Part 50

Stem.—Clothed with soft hairs. Leaves.—Alternate, hairy, the upper ones lance-shaped, clasping somewhat by a rounded or heart-shaped base. Flowers.—Purplish-red, growing in a curved raceme-like cluster which straightens as the blossoms expand. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Funnel-form, five-lobed. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—A large nutlet roughened with barbed or hooked prickles.

This coarse plant, whose disagreeable odor strongly suggests mice, is not only a troublesome weed in pasture-land but a special annoyance to wool-growers, as its prickly fruit adheres with pertinacity to the fleece of sheep. Its common name is a translation of its generic title and refers to the shape and texture of the leaves. The dull red flowers appear in summer.

BUTTERFLY-WEED. PLEURISY-ROOT. Asclepias tuberosa. Milkweed Family.

Stem.—Rough and hairy, one or two feet high, erect, very leafy, branching at the summit, without milky juice. Leaves.—Linear to narrowly lance-shaped. Flowers.—Bright orange-red, in flat-topped, terminal clusters, otherwise closely resembling those of the common milkweed (p. 192.) Fruit.—Two hoary erect pods, one of them often stunted.

Few if any of our native plants add more to the beauty of the midsummer landscape than the milkweeds, and of this family no member is more satisfying to the color-craving eye than the gorgeous butterfly-weed, whose vivid flower-clusters flame from the dry sandy meadows with such luxuriance of growth as to seem almost tropical. Even in the tropics one hardly sees anything more brilliant than the great masses of color made by these flowers along some of our New England railways in July, while farther south they are said to grow even more profusely. Its gay coloring has given the plant its name of butterfly-weed, while that of pleurisy-root arose from the belief that the thick, deep root was a remedy for pleurisy. The Indians used it as food and prepared a crude sugar from the flowers; the young seed-pods they boiled and ate with buffalo-meat. The plant is worthy of cultivation and is easily transplanted, as the fleshy roots when broken in pieces form new plants. Oddly enough, at the Centennial much attention was attracted by a bed of these beautiful plants which were brought from Holland. Truly, flowers like prophets are not without honor save in their own country.

PLATE LXXXI

BUTTERFLY-WEED.—A. tuberosa. ]

EUROPEAN HAWKWEED. DEVIL’S PAINTBRUSH. Hieracium aurantiacum. Composite Family (p. 13).

Stem.—Hairy, erect. Leaves.—Hairy, oblong, close to the ground. Flower-heads.—Orange-red, composed entirely of strap-shaped flowers, clustered.

In parts of New York and of New England the midsummer meadows are ablaze with the brilliant orange-red flowers of this striking European weed. It is among the more recent emigrants to this country and bids fair to become an annoyance to the farmer, hence its not altogether inappropriate title of devil’s paintbrush. In England it was called “Grimm the Collier,” on account of its black hairs and after a comedy of the same title which was popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Both its common and generic names refer to an ancient superstition to the effect that birds of prey used the juice of this genus to strengthen their eyesight.

OSWEGO TEA. BEE BALM. Monarda didyma. Mint Family (p. 16).

Stem.—Square, erect, about two feet high. Leaves.—Opposite, ovate, pointed, aromatic; those near the flowers tinged with red. Flowers.—Bright red, clustered in a close round head. Calyx.—Reddish, five-toothed. Corolla.—Elongated, tubular, two-lipped. Stamens.—Two, elongated, protruding. Pistil.—One, with a two-lobed style, protruding.

We have so few red flowers that when one flashes suddenly upon us it gives us a pleasant thrill of wonder and surprise. Then red flowers know so well how to enhance their beauty by seeking an appropriate setting. They select the rich green backgrounds only found in moist, shady places, and are peculiarly charming when associated with a lonely marsh or a mountain brook. The bee balm especially haunts these cool nooks, and its rounded flower-clusters touch with warmth the shadows of the damp woods of midsummer. The Indians named the flower O-gee-chee—flaming flower, and are said to have made a tea-like decoction from the blossoms.

PLATE LXXXII

OSWEGO TEA.—M. didyma. ]

PIMPERNEL. POOR-MAN’S-WEATHER-GLASS. Anagallis arvensis. Primrose Family.

Stems.—Low, spreading. Leaves.—Opposite, ovate, set close to the stem. Flowers.—Red, occasionally blue or white, growing singly from the axils of the leaves. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Five-parted, wheel-shaped. Stamens.—Five, with bearded filaments. Pistil.—One.

This flower is found in sandy fields, being noted for its sensitiveness to the weather. It folds its petals at the approach of rain, and fails to open at all on a wet or cloudy day. Even in fine weather it closes in the early afternoon and “sleeps” till the next morning. Its ripened seeds are of value as food for many songbirds. It was thought at one time to be serviceable in liver complaints, which reputed virtue may have given rise to the old couplet:

No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell The virtues of the pimpernel.

CARDINAL-FLOWER. Lobelia cardinalis. Lobelia Family.

Stem.—From two to four feet high. Leaves.—Alternate, narrowly oblong, slightly toothed. Flowers.—Bright red, growing in a raceme. Calyx.—Five-cleft. Corolla.—Somewhat two-lipped, the upper lip of two rather erect lobes, the lower spreading and three-cleft. Stamens.—Five, united into a tube. Pistil.—One, with a fringed stigma.

We have no flower which can vie with this in vivid coloring. In late summer its brilliant red gleams from the marshes or is reflected from the shadowy water’s edge with unequalled intensity——

As if some wounded eagle’s breast Slow throbbing o’er the plain, Had left its airy path impressed In drops of scarlet rain.

The early French Canadians were so struck with its beauty that they sent the plant to France as a specimen of what the wilds of the New World could yield. Perhaps at that time it received its English name which likens it to the gorgeously attired dignitaries of the Roman Church.

PLATE LXXXIII

CARDINAL-FLOWER.—L. cardinalis. ]

TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE. Lonicera sempervirens. Honeysuckle Family.

A twining shrub. Leaves.—Entire, opposite, oblong, the upper pairs united around the stem. Flowers.—Deep red without, yellowish within; in close clusters from the axils of the upper leaves. Calyx.—With very short teeth. Corolla.—Trumpet-shaped, five-lobed. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—A red or orange berry.