Part 57

Found, during July and August, on sand-banks, pastures, and waysides.

The leafy, large, round stalk grows to be 2 or 3 feet high; it is tough-fibred, and the surface is ridgy and smooth; light green.

The large leaf is oblong in shape with an irregularly notched and toothed margin; its stout midrib is flattened above, all the ribs and veins show plainly, the texture being thin and smooth, the upper surface somewhat glossy. The lowest leaves are on short stems, the others are somewhat clasping; they are placed alternately, and near together. The color is a pleasing green.

The corolla is like the common Mullein in shape and texture; in color either yellow, or white, tinted with lavender. The 5 stamens, with curiously shaped, red-orange tips, are fringed with a double row of dull crimson, woolly threads; the pistil, also, is orange-tipped; the calyx is 5-parted, with slender tips. The flowers, on slender stems, are placed alternately, in long, leafy spires. All the calices, little leaves, and foot-stems are covered with fine woolly hairs.

The bud is 5-sided, and the seed-box is a good deal inflated. The peculiar orange of the stamen tips resembles a flowering moss,--their woolly fringe, of course, occasions the name. This elegantly growing plant, with its interesting leaf, is common only in certain localities.

*Downy False Foxglove.* Gerardia flava. *Downy Gerardia.*

Found in the shade of woods, in July.

The single, leafy stalk, which grows to be 3 or 4 feet high, is square, and hollow; of a stiff, strong fibre, downy with soft hairs. Dull rusty green in color.

The long narrow leaf is broadest at the base, with a tapering tip, the margin is entire or slightly toothed near the base (the edge of the lower leaves being somewhat wavy), the texture is rather thick, and the surface is downy, and like velvet to the touch; the color is yellow-green, slightly pinkish on the midrib. The leaves, on short, downy, purple tinted stems, are set in pairs, at right angles to each other.

The corolla is shaped like an urn, with 5 spreading, rounded lobes, their edges curving or even curling in toward the center; the texture is very fine and thin, showing the veins; the large throat is downy on the inside; sometimes the margin is crinkled; the color is a pure yellow. The 4 yellow stamens are divided into a long and a short pair; the pistil is green. The calyx is 5-parted with a noticeable rounded cleft between the divisions; it is half as long as the corolla, very downy, and green. The flowers, on short stems, are placed in pairs in the angles of the leaves forming a terminal spike.

Since the buds all incline to one side there is literally a back view to the spike. The flowers remain some days in the fullness of bloom, and as many as a dozen may be observed together on a single stalk; long after they have fallen the pistil lingers. The bud is very round at the tip, and exceptionally shining with a gloss that is lost to the opened blossom.

*Yellow Gerardia.* Gerardia pedicularia. *False Foxglove.*

Found on the edges of dry woods through August and September.

The stalk (from 2 to 8 feet in height) is branching, and very leafy, round, and soft to the touch, being covered with fine down. Its color is light green.

The leaf is long, much cut into rounded lobes, and bearing a general resemblance to a fern leaf; the texture is fine, and the surface soft, and downy; in color light green. The leaves are placed upon the stalk in pairs.

The tubular large corolla spreads into 5 rounded, slightly irregular lobes, and is a little hairy in the throat; color, a pure clear yellow; the pistil is a thread of green, and the stamens are 4 in number; the green calyx is unequally 5-parted. The flowers, on short curving foot-stems, are usually arranged in pairs, springing from the angles of the upper leaves.

A fragrance, slightly suggestive of Sweet-Fern belongs to the leaves. This plant is noticeable for the fine texture of its parts; the pointed green seed-pod rising from the frill of the calyx has also a decorative value. All the Gerardias bear the stigma of being “clandestine root parasites,”--they do not therefore seem worthy namesakes of the honest, nature-loving old Herbalist, Gerarde, who lived in the days when botanists wrote plain English. According to Gray the suckers of the roots of these plants not only fasten upon other growths, but upon their own, thus preying upon themselves.

*Slender Gerardia.* Gerardia tenuifolia. *Little Gerardia.*

Found, during August and September, on dry banks.

The erect, branching, and sparingly leafy stalk grows from 4 to 10 inches high; it is slender, and smooth. Green, tinged with reddish-brown.

The leaves are long and narrow, almost needle-like; in color green. They are set alternately upon the stalk.

The corolla is an irregular bell-shape with 5 rounded lobes, 2 being smaller than the others, and folded over to cover the pistil and stamens; its color is a pale magenta. The 4 stamens are woolly, and yellow-tinted; the calyx is small and 5-toothed, and green. The flowers grow on slender foot-stems along the sides of the stalk and branches.

As the fruit ripens the stems and seed-boxes turn reddish-brown. This is a common flower along roadsides.

*Butter-and-Eggs.* Linaria vulgaris. *Jacob’s Ladder.* *Ramsted.*

Found from July to September in fields, meadows, and roadsides.

The very leafy, and slightly branching, stalk varies in height from 1 to 2 or 3 feet; it is slender, round, of a firm close fibre, and smooth. Light gray-green in color.

The narrow long leaf is like a grass-blade, with an entire margin, fine texture, and smooth surface. It is pale gray-green, lighter underneath. The leaves are set close on the stalk, the arrangement being alternate, and near together.

The flower is 2-lipped; the lower lip is 3-lobed, the middle lobe being short and small, with a swelling above, which nearly closes the throat of the corolla; the base of the lip is prolonged into a slender, pointed spur; the upper lip is 2-lobed, the divisions bend outward and over the lower lip; the texture is fine, and smooth, the throat being lined with a glossy plush-like down; the color is a pure lemon yellow, the protuberance on the lower lip golden-orange. The 4 stamens are pale with cheese-colored tips; the pistil is tipped with green. The small calyx is 5-parted, and green. The flowers, on short small foot-stems, are arranged alternately, and close, in a terminal spike, the spurs turning downward.