Part 51

Many of us are so familiar with these flowers in our gardens that we have, perhaps, considered them “escapes” when we found them brightening the pasture thicket where really they are most at home, appearing at any time from May till October.

The fragrant woodbine, L. grata, is also frequently cultivated. Its natural home is the rocky woodlands, where its sweet-scented whitish or yellowish flowers appear in May. Its stamens and style protrude conspicuously beyond the corolla-tube, which is an inch in length.

The greenish or yellowish flowers of the fly honeysuckle, L. ciliata, grow in pairs. They are found in the rocky woods of May, on an erect, bushy shrub, the leaves of which are all distinct, never meeting about the stem.

V BLUE AND PURPLE

LIVERWORT. LIVER-LEAF. Hepatica triloba. Crowfoot Family.

Scape.—Fuzzy, one-flowered. Leaves.—Rounded, three-lobed, from the root. Flowers.—Blue, white, or pinkish. Calyx.—Of six to twelve petal-like sepals; easily taken for a corolla, because directly underneath are three little leaves which resemble a calyx. Corolla.—None. Stamens.—Usually numerous. Pistils.—Several.

The liver-leaf puts forth her sister blooms Of faintest blue—

soon after the late snows have melted. Indeed these fragile-looking, enamel-like flowers are sometimes found actually beneath the snow, and form one of the many instances which we encounter among flowers, as among their human contemporaries, where the frail and delicate-looking withstand storm and stress far better than their more robust-appearing brethren. We welcome these tiny newcomers with especial joy, not alone for their delicate beauty, but because they are usually the first of all the flowers upon the scene of action, if we rule out the never-tardy skunk-cabbage. The rusty leaves of last summer are obliged to suffice for the plant’s foliage until some little time after the blossoms have appeared, when the young fresh leaves begin to uncurl themselves. Some one has suggested that the fuzzy little buds look as though they were still wearing their furs as a protection against the wintry weather which so often stretches late into our spring. The flowers vary in color from a lovely blue to pink or white. They are found chiefly in the woods, but occasionally on the sunny hill-sides as well.

The generic name, Hepatica, is from the Greek for liver, and was probably given to the plant on account of the shape of its leaf. Dr. Prior says that “in consequence of this fancied likeness it was used as a remedy for liver complaints, the common people having long labored under the belief that nature indicated in some such fashion the uses to which her creations might be applied.”

COMMON BLUE VIOLET. Viola cucullata. Violet Family.

Scape.—Slender, one-flowered. Leaves.—Heart-shaped, all from the root. Flowers.—Varying from a pale blue to deep purple, borne singly on a scape. Calyx.—Of five sepals extended into ears at the base. Corolla.—Of five somewhat unequal petals, the lower one spurred at the base. Stamens.—Short and broad, somewhat united around the pistil. Pistil.—One with a club-shaped style and bent stigma.

Perhaps this is the best-beloved as well as the best known of the early wild flowers. Whose heart has not been gladdened at one time or another by a glimpse of some fresh green nook in early May where

—purple violets lurk, With all the lovely children of the shade?

It seems as if no other flower were so suggestive of the dawning year, so associated with the days when life was full of promise. Although I believe that more than a hundred species of violets have been recorded, only about thirty are found in our country; of these perhaps twenty are native to the Northeastern States. Unfortunately we have no strongly sweet-scented species, none

—sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes Or Cytherea’s breath,—

as Shakespeare found the English blossom. Prophets and warriors as well as poets have favored the violet; Mahomet preferred it to all other flowers, and it was chosen by the Bonapartes as their emblem.

Perhaps its frequent mention by ancient writers is explained by the discovery that the name was one applied somewhat indiscriminately to sweet-scented blossoms.

PLATE LXXXIV

LIVERWORT.—H. triloba. ]

The bird-foot violet, V. pedata, unlike other members of the family, has leaves which are divided into linear lobes. Its flower is peculiarly lovely, being large and velvety. The variety, V. bicolor, is especially striking and pansy-like, its two upper petals being of a deeper hue than the others. It is found in the neighborhood of Washington in abundance, and on the shaly soil of New Jersey.

An interesting feature of many of these plants is their cleistogamous flowers. These are small and inconspicuous blossoms, which never open (thus guarding their pollen against all depredations), but which are self-fertilized, ripening their seeds in the dark. They are usually found near or beneath the ground, and are often taken for immature buds.

DOG VIOLET. Viola canina, var. Muhlenbergii. Violet Family.

Three to eight inches high. Stems.—Leafy. Leaves.—Heart-shaped, wavy-toothed. Flowers.—Pale violet.

This is the commonest blue species of the leafy-stemmed violets. It is found in wet, shady places from May till July.

BLUETS. QUAKER LADIES. Houstonia cærulea. Madder Family.

Stem.—Erect, three to five inches high. Leaves.—Very small, opposite. Flowers.—Small, delicate blue, lilac, or nearly white, with a yellowish eye. Calyx.—Four-lobed. Corolla.—Salver-shaped, four-lobed, corolla-tube long and slender. Stamens.—Four. Pistil.—One, with two stigmas.

No one who has been in the Berkshire Hills during the month of May can forget the loveliness of the bluets. The roadsides, meadows, and even the lawns, are thickly carpeted with the dainty enamel-like blossoms which are always pretty, but which seem to flourish with especial vigor and in great profusion in this lovely region. Less plentiful, perhaps, but still common is the little plant in grassy places far south and west, blossoming in early spring.

PLATE LXXXV