Part 57

The pickerel-weed grows in such shallow water as the pickerel seek, or else in moist, wet places along the shores of streams and rivers. We can look for the blue, closely spiked flowers from late July until some time in September. They are often found near the delicate arrow-head.

BLUEWEED. VIPER’S BUGLOSS. Echium vulgare. Borage Family.

Stem.—Rough, bristly, erect, about two feet high. Leaves.—Alternate, lance-shaped, set close to the stem. Flowers.—Bright blue, spiked on one side of the branches, which are at first rolled up from the end, straightening as the blossoms expand. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Of five somewhat unequal, spreading lobes. Stamens.—Five, protruding, red. Pistil.—One.

When the blueweed first came to us from across the sea it secured a foothold in Virginia. Since then it has gradually worked its way northward, lining the Hudson’s shores, overrunning many of the dry fields in its vicinity, and making itself at home in parts of New England. We should be obliged to rank it among the “pestiferous” weeds were it not that, as a rule, it only seeks to monopolize land which is not good for very much else. The pinkish buds and bright blue blossoms with their red protruding stamens make a valuable addition, from the æsthetic point of view, to the bunch of midsummer field-flowers in which hitherto the various shades of red and yellow have predominated.

NIGHTSHADE. Solanum Dulcamara. Nightshade Family.

Stem.—Usually somewhat climbing or twining. Leaves.—Heart-shaped, the upper halberd-shaped or with ear-like lobes or leaflets at the base. Flowers.—Purple, in small clusters. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Five-parted, wheel-shaped. Stamens.—Five, yellow, protruding. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—A red berry.

PLATE XCIV

BLUEWEED.—E. vulgare. ]

The purple flowers, which at once betray their kinship with the potato plant, and, in late summer, the bright red berries of the nightshade, cluster about the fences and clamber over the moist banks which line the highway. This plant, which was imported from Europe, usually indicates the presence of civilization. It is not poisonous to the touch, as is often supposed, and it is doubtful if the berries have the baneful power attributed to them. Thoreau writes regarding them: “The Solanum Dulcamara berries are another kind which grow in drooping clusters. I do not know any clusters more graceful and beautiful than these drooping cymes of scented or translucent, cherry-colored elliptical berries.... They hang more gracefully over the river’s brim than any pendant in a lady’s ear. Yet they are considered poisonous; not to look at surely.... But why should they not be poisonous? Would it not be bad taste to eat these berries which are ready to feed another sense?”

GREAT LOBELIA. Lobelia syphilitica. Lobelia Family.

Stem.—Leafy, somewhat hairy, one to three feet high. Leaves.—Alternate, ovate to lance-shaped, thin, irregularly toothed. Flowers.—Rather large, light blue, spiked. Calyx.—Five-cleft, with a short tube. Corolla.—Somewhat two-lipped, the upper lip of two rather erect lobes, the lower spreading and three-cleft. Pistil.—One, with a fringed stigma.

The great lobelia is a striking plant which grows in low ground, flowering in midsummer. In some places it is called “High-Belia,” a pun which is supposed to reflect upon the less tall and conspicuous species, such as the Indian tobacco, L. inflata, which are found flowering at the same season.

If one of its blossoms is examined, the pistil is seen to be enclosed by the united stamens in such a fashion as to secure self-fertilization, one would suppose. But it is hardly probable that a flower as noticeable as this, and wearing a color as popular as blue, should have adorned itself so lavishly to no purpose. Consequently we are led to inquire more closely into its domestic arrangements. Our curiosity is rewarded by the discovery that the lobes of the stigma are so tightly pressed together that they can at first receive no pollen upon their sensitive surfaces. We also find that the anthers open only by a pore at their tips, and when irritated by the jar of a visiting bee, discharge their pollen upon its body through these outlets. This being accomplished the fringed stigma pushes forward, brushing aside whatever pollen may have fallen within the tube. When it finally projects beyond the anthers, it opens, and is ready to receive its pollen from the next insect-visitor.

PLATE XCV

GREAT LOBELIA.—L. syphilitica. ]

The genus is named after an early Flemish herbalist, de l’Obel.

INDIAN TOBACCO. Lobelia inflata. Lobelia Family.

One to two feet high. Stem.—Branching from the root. Leaves.—Alternate, ovate, or oblong, somewhat toothed. Flowers.—Blue or purple, small, growing in a loose raceme, resembling in structure those of the great lobelia. Pod.—Much inflated.

During the summer we note in the dry, open fields the blue racemes of the Indian tobacco, and in the later year the inflated pods which give it its specific name. The plant is said to be poisonous if taken internally, and yields a “quack-medicine” of some notoriety. The Indians smoked its dried leaves, which impart to the tongue a peculiar tobacco-like sensation.

There are other species of lobelia which may be distinguished by their narrower leaves and uninflated pods, and by their choice of moist localities.

HOG PEA-NUT. Amphicarpæa monoica. Pulse Family (p. 16).

Stem.—Climbing and twining over plants and shrubs. Leaves.—Divided into three somewhat four-sided leaflets. Flowers.—Papilionaceous, pale lilac, or purplish, in nodding racemes. Pod.—One inch long.

Along the shadowy lanes which wind through the woods the climbing members of the Pulse family are very abundant. During the late summer and autumn the lonely wayside is skirted by

Vines, with clust’ring bunches growing; Plants, with goodly burden bowing.

And in and out among this luxuriant growth twist the slender stems of the ill-named hog pea-nut, its delicate lilac blossoms nodding from the coarse stalks of the golden-rods and iron-weeds or blending with the purple asters.

This plant bears flowers of two kinds: the upper ones are perfect, but apparently useless, as they seldom ripen fruit; while the lower or subterranean ones are without petals or attractiveness of appearance, but yield eventually at least one large ripe seed.

PLATE XCVI

INDIAN TOBACCO.—L. inflata. ]