Part 18

In bud scarcely a trace of the purple tint shows, petals and calyx being pink and greenish-white,--even when the upright petal first turns back, only a few dainty flecks of dark color may be discerned; with maturity the purple and blue increase in depth. The blossoms at the base of the spike begin to open earliest. Not the least of the Lupine’s attractions is the graceful curve of the stalk,--rarely is the flower-spike stiffly erect. It is a communistic plant, spreading all over a sand plain and making it a field of blue in blossom time, the roots buried firmly and to a surprising depth in the loose soil.

*Vetch.* Vicia Cracca. *Tare.*

Found along the borders of thickets, and in fields among grasses and grains, in June and July.

The climbing, leafy stalk grows from 1 to 2 feet high; it is tough-fibred, and much grooved with fine lines. Color, green.

The compound leaf is composed of 20 or more side leaflets, and terminates in a tendril; the leaflets are small and narrow, and are tipped with little needle-like bristles; the surface is finely downy. The leaves, on very short stems, are alternate and clasping by a pair of half-arrow-shaped wings. The color is grayish-green.

The flower is small, and shaped like the bean blossom; its color is a fresh, light, bluish-violet tint, the broad upper petal being faintly lined with darker violet; the calyx is unequally 5-parted, and colored like the corolla. The flowers are densely crowded in long, one-sided curving spikes that grow from the angles of the leaves.

The leafage of this plant affords a good example of the refined green generally found accompanying flowers of a blue or violet hue; its stalk is perhaps a little awkward in gesture, but not so the flexible curving flower-clusters. It grows in communities, and seen from a little distance forms a beautiful mass of blue.

*Wild Indigo.* Baptisia tinctoria.

Found in dry sandy soil in uplands and light woods, blossoming in June and July.

The round stalk, from 2 to 3 feet high, is tough-fibred, and extremely smooth; color, green.

The leaf is divided into 3 small wedge-shaped leaflets, tapering at the base; it has an entire edge, a smooth and very fine surface, of a rich, dark gray-green color. The leaves are alternate, on very short foot-stems.

The corolla of the small pea-shaped blossom is of a clear yellow color, with a light green calyx. The flowers, on short curved stems, grow along the ends of the branches, in slender, elongated clusters, or spires,--the clusters sometimes branch, and are sometimes leafy.

Both the flower and leaf in withering turn black. The plant is attractive in its leafage, which is fine in quality and rich in color; when growing in the open it has a round, compact, bushy top, and a general air of trigness, often unnoted under less favorable conditions.

*Wild Senna.* Cassia Marilandica.

Found in rich ground by the wayside, in July and August.

The smooth, tough stalk, growing from 3 to 4 feet high, is light green in color.

The compound leaf has from 6 to 9 pairs of narrow oblong leaflets; the midrib of each leaflet extends a little beyond the margin at the tip of the blade; the surface is smooth, and the texture firm and fine. The foot-stems of the leaves show the gland-like swellings frequently seen in members of this family. The leaves are alternate, and green in color, tending toward yellow-green, lighter beneath.

The flower has 5 slightly unequal petals, 3 standing close together, and 2 spreading more widely, while the calyx has 5 long divisions turned backward; there are 10 stamens in 3 sets--one set of 3 is short and rounded at the tip, a second set of 4, opposite the first, is somewhat longer, while the third set of 3 is longer still. The petals and stamens are of a rich soft yellow, the latter being tipped with a very dark brown, while the calyx is a fine greenish-yellow. The blossoms are in loose clusters, on short flower-stems, from the angles of the upper leaves.

The fineness of texture, and the quality of color, accentuated by the irregular dashes of dark of the stamen-tips, give to the Wild Senna the distinguishing air of “style.” The leaves seem slightly sensitive to the touch, and inclined to droop with much handling.

*Wild Pea-nut.* Amphicarpæa monoica.

Common in rich, open woodlands and damp wayside tangles, usually blossoming in August and September.

A vine: climbing over low vegetation by aid of its slender, twining, green stem.

The 3 leaflets of the compound leaf are very broad across the middle, especially the middle one, which is almost diamond-shaped; the margin is entire, the surface almost smooth, and the texture exceedingly thin; at the juncture of the foot-stem with the blade, and with the main stem, are small gland-like swellings; the alternate leaves, on slender stems, are of a light yellowish-green.

The slender pea-shaped blossom is lavender-tinted, with a pale green 4- to 5-notched calyx; the flowers grow in groups of from 4 to 7, on the end of a short flower-stem, that springs from the angle of the leaf.

The flowers occasionally ripen pods about 1 inch long, holding from 3 to 4 brown-mottled, bean-like seeds. The vine is said also to form subterranean seeds from rudimentary flowers, the seed being enclosed in a fleshy, pear-shaped pod; this perhaps may have been thought a good reason for giving to a slender and well-behaved little vine the opprobrious folk-name of Hog-Pea-nut! But those who know its true character will never degrade it to so low a level!

*White Clover.* Trifolium repens.

Found in chief profusion in June--though continuing to flower through the summer,--amidst grass, along the roadsides, and occasionally in woodland glades.

The creeping stalk sends up its erect leaf and flower-stems (of 3 to 6 inches height) in great profusion. It is green and pale.