PROF. WILLIAM KERR HIGLEY, Secretary of The Chicago Academy of Sciences.
These children of the meadows, born
Of sunshine and of showers.
--_Whittier._
The scarlet painted cup belongs to a large and interesting group of
plants known as the figwort family (_Scrophulariaceæ_). The common name
of the family is derived from the reputed value of some of the species
in the cure of ficus or figwort, a disease caused by the growth of a
stalked excrescence on the eyelids, tongue, or other parts of the body
that are covered with a mucous membrane. The technical name is derived
from scrofula, as some of the species are considered efficacious in
the treatment of that disease. This family includes about one hundred
and sixty-five genera and over twenty-five hundred species. They are
common all over the world, reaching from the equator into the regions
of constant frosts. It is claimed by some authorities that fully one
thirty-fifth of all the flowering plants of North America are classed
in this family.
Besides the painted cup there are classed in this group the mullen, the
common toad-flax, the foxglove (_Digitalis_), the gerardias, and the
calceolarias.
The foxglove, though causing death when the extract is taken in excess,
is one of the most highly valued medicinal plants known. Nearly all
the species of the family are herbs, without fragrance. Some of the
species are known to be partially parasitic. True parasites are usually
white or very light colored and contain no green coloring matter,
which is essential when the plant is self-supporting. The parasitic
forms of this family, however, do contain green coloring matter and
are thus not entirely dependent on their host for the preparation of
their food supply. The gerardias (false foxgloves) are frequently found
attached to the roots of oaks, large shrubs, and even on the roots of
grasses. It has also been shown that there is a cannibalistic tendency
in some of the species of gerardia. They will not only fasten their
sucker-like roots on those of other species, but also upon those of
other individuals of the same species, and even upon the root branches
of their own plants. This double parasitism is not rare.
The scarlet painted cup of our illustration (_Castilleja coccinea, L._)
is a native of the eastern half of the United States and the southern
portion of Canada. It prefers the soil of meadows and moist woods and
has been found growing abundantly at an elevation of from three to four
thousand feet.
The generic name was given this plant by Linnæus in honor of a Spanish
botanist. The specific name is from the Latin, meaning scarlet. Nearly
all of the forty species are natives of North and South America.
The flowers are dull yellow in color and are obscured by the rather
large floral leaves or bracts, which are bright scarlet--rarely bright
yellow--in color. These conspicuous leaves are broader toward the apex
and usually about three-cleft. By the novice they are usually mistaken
for the flower, which is hardly noticeable. The stem seldom exceeds
a foot in height and bears a number of leaves that are deeply cut in
narrow segments. The bright color of this plant has given it many local
common names more or less descriptive. Prominent among these is the
Indian paint brush.
A pretty myth tells us that the painted cup was originally yellow, but
that Venus, when lamenting the death of Apollo, pressed a cluster of
the blossoms to her parched lips and drank the dew from the flowers,
the outer leaves of which have ever since retained the color of her
lips.
[Illustration: YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER AND PAINTED CUP.
BY PER HARRIET E. HIGLEY.
A. W. MUMFORD, PUBLISHER, CHICAGO.
COPYRIGHT 1900, BY
NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.]