Part 58

BEACH PEA. Lathyrus maritimus. Pulse Family (p. 16).

About one foot high, or more. Stem.—Stout. Leaves.—Divided into from three to five pairs of thick oblong leaflets. Flowers.—Papilionaceous, large, purple, clustered.

The deep-hued flowers of this stout plant are commonly found along the sand-hills of the seashore, and also on the shores of the Great Lakes, blooming in early summer. Both flowers and leaves are at once recognized as belonging to the Pulse family.

——— ——— Strophostyles angulosa. Pulse Family (p. 16).

Stems.—Branched, one to six feet long, prostrate or climbing. Leaves.—Divided into three leaflets, which are more or less prominently lobed toward the base, the terminal two-lobed; or some or all without lobes. Flowers.—Purplish or greenish, on long flower-stalks. Pod.—Linear, straight, or nearly so.

This somewhat inconspicuous plant is found back of the sand-hills along the coast, often in the neighborhood of the beach pea, and climbing over river-banks, thickets, and fences as well. It can usually be identified by its oddly lobed leaflets.

BLUE VETCH. Vicia cracca. Pulse Family (p. 16).

Leaves.—Divided into twenty to twenty-four leaflets, with slender tips. Flowers.—Papilionaceous, blue turning purple, growing in close, many-flowered, one-sided spikes.

This is an emigrant from Europe which is found in some of our eastern fields and thickets as far south as New Jersey. It usually climbs more or less by means of the tendril at the tip of its divided leaves, and sometimes forms bright patches of vivid blue over the meadows.

Another member of this genus is V. sativa, the common vetch or tare, with purplish or pinkish flowers, growing singly or in pairs from the axils of the leaves, which leaves are divided into fewer and narrower leaflets than those of the blue vetch. This species also takes possession of cultivated fields as well as of waste places along the roadside.

PLATE XCVII

BEACH PEA.—L. maritimus. ]

CHICORY. SUCCORY. Cichorium Intybus. Composite Family (p. 13).

Stems.—Branching. Leaves.—The lower oblong or lance-shaped, partly clasping, sometimes sharply incised, the floral ones minute. Flower-heads.—Blue, set close to the stem, composed entirely of strap-shaped flowers; opening at different times.

Oh, not in Ladies’ gardens, My peasant posy! Smile thy dear blue eyes, Nor only—nearer to the skies— In upland pastures, dim and sweet,— But by the dusty road Where tired feet Toil to and fro; Where flaunting Sin May see thy heavenly hue, Or weary Sorrow look from thee Toward a more tender blue!

This roadside weed blossoms in late summer. It is extensively cultivated in France, where the leaves are blanched and used in a salad which is called “Barbe des Capucins.” The roots are roasted and mixed with coffee both there and in England.

Horace mentions its leaves as part of his frugal fare, and Pliny remarks upon the importance of the plant to the Egyptians, who formerly used it in great quantities, and of whose diet it is still a staple article.

BLUE AND PURPLE ASTERS. Aster. Composite Family (p. 13).

Flower-heads.—Composed of blue or purple ray-flowers, with a centre of yellow disk-flowers.

PLATE XCVIII

CHICORY.—C. Intybus. ]

As about one hundred and twenty different species of aster are native to the United States, and as fifty-four of these are found in Northeastern America, all but a dozen being purple or blue (i.e., with purple or blue ray-flowers), and as even botanists find that it requires patient application to distinguish these many species, only a brief description of the more conspicuous and common ones is here attempted.

Along the dry roadsides in early August we may look for the bright blue-purple flowers of A. patens. This is a low-growing species, with rough, narrowly oblong, clasping leaves, and widely spreading branches, whose slender branchlets are usually terminated by a solitary flower-head.

Probably no member of the group is more striking than the New England aster, A. Novæ Angliæ, whose stout hairy stem (sometimes eight feet high), numerous lance-shaped leaves, and large violet-purple or sometimes pinkish flower-heads, are conspicuous in the swamps of late summer.

A. puniceus is another tall swamp-species, with long showy pale lavender ray-flowers.

One of the most commonly encountered asters is A. cordifolius, which is far from being the only heart-leaved species, despite its title. Its many small, pale blue or almost white flower-heads mass themselves abundantly along the wood-borders and shaded roadsides.

Perhaps the loveliest of all the tribe is the seaside purple aster, A. spectabilis, a low plant with narrowly oblong leaves and large bright heads, the violet-purple ray-flowers of which are nearly an inch long. This grows in sandy soil near the coast and may be found putting forth its royal, daisy-like blossoms into November.

Great Britain can claim but one native aster, A. Trifolium, or sea-starwort as it is called. Many American species are cultivated in English gardens under the general title of Michaelmas daisies. The starwort of Italy is A. amellus. The Swiss species is A. Alpinum.