Part 1
HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS =A Guide= _TO THE NAMES, HAUNTS, AND HABITS OF OUR COMMON WILD FLOWERS_
BY
MRS. WILLIAM STARR DANA
ILLUSTRATED BY
MARION SATTERLEE
“The first conscious thought about wild flowers was to find out their names—the first conscious pleasure—and then I began to see so many that I had not previously noticed. Once you wish to identify them, there is nothing escapes, down to the little white chickweed of the path and the moss of the wall.”
—RICHARD JEFFERIES
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1893
COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
TROW DIRECTORY PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY NEW YORK
CONTENTS
PAGE _Preface_, vii _How to Use the Book_, ix _Introductory Chapter_, _1_ _Explanation of Terms_, _8_ _Notable Plant Families_, _13_ _Flower Descriptions_: _I. White_, _22_ _II. Yellow_, _113_ _III. Pink_, _173_ _IV. Red_, _213_ _V. Blue and Purple_, _229_ _VI. Miscellaneous_, _276_ _Index to Latin Names_, _287_ „ _to English Names_, _292_ „ _of Technical Terms_, _298_
One of these days some one will give us a hand-book of our wild flowers, by the aid of which we shall all be able to name those we gather in our walks without the trouble of analyzing them. In this book we shall have a list of all our flowers arranged according to color, as white flowers, blue flowers, yellow flowers, pink flowers, etc., with place of growth and time of blooming.
JOHN BURROUGHS.
PREFACE
The pleasure of a walk in the woods and fields is enhanced a hundredfold by some little knowledge of the flowers which we meet at every turn. Their names alone serve as a clew to their entire histories, giving us that sense of companionship with our surroundings which is so necessary to the full enjoyment of outdoor life. But if we have never studied botany it has been no easy matter to learn these names, for we find that the very people who have always lived among the flowers are often ignorant of even their common titles, and frequently increase our eventual confusion by naming them incorrectly. While it is more than probable that any attempt to attain our end by means of some “Key,” which positively bristles with technical terms and outlandish titles, has only led us to replace the volume in despair, sighing with Emerson, that these scholars
Love not the flower they pluck, and know it not, And all their botany is Latin names!
So we have ventured to hope that such a book as this will not be altogether unwelcome, and that our readers will find that even a bowing acquaintance with the flowers repays one generously for the effort expended in its achievement. Such an acquaintance serves to transmute the tedium of a railway journey into the excitement of a tour of discovery. It causes the monotony of a drive through an ordinarily uninteresting country to be forgotten in the diversion of noting the wayside flowers, and counting a hundred different species where formerly less than a dozen would have been detected. It invests each boggy meadow and bit of rocky woodland with almost irresistible charm. Surely Sir John Lubbock is right in maintaining that “those who love Nature can never be dull,” provided that love be expressed by an intelligent interest rather than by a purely sentimental rapture.
Ninety-seven of the one hundred and four plates in this book are from original drawings from nature. Of the remaining seven plates, six (Nos. LXXX., XCIX., CI., XXII., XLII., LXXXI.), and the illustration of the complete flower, in the Explanation of Terms, are adapted with alterations from standard authors, part of the work in the first three plates mentioned being original. Plate IV. has been adapted from “American Medicinal Plants,” by kind permission of the author, Dr. C. F. Millspaugh. The reader should always consult the “Flower Descriptions” in order to learn the actual dimensions of the different plants, as it has not always been possible to preserve their relative sizes in the illustrations. The aim in the drawings has been to help the reader to identify the flowers described in the text, and to this end they are presented as simply as possible, with no attempt at artistic arrangement or grouping.
We desire to express our thanks to Miss Harriet Procter, of Cincinnati, for her assistance and encouragement. Acknowledgment of their kind help is also due to Mrs. Seth Doane, of Orleans, Massachusetts, and to Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell, of Riverdale, New York. To Dr. N. L. Britton, of Columbia College, we are indebted for permission to work in the College Herbarium.
NEW YORK, March 15, 1893.
HOW TO USE THE BOOK
Many difficulties have been encountered in the arrangement of this guide to the flowers. To be really useful such a guide must be of moderate size, easily carried in the woods and fields; yet there are so many flowers, and there is so much to say about them, that we have been obliged to control our selection and descriptions by certain regulations which we hope will commend themselves to the intelligence of our readers and secure their indulgence should any special favorite be conspicuous by its absence.
These regulations may be formulated briefly as follows:
1. Flowers so common as to be generally recognized are omitted, unless some peculiarity or fact in their history entitles them to special mention.
Under this, Buttercups, Wild Roses, Thistles, and others are ruled out.
2. Flowers so inconspicuous as generally to escape notice are usually omitted.
Here Ragweed, Plantain, and others are excluded.
3. Rare flowers and escapes from gardens are usually omitted.
4. Those flowers are chosen for illustration which seem entitled to prominence on account of their beauty, interest, or frequent occurrence.
5. Flowers which have less claim upon the general public than those chosen for illustration and full description, yet which are sufficiently common or conspicuous to arouse occasional curiosity, are necessarily dismissed with as brief a description as seems compatible with their identification.
In parts of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and in the vicinity of Washington, I have been enabled to describe many of our wild flowers from personal observation; and I have endeavored to increase the usefulness of the book by including as well those comparatively few flowers not found within the range mentioned, but commonly encountered at some point this side of Chicago.
The grouping according to color was suggested by a passage in one of Mr. Burroughs’s “Talks about Flowers.” It seemed, on careful consideration, to offer an easier identification than any other arrangement. One is constantly asked the name of some “little blue flower,” or some “large pink flower,” noted by the wayside. While both the size and color of a flower fix themselves in the mind of the casual observer, the color is the more definitely appreciated characteristic of the two and serves far better as a clew to its identification.
When the flowers are brought in from the woods and fields they should be sorted according to color and then traced to their proper places in the various sections. As far as possible the flowers have been arranged according to the seasons’ sequence, the spring flowers being placed in the first part of each section, the summer flowers next, and the autumn flowers last.
It has sometimes been difficult to determine the proper position of a flower—blues, purples, and pinks shading so gradually one into another as to cause difference of opinion as to the color of a blossom among the most accurate. So if the object of our search is not found in the first section consulted, we must turn to that other one which seems most likely to include it.
It has seemed best to place in the White section those flowers which are so faintly tinted with other colors as to give a white effect in the mass, or when seen at a distance. Some flowers are so green as to seem almost entitled to a section of their own, but if closely examined the green is found to be so diluted with white as to render them describable by the term _greenish-white_. A white flower veined with pink will also be described in the White section, unless its general effect should be so pink as to entitle it to a position in the Pink section. Such a flower again as the Painted Cup is placed in the Red section because its floral leaves are so red that probably none but the botanist would appreciate that the actual flowers were yellow. Flowers which fail to suggest any definite color are relegated to the Miscellaneous section.
With the description of each flower is given—
1. Its common English name—if one exists. This may be looked upon as its “nickname,” a title attached to it by chance, often endeared to us by long association, the name by which it may be known in one part of the country but not necessarily in another, and about which, consequently, a certain amount of disagreement and confusion often arises.
2. Its scientific name. This compensates for its frequent lack of euphony by its other advantages. It is usually composed of two Latin—or Latinized—words, and is the same in all parts of the world (which fact explains the necessity of its Latin form). Whatever confusion may exist as to a flower’s English name, its scientific one is an accomplished fact—except in those rare cases where an undescribed species is encountered—and rarely admits of dispute. The first word of this title indicates the _genus_ of the plant. It is a substantive, answering to the last or family name of a person, and shows the relationship of all the plants which bear it. The second word indicates the _species_. It is usually an adjective, which betrays some characteristic of the plant, or it may indicate the part of the country in which it is found, or the person in whose honor it was named.
3. The English title of the larger Family to which the plant belongs. All flowers grouped under this title have in common certain important features which in many cases are too obscure to be easily recognized; while in others they are quite obvious. One who wishes to identify the flowers with some degree of ease should learn to recognize at sight such Families as present conspicuously characteristic features.
For fuller definitions, explanations, and descriptions than are here given, Gray’s text-books and “Manual” should be consulted. After some few flowers have been compared with the partially technical description which prefaces each popular one, little difficulty should be experienced in the use of a botanical key. Many of the measurements and technical descriptions have been based upon Gray’s “Manual.” It has been thought best to omit any mention of species and varieties not included in the latest edition of that work.
An ordinary magnifying glass (such as can be bought for seventy-five cents), a sharp penknife, and one or two dissecting-needles will be found useful in the examination of the smaller flowers. The use of a note-book, with jottings as to the date, color, surroundings, etc., of any newly identified flower, is recommended. This habit impresses on the memory easily forgotten but important details. Such a book is also valuable for further reference, both for our own satisfaction when some point which our experience had already determined has been forgotten, and for the settlement of the many questions which are sure to arise among flower-lovers as to the localities in which certain flowers are found, the dates at which they may be expected to appear and disappear, and various other points which even the scientific books sometimes fail to decide.
Some of the flowers described are found along every country highway. It is interesting to note that these wayside flowers may usually be classed among the foreign population. They have been brought to us from Europe in ballast and in loads of grain, and invariably follow in the wake of civilization. Many of our most beautiful native flowers have been crowded out of the hospitable roadside by these aggressive, irresistible, and mischievous invaders; for Mr. Burroughs points out that nearly all of our troublesome weeds are emigrants from Europe. We must go to the more remote woods and fields if we wish really to know our native plants. Swamps especially offer an eagerly sought asylum to our shy and lovely wild flowers.
LIST OF PLATES
PLATE PAGE
I. BLOOD-ROOT, _Sanguinaria Canadensis_, 23
II. RUE ANEMONE, _Anemonella thalictroides_, 25
WOOD ANEMONE, _Anemone nemorosa_, 25
III. STAR-FLOWER, _Trientalis Americana_, 27
—— _Maianthemum Canadense_, 27
IV. MAY-APPLE, _Podophyllum peltatum_, 31
V. SPRING BEAUTY, _Claytonia Virginica_, 33
VI. DUTCHMAN’S BREECHES, _Dicentra Cucullaria_, 35
VII. FOAM-FLOWER, _Tiarella cordifolia_, 37
VIII. PAINTED TRILLIUM, _Trillium erythrocarpum_, 41
IX. WILD SARSAPARILLA, _Aralia nudicaulis_, 43
X. SOLOMON’S SEAL, _Polygonatum biflorum_, 45
XI. FALSE SOLOMON’S SEAL, _Smilacina racemosa_, 47
XII. BELLWORT, _Uvularia perfoliata_, 51
„ _Oakesia sessilifolia_, 51
XIII. WHITE BANEBERRY, _Actæa alba_, 53
XIV. BUNCH-BERRY, _Cornus Canadensis_, 55
XV. MOUNTAIN LAUREL, _Kalmia latifolia_, 57
XVI. AMERICAN RHODODENDRON, _Rhododendron maximum_, 61
XVII. WOOD SORREL, _Oxalis Acetosella_, 63
XVIII. SHIN-LEAF, _Pyrola elliptica_, 67
XIX. PIPSISSEWA, _Chimaphila umbellata_, 69
XX. WINTERGREEN, _Gaultheria procumbens_, 73
XXI. INDIAN PIPE, _Monotropa uniflora_, 75
XXII. BLACK COHOSH, _Cimicifuga racemosa_, 79
XXIII. PARTRIDGE VINE, _Mitchella repens_, 81
XXIV. —— —— _Dalibarda repens_, 85
XXV. TALL MEADOW RUE, _Thalictrum polygamum_, 87
XXVI. MEADOW-SWEET, _Spiræa salicifolia_, 89
XXVII. POKEWEED, _Phytolacca decandra_, 93
XXVIII. WILD CARROT, _Daucus Carota_, 95
YARROW, _Achillea Millefolium_, 95
XXIX. ARROW-HEAD, _Sagittaria variabilis_, 99
XXX. TURTLE-HEAD, _Chelone glabra_, 101
XXXI. TRAVELLER’S JOY, _Clematis Virginiana_, 103
XXXII. BONESET, _Eupatorium perfoliatum_, 107
XXXIII. LADIES’ TRESSES, _Spiranthes cernua_, 109
XXXIV. GRASS OF PARNASSUS, _Parnassia Caroliniana_, 111
XXXV. MARSH MARIGOLD, _Caltha palustris_, 115
XXXVI. YELLOW ADDER’S TONGUE, _Erythronium Americanum_, 117
XXXVII. DOWNY YELLOW VIOLET, _Viola pubescens_, 119
XXXVIII. SHRUBBY CINQUEFOIL, _Potentilla fructicosa_, 121
XXXIX. —— —— _Clintonia borealis_, 123
XL. SMALLER YELLOW LADY’S _Cypripedium parviflorum_, SLIPPER, 125
XLI. INDIAN CUCUMBER-ROOT, _Medeola Virginica_, 129
XLII. WINTER-CRESS, _Barbarea vulgaris_, 131
XLIII. RATTLESNAKE-WEED, _Hieracium venosum_, 133
XLIV. BUSH-HONEYSUCKLE, _Diervilla trifida_, 135
XLV. MEADOW LILY, _Lilium Canadense_, 137
XLVI. FOUR-LEAVED LOOSESTRIFE, _Lysimachia quadrifolia_, 139
XLVII. YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE, _Lysimachia stricta_, 141
XLVIII. YELLOW STAR-GRASS, _Hypoxis erecta_, 143
XLIX. BUTTER-AND-EGGS, _Linaria vulgaris_, 147
L. COMMON ST. JOHN’S-WORT, _Hypericum perforatum_, 149
LI. COMMON MULLEIN, _Verbascum Thapsus_, 151
LII. YELLOW FRINGED ORCHIS, _Habenaria ciliaris_, 153
LIII. PALE JEWEL-WEED, _Impatiens pallida_, 155
LIV. EVENING PRIMROSE, _Œnothera biennis_, 159
LV. BLACK-EYED SUSAN, _Rudbeckia hirta_, 161
LVI. ELECAMPANE, _Inula Helenium_, 163
LVII. WILD SUNFLOWER, _Helianthemum giganteus_, 165
LVIII. STICK-TIGHT, _Bidens frondosa_, 167
LIX. SMOOTH FALSE FOXGLOVE, _Gerardia quercifolia_, 169
LX. TANSY, _Tanacetum vulgare_, 171
LXI. TRAILING ARBUTUS, _Epigæa repens_, 175
TWIN-FLOWER, _Linnæa borealis_, 175
LXII. SHOWY ORCHIS, _Orchis spectabilis_, 177
LXIII. TWISTED STALK, _Streptopus roseus_, 179
LXIV. PINK LADY’S SLIPPER, _Cypripedium acaule_, 181
LXV. PINK AZALEA, _Rhododendron nudiflorum_, 183
LXVI. MILKWORT, _Polygala polygama_, 187
„ „ _sanguinea_, 187
LXVII. SPREADING DOGBANE, _Apocynum androsæmifolium_, 189
LXVIII. PURPLE-FLOWERING RASPBERRY, _Rubus odoratus_, 191
LXIX. HERB ROBERT, _Geranium Robertianum_, 195
LXX. BOUNCING BET, _Saponaria officinalis_, 197
LXXI. PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE, _Lythrum Salicaria_, 199
LXXII. MEADOW-BEAUTY, _Rhexia Virginica_, 201
LXXIII. SEA PINK, _Sabbatia stellaris_, 203
LXXIV. —— —— _Sabbatia chloroides_, 205
LXXV. ROSE MALLOW, _Hibiscus Moscheutos_, 207
LXXVI. FIREWEED, _Epilobium angustifolium_, 209
LXXVII. JOE-PYE-WEED, _Eupatorium purpureum_, 211
LXXVIII. WILD COLUMBINE, _Aquilegia Canadensis_, 215
LXXIX. WAKE ROBIN, _Trillium erectum_, 217
LXXX. WOOD LILY, _Lilium Philadelphicum_, 221
LXXXI. BUTTERFLY-WEED, _Asclepias tuberosa_, 223
LXXXII. OSWEGO TEA, _Monarda didyma_, 225
LXXXIII. CARDINAL-FLOWER, _Lobelia cardinalis_, 227
LXXXIV. LIVERWORT, _Hepatica triloba_, 231
LXXXV. BLUETS, _Houstonia cærulea_, 233
LXXXVI. ROBIN’S PLANTAIN, _Erigeron bellidifolius_, 237
LXXXVII. WILD GERANIUM, _Geranium maculatum_, 239
LXXXVIII. BLUE-EYED GRASS, _Sisyrinchium angustifolium_, 243
LXXXIX. FLEUR-DE-LIS, _Iris versicolor_, 245
XC. AMERICAN BROOKLIME, _Veronica Americana_, 247
XCI. MONKEY-FLOWER, _Mimulus ringens_, 251
XCII. BLUE VERVAIN, _Verbena hastata_, 263
XCIII. SELF-HEAL, _Brunella vulgaris_, 255
XCIV. BLUEWEED, _Echium vulgare_, 259
XCV. GREAT LOBELIA, _Lobelia syphilitica_, 261
XCVI. INDIAN TOBACCO, _Lobelia inflata_, 263
XCVII. BEACH PEA, _Lathyrus maritimus_, 265
XCVIII. CHICORY, _Cichorium Intybus_, 267
XCIX. BLAZING STAR, _Liatris scariosa_, 271
C. CLOSED GENTIAN, _Gentiana Andrewsii_, 273
CI. FRINGED GENTIAN, _Gentiana crinita_, 275
CII. SKUNK CABBAGE, _Symplocarpus fœtidus_, 277
CIII. WILD GINGER, _Asarum Canadense_, 279
CIV. JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT, _Arisæma triphyllum_, 281
Most young people find botany a dull study. So it is, as taught from the text-books in the schools; but study it yourself in the fields and woods, and you will find it a source of perennial delight.
JOHN BURROUGHS.
HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
Until a comparatively recent period the interest in plants centred largely in the medicinal properties, and sometimes in the supernatural powers, which were attributed to them.
—O who can tell The hidden power of herbes and might of magick spell?—
sang Spenser in the “Faerie Queene;” and to this day the names of many of our wayside plants bear witness, not alone to the healing properties which their owners were supposed to possess, but also to the firm hold which the so-called “doctrine of signatures” had upon the superstitious mind of the public. In an early work on “The Art of Simpling,” by one William Coles, we read as follows: “Yet the mercy of God which is over all his works, maketh Grasse to grow upon the Mountains and Herbes for the use of men, and hath not only stamped upon them a distinct forme, but also given them particular signatures, whereby a man may read, even in legible characters, the use of them.” Our hepatica or liver-leaf, owes both its generic and English titles to its leaves, which suggested the form of the organ after which the plant is named, and caused it to be considered “a sovereign remedy against the heat and inflammation of the liver.”[1]
Although his once-renowned system of classification has since been discarded on account of its artificial character, it is probably to Linnæus that the honor is due of having raised the study of plants to a rank which had never before been accorded it. The Swedish naturalist contrived to inspire his disciples with an enthusiasm and to invest the flowers with a charm and personality which awakened a wide-spread interest in the subject. It is only since his day that the unscientific nature-lover, wandering through those woods and fields where
—wide around, the marriage of the plants Is sweetly solemnized—
has marvelled to find the same laws in vogue in the floral as in the animal world.
To Darwin we owe our knowledge of the significance of color, form, and fragrance in flowers. These subjects have been widely discussed during the last twenty-five years, because of their close connection with the theory of natural selection; they have also been more or less enlarged upon in modern text-books. Nevertheless, it seems wiser to repeat what is perhaps already known to the reader, and to allude to some of the interesting theories connected with these topics, rather than to incur the risk of obscurity by omitting all explanation of facts and deductions to which it is frequently necessary to refer.
It is agreed that the object of a flower’s life is the making of seed, _i.e._, the continuance of its kind. Consequently its most essential parts are its reproductive organs, the stamens, and the pistil or pistils.
The stamens (p. 11) are the fertilizing organs. These produce the powdery, quickening material called pollen, in little sacs which are borne at the tips of their slender stalks.