Part 58

A charming feature of the blossom is the arch of the meeting tips of the long pair of stamens above the shorter pair and the little pistil; the two rows of orange velvet that run down the inside of the corolla are also highly ornamental. This plant is a prime favorite with children, but few among grown observers stop to consider the admirable clarity of its lemon and orange hues. It is gregarious and grows in colonies.

*Wild Toad Flax.* Linaria Canadensis.

Found on sandy barrens during August and September.

The very slender and delicate stalk (from 10 to 12 inches in height) branches a little; its leafage is sparse, and it is very smooth and shining. In color light green.

The small leaf is narrow and fine-pointed, with an entire margin; the texture is rather thick, and the surface is smooth; light green. The leaves are set upon the stalk alternately, and at regular intervals.

The small flower is 2-lipped, with a spur; the upper lip is divided into 2 sharp little points, the lower lip is larger and cut into 3 rounding scallops,--it presses against the upper with a prominent swelling near the throat of the corolla, the curving spur is thread-like; the texture is thin, and the color is a delicate lavender, with a white spot on the under lip; the calyx is 5-parted, and green. The flowers are set on short fine stems in a dainty terminal spire.

The stalk springs from a little mat of very leafy shoots, which lie on the ground, spreading outwards from the root. In color and general trigness of bearing this pretty plant presents a superficial resemblance to the Lobelias.

*Cow Wheat.* Melampyrum Americanum.

Found on the borders of light woods from July to September.

The stalk is 4 to 6 inches,--or perhaps more,--high; it is branching, leafy, woody-fibred, and slightly rough to the touch. In color, reddish-gray.

The lower leaves are long and narrow, with entire margins; the upper are broader and cut at the base into long spine-like notches; the surface is slightly rough. Color, yellow-green, growing lighter toward the flowers. They are set on the stalk in pairs.

The inconspicuous flowers are tubular and 2-lipped; greenish white, the lower lip being pale yellow; their calices 4-cleft, small, and green. They grow singly from the angles of the upper leaves.

The shadowy stamens, seen under the arch of the upper lip, are vaguely suggestive of an eye. This is a tidy little plant, with no pretensions to beauty.

*Monkey Flower.* Mimulus ringens.

Found in the wet grounds of waysides and meadows, from July to September.

The branching and leafy stalk, from 1 to 2 feet in height, is square, slightly grooved, fine-fibred, and smooth. In color green.

The leaf is a narrow, oblong shape, tapering to the tip, with obscure notches, fine texture, and smooth surface; color, green. The leaves grow opposite to each other, partly clasping the stalk.

The corolla is 2-lipped, the upper lip being erect and 2-lobed, the lower 3-lobed, with 2 small swellings near the tightly-closed throat; the color is a clear light violet, with 2 yellowish patches near the throat. The pistil, and 4 stamens, which are divided into a long and a short pair, are all whitish. The 5-angled, and 5-pointed, green calyx is tinged with dull violet color. The flowers are set on short stems that spring singly from the angles of the upper leaves.

Only a few flowers open at one time, and the plants themselves grow sparsely, by twos and threes, among the sedgy grasses of damp hollows, where its clear color and neat leafage render it attractive to the sauntering observer.

*Turtle-head.* Chelone glabra. *Snake-head.*

Found, in low and swampy ground, during August and September.

The single stalk (from 1 to 2 or 3 feet high) is large, and square, and grooved on the two opposite sides; it is tough-fibred, and hollow; rigid in gesture. In color, a light yellowish-green.

The long, narrow, oval leaf tapers gradually to a long tip, has a sharply toothed margin, and strongly marked ribs; it is of a coarse tough fibre although its surface is smooth. Its color is dark green, lighter underneath. The leaves, on very short stems, occur in pairs.

This curious flower is 2-lipped; the upper lip is arched, and folded together with a slight notch in the middle of its margin, the lower lip is 3-lobed; the throat is compressed and filled within by woolly hairs. In texture the corolla is smooth and leathery; in color it is dull white, or sometimes tinged faintly with pink. Under the arched upper lip the tips of the dark, wool-covered stamens show. The calyx, formed of 5, distinct, oval, pale green parts, is surrounded by broader leafy bracts. The flowers grow in short, crowded, terminal clusters.

The resemblance to the turtle or snake is most apparent in the bud where the reptile-like mouth is quite pronounced. The plant lurks among the sedges of swampy lands, and is generally unattractive, for its foliage is almost always so eaten by insects that a perfect leaf is rarely to be found.

BROOM-RAPE FAMILY.

OROBANCHACEÆ.

*Beech-drops.* Epiphegus Virginiana.