Part 12

“I must not forget to mention that delicate and lovely flower of May, the fringed polygala. You gather it when you go for the fragrant showy orchis—that is, if you are lucky enough to find it. It is rather a shy flower, and is not found in every wood. One day we went up and down through the woods looking for it—woods of mingled oak, chestnut, pine, and hemlock,—and were about giving it up when suddenly we came upon a gay company of them beside an old wood-road. It was as if a flock of small rose-purple butterflies had alighted there on the ground before us. The whole plant has a singularly fresh and tender aspect. Its foliage is of a slightly purple tinge and of very delicate texture. Not the least interesting feature about the plant is the concealed fertile flower which it bears on a subterranean stem, keeping, as it were, one flower for beauty and one for use.”

It seems unnecessary to tempt “odorous comparisons” by endeavoring to supplement the above description of Mr. Burroughs.

MOSS POLYGALA. _Polygala cruciata._ Milkwort Family.

_Stems._—Three to ten inches high, almost winged at the angles, with spreading opposite leaves and branches. _Leaves._—Linear, nearly all whorled in fours. _Flowers._—Greenish or purplish-pink, growing in short, thick spikes which terminate the branches.

There is something very moss-like in the appearance of this little plant which blossoms in late summer. It is found near moist places and salt marshes along the coast, being very common in parts of New England.

SPREADING DOGBANE. INDIAN HEMP. _Apocynum androsæmifolium._ Dogbane Family.

_Stems._—Erect, branching, two or three feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite, oval. _Flowers._—Rose-color veined with deep pink, loosely clustered. _Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Small, bell-shaped, five-cleft. _Stamens._—Five, slightly adherent to the pistil. _Pistil._—Two ovaries surmounted by a large, two-lobed stigma. _Fruit._—Two long and slender pods.

The flowers of the dogbane, though small and inconspicuous are very beautiful if closely examined. The deep pink veining of the corolla suggests nectar, and the insect-visitor is not misled, for at its base are five nectar-bearing glands. The two long, slender seed-pods which result from a single blossom seem inappropriately large, often appearing while the plant is still in flower. Rafinesque states that from the stems may be obtained a thread similar to hemp which can be woven into cloth, from the pods, cotton, and from the blossoms, sugar. Its generic and one of its English titles arose from the belief, which formerly prevailed, that it was poisonous to dogs. The plant is constantly found growing in roadside thickets, with bright, pretty foliage, and blossoms that appear in early summer.

HEDGE BINDWEED. _Convolvulus Americanus._ Convolvulus Family.

_Stem._—Twining or trailing. _Leaves._—Somewhat arrow-shaped. _Flowers._—Pink. _Calyx._—Of five sepals enclosed in two broad leafy bracts. _Corolla._—Five-lobed, bell-shaped. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One, with two stigmas.

Many an unsightly heap of rubbish left by the roadside is hidden by the delicate pink bells of the hedge bindweed, which again will clamber over the thickets that line the streams and about the tumbled stone-wall that marks the limit of the pasture. The pretty flowers at once suggest the morning-glory, to which they are closely allied.

The common European bindweed, _C. arvensis_, has white or pinkish flowers, without bracts beneath the calyx, and a low procumbent or twining stem. It has taken possession of many of our old fields where it spreads extensively and proves troublesome to farmers.

PURPLE-FLOWERING RASPBERRY. _Rubus odoratus._ Rose Family.

_Stem._—Shrubby, three to five feet high; branching, branches bristly and glandular. _Leaves._—Three to five-lobed, the middle lobe prolonged. _Flowers._—Purplish-pink, large and showy, two inches broad. _Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Of five rounded petals. _Stamens and Pistils._—Numerous. _Fruit._—Reddish, resembling the garden raspberry.

This flower betrays its relationship to the wild rose, and might easily be mistaken for it, although a glance at the undivided leaves would at once correct such an error. The plant is a decorative one when covered with its showy blossoms, constantly arresting our attention along the wooded roadsides in June and July.

PALE CORYDALIS. _Corydalis glauca._ Fumitory Family.

_Stem._—Six inches to two feet high. _Leaves._—Pale, divided into delicate leaflets. _Flowers._—Pink and yellow, in loose clusters. _Calyx._—Of two small, scale-like sepals. _Corolla._—Pink, tipped with yellow; closed and flattened, of four petals, with a short spur at the base of the upper petal. _Stamens._—Six, maturing before the pistil, thus avoiding self-fertilization. _Pistil._—One.

From the rocky clefts in the summer woods springs the pale corydalis, its graceful foliage dim with a whitish bloom, and its delicate rosy, yellow-tipped flowers betraying by their odd flat corollas their kinship with the Dutchman’s breeches and squirrel corn of the early year, as well as with the bleeding hearts of the garden. Thoreau assigns them to the middle of May, and says they are “rarely met with,” which statement does not coincide with the experience of those who find the rocky woodlands each summer abundantly decorated with their fragile clusters.

The generic name, _Corydalis_, is the ancient Greek title for the crested lark, and said to refer to the crested seeds of this genus. The specific title, _glauca_, refers to the pallor of leaves and stem.

The golden corydalis, _C. aurea_, is found on rocky banks somewhat westward.

COMMON MILKWEED. _Asclepias Cornuti._ Milkweed Family.

_Stem._—Tall, stout, downy, with a milky juice. _Leaves._—Generally opposite or whorled, the upper sometimes scattered, large, oblong, pale, minutely downy underneath. _Flowers._—Dull, purplish-pink, clustered at the summit and along the sides of the stem. (These flowers are too difficult to be successfully analyzed by the non-botanist.) _Calyx._—Five-parted, the divisions small and reflexed. _Corolla._—Deeply five-parted, the divisions reflexed; above them a crown of five hooded nectaries, each containing an incurved horn. _Stamens._—Five, inserted on the base of the corolla, united with each other and enclosing the pistils. _Pistils._—Properly two, enclosed by the stamens, surmounted by a large five-angled disk. _Fruit._—Two pods, one of which is large and full of silky-tufted seeds, the other often stunted.

This is probably the commonest representative of this striking and beautiful native family. The tall, stout stems, large, pale leaves, dull pink clustered flowers which appear in July, and later the puffy pods filled with the silky-tufted seeds beloved of imaginative children, are familiar to nearly everyone who spends a portion of the year in the country. The young sprouts are said to make an excellent pot-herb; the silky hairs of the seed-pods have been used for the stuffing of pillows and mattresses, and can be mixed with flax or wool and woven to advantage; while paper has been manufactured from the stout stalks.

The four-leaved milkweed, _A. quadrifolia_, is the most delicate member of the family, with fragrant rose-tinged flowers which appear on the dry wooded hill-sides quite early in June, and slender stems which are usually leafless below, and with one or two whorls and one or two pairs of oval, taper-pointed leaves above.

The swamp milkweed, _A. incarnata_, grows commonly in moist places. Its very leafy stems are two or three feet high, with narrowly oblong, pointed leaves. Its intense purple-pink flowers gleam from the wet meadows nearly all summer. They are smaller than those of the purple milkweed, _A. purpurascens_, which abounds in dry ground, and which may be classed among the deep pink or purple flowers according to the eye of the beholder.

HERB ROBERT. _Geranium Robertianum._ Geranium Family.

_Stem._—Forking, slightly hairy. _Leaves._—Three, divided, the divisions again dissected. _Flowers._—Purple-pink, small. _Calyx._—Of five sepals. _Corolla._—Of five petals. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One, with five styles which split apart in fruit.

From June until October many of our shaded woods and glens are abundantly decorated by the bright blossoms of the herb Robert. The reddish stalks of the plant have won it the name of “red-shanks” in the Scotch Highlands. Its strong scent is caused by a resinous secretion which exists in several of the geraniums. In some species this resin is so abundant that the stems will burn like torches, yielding a powerful and pleasant perfume. The common name is said to have been given the plant on account of its supposed virtue in a disease which was known as “Robert’s plague,” after Robert, Duke of Normandy. In some of the early writers it is alluded to as the “holy herb of Robert.”

In fruit the styles of this plant split apart with an elasticity which serves to project the seeds to a distance, it is said, of twenty-five feet.

BUSH CLOVER. _Lespedeza procumbens._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

_Stems._—Slender, trailing, and prostrate. _Leaves._—Divided into three clover-like leaflets. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, purplish-pink, veiny. _Pod._—Small, rounded, flat, one-seeded.

The flowers of this plant often have the appearance of springing directly from the earth amid a mass of clover leaves. They are common in dry soil in the late summer and autumn, as are the other members of the same genus.

_L. reticulata_ is an erect, very leafy species with similar blossoms, which are chiefly clustered near the upper part of the stem. The bush clovers betray at once their kinship with the tick-trefoils, but are usually found in more sandy, open places.

_L. polystachya_ has upright wand-like stems from two to four feet high. Its flowers grow in oblong spikes on elongated stalks. Those of _L. capitata_ are clustered in globular heads.

TICK-TREFOIL. _Desmodium Canadense._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

_Stem._—Hairy, three to six feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into three somewhat oblong leaflets. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, dull purplish-pink, growing in densely flowered racemes. _Pod._—Flat, deeply lobed on the lower margin, from one to three inches long, roughened with minute hooked hairs by means of which they adhere to animals and clothing.

Great masses of color are made by these flowers in the bogs and rich woods of midsummer. They are effective when seen in the distance, but rather disappointing on closer examination, and will hardly bear gathering or transportation. They are by far the largest and most showy of the genus.

TICK-TREFOIL. _Desmodium nudiflorum._ Pulse Family (p. 16).

_Scape._—About two feet long. _Leaves._—Divided into three broad leaflets, crowded at the summit of the flowerless stems. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, purplish-pink, small, growing in an elongated raceme on a mostly leafless scape.

This is a smaller, less noticeable plant than _D. Canadense_. It flourishes abundantly in dry woods, where it often takes possession in late summer to the exclusion of nearly all other flowers.

The flowers of _D. acuminatum_ grow in an elongated raceme from a stem about whose summit the leaves, divided into very large leaflets, are crowded; otherwise it resembles _D. nudiflorum_.

_D. Dillenii_ grows to a height of from two to five feet, with erect leafy stems and medium-sized flowers. It is found commonly in open woods.

Many of us who do not know these plants by name have uttered various imprecations against their roughened pods. Thoreau writes: “Though you were running for your life, they would have time to catch and cling to your clothes.... These almost invisible nets, as it were, are spread for us, and whole coveys of desmodium and bidens seeds steal transportation out of us. I have found myself often covered, as it were, with an imbricated coat of the brown desmodium seeds or a bristling _chevaux-de-frise_ of beggar-ticks, and had to spend a quarter of an hour or more picking them off in some convenient spot; and so they get just what they wanted—deposited in another place.”

BOUNCING BET. SOAPWORT. _Saponaria officinalis._ Pink Family.

_Stem._—Rather stout, swollen at the joints. _Leaves._—Oval, opposite. _Flowers._—Pink or white, clustered. _Calyx._—Of five united sepals. _Corolla._—Of five pinkish, long-clawed petals (frequently the flowers are double). _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One, with two styles.

A cheery pretty plant is this with large, rose-tinged flowers which are especially effective when double.

Bouncing Bet is of a sociable turn and is seldom found far from civilization, delighting in the proximity of farm-houses and their belongings, in the shape of children, chickens, and cattle. She comes to us from England, and her “feminine comeliness and bounce” suggest to Mr. Burroughs a Yorkshire housemaid. The generic name is from _sapo_—soap, and refers to the lather which the juice forms with water, and which is said to have been used as a substitute for soap.

STEEPLE-BUSH. HARDHACK. _Spiræa tomentosa._ Rose Family.

_Stems._—Very woolly. _Leaves._—Alternate, oval, toothed. _Flowers._—Small, pink, in pyramidal clusters. _Calyx._—Five-cleft. _Corolla._—Of five rounded petals. _Stamens._—Numerous. _Pistils._—Five to eight.

The pink spires of this shrub justify its rather unpoetic name of steeple-bush. It is closely allied to the meadow-sweet (Pl. XXVI.), blossoming with it in low grounds during the summer. It differs from that plant in the color of its flowers and in the woolliness of its stems and the lower surface of its leaves.

DEPTFORD PINK. _Dianthus Armeria._ Pink Family.

One or two feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite, long and narrow, hairy. _Flowers._—Pink, with white dots, clustered. _Calyx._—Five-toothed, cylindrical, with awl-shaped bracts beneath. _Corolla._—Of five small petals. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One, with two styles.

In July and August we find these little flowers in our eastern fields. The generic name, which signifies _Jove’s own flower_, hardly applies to these inconspicuous blossoms. Perhaps it was originally bestowed upon _D. caryophyllus_, a large and fragrant English member of the genus, which was the origin of our garden carnation.

PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE. _Lythrum Salicaria._ Loosestrife Family.

_Stem._—Tall and slender. _Leaves._—Lance-shaped, with a heart-shaped base, sometimes whorled in threes. _Flowers._—Deep purple-pink, crowded and whorled in an interrupted spike. _Calyx._—Five to seven-toothed, with little processes between the teeth. _Corolla._—Of five or six somewhat wrinkled petals. _Stamens._—Usually twelve, in two sets, six longer and six shorter. _Pistil._—One, varying in size in the different blossoms, being of three different lengths.

One who has seen an inland marsh in August aglow with this beautiful plant, is almost ready to forgive the Old Country some of the many pests she has shipped to our shores in view of this radiant acquisition. The botany locates it anywhere between Nova Scotia and Delaware. It may be seen in the perfection of its beauty along the marshy shores of the Hudson and in the swamps of the Wallkill Valley.

When we learn that these flowers are called “long purples,” by the English country people, the scene of Ophelia’s tragic death rises before us:

There is a willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream, There with fantastic garlands did she come, Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do dead men’s fingers call them.

Dr. Prior, however, says that it is supposed that Shakespeare intended to designate the purple-flowering orchis, _O. mascula_, which is said to closely resemble the showy orchis (Pl. LXII.) of our spring woods.

The flowers of the purple loosestrife are especially interesting to botanists on account of their _trimorphism_, which word signifies _occurring in three forms_, and refers to the stamens and pistils, which vary in size in the different blossoms, being of three different lengths, the pollen from any given set of stamens being especially fitted to fertilize a pistil of corresponding length.

MEADOW-BEAUTY. DEER-GRASS. _Rhexia Virginica._ Melastoma Family.

_Stem._—Square, with wing-like angles. _Leaves._—Opposite, narrowly oval. _Flowers._—Purplish-pink, clustered. _Calyx-tube._—Urn-shaped, four-cleft at the apex. _Corolla._—Of four large rounded petals. _Stamens._—Eight, with long curved anthers. _Pistil._—One.

It is always a pleasant surprise to happen upon a bright patch of these delicate deep-hued flowers along the marshes or in the sandy fields of midsummer. Their fragile beauty is of that order which causes it to seem natural that they should belong to a genus which is the sole northern representative of a tropical family. In parts of New England they grow in profusion, while in Arkansas the plant is said to be a great favorite with the deer, hence one of its common names. The flower has been likened to a scarlet evening primrose, and there is certainly a suggestion of the evening primrose in the four rounded, slightly heart-shaped petals. The protruding stamens, with their long yellow anthers, are conspicuous.

Of the plant in the late year, Thoreau writes: “The scarlet leaves and stem of the rhexia, sometime out of flower, make almost as bright a patch in the meadows now as the flowers did. Its seed-vessels are perfect little cream-pitchers of graceful form.”

CLAMMY CUPHEA. WAX-WEED. _Cuphea viscosissima._ Loosestrife Family.

_Stem._—Sticky, hairy, branching. _Leaves._—Usually opposite, rounded, lance-shaped. _Flowers._—Deep purplish-pink, solitary or in racemes. _Calyx._—Tubular, slightly spurred at the base on the upper side, six-toothed at the apex, usually with a slight projection between each tooth. _Corolla._—Small, of six unequal petals. _Stamens._—Eleven or twelve, of unequal sizes, in two sets. _Pistil._—One, with a two-lobed stigma.

In the dry fields and along the roadsides of late summer this plant is found in blossom. Its rather wrinkled purplish-pink petals and unequal stamens suggest the flowers of the spiked loosestrife, _L. Salicaria_, to which it is closely related.

SEA PINK. _Sabbatia stellaris._ Gentian Family.

_Stem._—Slender, loosely branched. _Leaves._—Opposite, oblong to lance-shaped, the upper narrowly linear. _Flowers._—Large, deep pure pink to almost white. _Calyx._—Usually five-parted, the lobes long and slender. _Corolla._—Usually five-parted, conspicuously marked with red and yellow in the centre. _Stamens._—Usually five. _Pistil._—One, with two-cleft style.

The advancing year has few fairer sights to show us than a salt meadow flushed with these radiant blossoms. They are so abundant, so deep-hued, so delicate! One feels tempted to lie down among the pale grasses and rosy stars in the sunshine of the August morning and drink his fill of their beauty. How often nature tries to the utmost our capacity of appreciation and leaves us still insatiate! At such times it is almost a relief to turn from the mere contemplation of beauty to the study of its structure; it rests our overstrained faculties.

The vivid coloring and conspicuous marking of these flowers indicate that they aim to attract certain members of the insect world. As in the fireweed the pistil of the freshly opened blossom is curved sideways, with its lobes so closed and twisted as to be inaccessible on their stigmatic surfaces to the pollen which the already mature stamens are discharging. When the effete anthers give evidence that they are _hors de combat_ by their withered appearance, the style erects itself and spreads its stigmas.

_S. angularis_ is a species which may be found in rich soil inland. Its somewhat heart-shaped, clasping, five-nerved leaves and angled stem serve to identify it.

_S. chloroides_ is a larger and peculiarly beautiful species which borders brackish ponds along the coast. Its corolla is about two inches broad and eight to twelve-parted.

MARSH ST. JOHN’S-WORT. _Elodes campanulata._ St. John’s-wort Family.

_Stem._—One or two feet high, often pinkish, later bright red. _Leaves._—Opposite, set close to the stem or clasping by a broad base. _Flowers._—Pinkish or flesh-color, small, closely clustered at the summit of the stem and in the axils of the leaves. _Calyx._—Of five sepals, often pinkish. _Corolla._—Of five petals. _Stamens._—Nine, in three sets, the sets separated by orange-colored glands. _Pistil._—One, with three styles.

If one has been so unlucky, from the usual point of view, or so fortunate, looking at the matter with the eyes of the flower-lover, as to find himself in a rich marsh early in August, his eye is likely to fall upon the small, pretty pinkish flowers and pale clasping leaves of the marsh St. John’s-wort. A closer inspection will discover that the foliage is dotted with the pellucid glands, and that the stamens are clustered in groups after the family fashion. Should the same marsh be visited a few weeks later dashes of vivid color will guide one to the spot where the little pink flowers were found. In their place glow the conspicuous ovaries and bright leaves which make the plant very noticeable in late August.

_Elodes_ is a corruption from a Greek word which signifies _growing in marshes_.

ROSE MALLOW. SWAMP MALLOW. _Hibiscus Moscheutos._ Mallow Family.

_Stem._—Stout and tall, four to eight feet high. _Leaves._—The lower three-lobed, the upper oblong, whitish and downy beneath. _Flowers._—Large and showy, pink. _Calyx._—Five-cleft, with a row of narrow bractlets beneath. _Corolla._—Of five large petals. _Stamens._—Many, on a tube which encloses the lower part of the style. _Pistils._—Five, united into one, with five stigmas which are like pin-heads.

When the beautiful rose mallow slowly unfolds her pink banner-like petals and admits the eager bee to her stores of golden pollen, then we feel that the summer is far advanced. As truly as the wood anemone and the blood-root seem filled with the essence of spring and the promise of the opening year, so does this stately flower glow with the maturity and fulfilment of late summer. Here is none of the timorousness of the early blossoms which peep shyly out, as if ready to beat a hasty retreat should a late frost overtake them, but rather a calm assurance that the time is ripe, and that the salt marshes and brackish ponds are only awaiting their rosy lining.

The marsh mallow, whose roots yield the mucilaginous substance utilized in the well-known confection, is _Althæa officinalis_, an emigrant from Europe. It is a much less common plant than the _Hibiscus_, its pale pink flowers being found in some of the salt marshes of New England and New York.