggested the other common name.

PINK KNOTWEED. Polygonum Pennsylvanicum. Buckwheat Family.

One to four feet high. Stem.—Branching. Leaves.—Alternate, lance-shaped. Flowers.—Bright pink, growing in thick, short, erect spikes. Calyx.—Mostly five-parted, the divisions petal-like, pink. Corolla.—None. Stamens.—Usually eight. Pistil.—One, with a two-cleft style.

In late summer this plant can hardly escape notice. Its erect pink spikes direct attention to some neglected corner in the garden or brighten the fields and roadsides. The rosy divisions of the calyx persist till after the fruit has formed, pressing closely against the dark seed-vessel within.

SAND KNOTWEED. Polygonella articulata. (Formerly Polygonum articulatum.) Buckwheat Family.

Erect, branching, four to twelve inches high. Leaves.—Linear, inconspicuous. Flowers.—Rose-color, nodding, in very slender racemes. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—None. Stamens.—Eight. Pistil.—One, with three styles.

Under date of September 26th, Thoreau writes: “The Polygonum articulatum, giving a rosy tinge to Jenny’s desert, is very interesting now, with its slender dense racemes of rose-tinted flowers, apparently without leaves, rising cleanly out of the sand. It looks warm and brave, a foot or more high, and mingled with deciduous blue curls. It is much divided, with many spreading, slender-racemed branches, with inconspicuous linear leaves, reminding me, both by its form and its colors, of a peach-orchard in blossom, especially when the sunlight falls on it; minute rose-tinted flowers that brave the frosts, and advance the summer into fall, warming with their color sandy hill-sides and deserts, like the glow of evening reflected on the sand, apparently all flower and no leaf. Rising apparently with clean bare stems from the sand, it spreads out into this graceful head of slender, rosy racemes, wisp-like. This little desert of less than an acre blushes with it.”

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NOTE.—The Moss Pink, Phlox subulata, with purple-pink flowers, and Phlox glaberrima, with pink or whitish flowers, will be found in the Blue and Purple section (p. 235). The Mountain Laurel (p. 57) and the American Rhododendron (p. 60) are frequently found bearing pink flowers. At times it has been difficult to determine whether certain flowers should be described in the Pink or in the Purple section. The reader should bear this in mind, consulting both in dubious cases.

IV RED

WILD COLUMBINE. Aquilegia Canadensis. Crowfoot Family.

Twelve to eighteen inches high. Stem.—Branching. Leaves.—Much-divided, the leaflets lobed. Flowers.—Large, bright red, yellow within, nodding. Calyx.—Of five red petal-like sepals. Corolla.—Of five petals in the form of large hollow spurs, which are red without and yellow within. Stamens.—Numerous. Pistils.—Five, with slender styles.

—A woodland walk, A quest of river-grapes, a mocking thrush, A wild-rose or rock-loving columbine, Salve my worst wounds,

declares Emerson; and while perhaps few among us are able to make so light-hearted and sweeping a claim for ourselves, yet many will admit the soothing power of which the woods and fields know the secret, and will own that the ordinary annoyances of life may be held more or less in abeyance by one who lives in close sympathy with nature.

About the columbine there is a daring loveliness which stamps it on the memories of even those who are not ordinarily minute observers. It contrives to secure a foothold in the most precipitous and uncertain of nooks, its jewel-like flowers gleaming from their lofty perches with a graceful insouciance which awakens our sportsmanlike instincts and fires us with the ambition to equal it in daring and make its loveliness our own. Perhaps it is as well if our greediness be foiled and we get a tumble for our pains, for no flower loses more with its surroundings than the columbine. Indeed, these destructive tendencies which are strong within most of us generally defeat themselves by decreasing our pleasure in a blossom the moment we have ruthlessly and without purpose snatched it from its environment. If we honestly wish to study its structure, or to bring into our homes for preservation a bit of the woods’ loveliness, its interest and beauty are sure to repay us. But how many pluck every striking flower they see only to toss it carelessly aside when they reach their destination, if they have not already dropped it by the way. Surely if in such small matters sense and self-control were inculcated in children, more would grow up to the poet’s standard of worthiness:

PLATE LXXVIII

WILD COLUMBINE.—A. Canadensis. ]

Hast thou named all the birds without a gun? Loved the wood-rose and left it on its stalk? At rich men’s tables eaten bread and pulse? Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust? And loved so well a high behavior, In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained, Nobility more nobly to repay? O, be my friend, and teach me to be thine!

The name of columbine is derived from colomba—a dove, but its significance is disputed. Some believe that it was associated with the bird-like claws of the blossom; while Dr. Prior maintains that it refers to the “resemblance of its nectaries to the heads of pigeons in a ring around a dish, a favorite device of ancient artists.”

The meaning of the generic title is also doubtful. Gray derives it from aquilegus—water-drawing, but gives no further explanation, while other writers claim that it is from aquila, an eagle, seeing a likeness to the talons of an eagle in the curved nectaries.