the muddy racemes of the coral-root, or even the slender, graceful
spires of the ladies’ tresses are brought from the woods or roadside and
exhibited as one of so celebrated a tribe, they are usually viewed with
scornful incredulity, or, if the authority of the exhibitor be
sufficient to conquer disbelief, with unqualified disappointment. The
marvellous mechanism which is exhibited by the humblest member of the
Orchis family, and which suffices to secure the patient scrutiny and
wondering admiration of the scientist, conveys to the uninitiated as
little of interest or beauty as would a page of Homer in the original to
one without scholarly attainments.
The uprooting of a popular theory must be the work of years, especially
when it is impossible to offer as a substitute one which is equally
capable of being tersely defined and readily apprehended; for many seem
to hold it a righteous principle to cherish even a delusion till it be
replaced by a belief which affords an equal amount of satisfaction. It
is simpler to describe an orchid as a tropical air-plant which apes the
appearance of an insect and never roots in the ground than it is to
master by patient study and observation the various characteristics
which so combine in such a plant as to make it finally recognizable and
describable. Unfortunately, too, the enumeration of these unsensational
details does not appeal to the popular mind, and so fails to win by its
accuracy the place already occupied by the incorrect but pleasing
conception of an orchid.
For the benefit of those who wish to be able to correctly place these
curious and interesting flowers, as brief a description as seems
compatible with their recognition is appended.
_Leaves._—Alternate, parallel-nerved.
_Flowers._—Irregular in form, solitary or clustered, each one subtended
by a bract.
_Perianth._—Of six divisions in two sets. The three outer divisions are
sepals, but they are usually petal-like in appearance. The three inner
are petals. By a twist of the ovary what would otherwise be the upper
petal is made the lower. This division is termed the _lip_; it is
frequently brightly colored or grotesquely shaped, being at times deeply
fringed or furrowed; it has often a spur-like appendage which secretes
nectar; it is an important feature of the flower and is apparently
designed to attract insects for the purpose of securing their aid in the
cross-fertilization which is usually necessary for the perpetuation of
the different species of this family, all of which give evidence of
great modification by means of insect-selection.
In the heart of the flower is the _column_; this is usually composed of
the stamen (of two in the _Cypripediums_), which is confluent with the
_style_ or thick, fleshy _stigma_. The two _cells_ of the _anther_ are
placed on either side of and somewhat above the stigma; these cells hold
the two pollen masses.
Darwin tells us that the flower of an orchid originally consisted of
fifteen different parts, three petals, three sepals, six stamens, and
three pistils. He shows traces of all these parts in the modern orchid.
FLOWER DESCRIPTIONS
“_A fresh footpath, a fresh flower, a fresh delight_”
RICHARD JEFFERIES
I
WHITE
BLOOD-ROOT.
_Sanguinaria Canadensis._ Poppy Family.
_Rootstock._—Thick, charged with a crimson juice. _Scape._—Naked,
one-flowered. _Leaves._—Rounded, deeply lobed. _Flower._—White,
terminal. _Calyx._—Of two sepals falling early. _Corolla._—Of eight to
twelve snow-white petals. _Stamens._—About twenty-four. _Pistil._—One,
short.
In early April the firm tip of the curled-up leaf of the blood-root
pushes through the earth and brown leaves, bearing within its carefully
shielded burden—the young erect flower-bud. When the perils of the way
are passed and a safe height is reached this pale, deeply lobed leaf
resigns its precious charge and gradually unfolds itself; meanwhile the
bud slowly swells into a blossom.
Surely no flower of all the year can vie with this in spotless beauty.
Its very transitoriness enhances its charm. The snowy petals fall from
about their golden centre before one has had time to grow satiated with
their perfection. Unless the rocky hill-sides and wood-borders are
jealously watched it may escape us altogether. One or two warm sunny
days will hasten it to maturity, and a few more hours of wind and storm
shatter its loveliness.
Care should be taken in picking the flower—if it must be picked—as the
red liquid which oozes blood-like from the wounded stem makes a lasting
stain. This crimson juice was prized by the Indians for decorating their
faces and tomahawks.
SHAD-BUSH. JUNE-BERRY. SERVICE-BERRY.
_Amelanchier oblongifolia._ Rose Family.
A tall shrub or small tree found in low ground. _Leaves._—Oblong,
acutely pointed, finely toothed, mostly rounded at base.
_Flowers._—White, growing in racemes. _Calyx._—Five-cleft.
_Corolla._—Of five rather long petals. _Stamens._—Numerous, short.
_Pistils._—With five styles. _Fruit._—Round, red, berry-like, sweet
and edible, ripening in June.
[Illustration:
PLATE I
BLOOD-ROOT.—_S. Canadensis._
]
Down in the boggy meadow in early March we can almost fancy that from
beneath the solemn purple cowls of the skunk-cabbage brotherhood comes
the joyful chorus—
For lo, the winter is past!—
but we chilly mortals still find the wind so frosty and the woods so
unpromising that we return shivering to the fireside and refuse to take
up the glad strain till the feathery clusters of the shad-bush droop
from the pasture thicket. Then only are we ready to admit that
The flowers appear upon the earth,
The time of the singing of birds is come.
Even then, search the woods as we may, we shall hardly find thus early
in April another shrub in blossom, unless it be the spice-bush, whose
tiny honey-yellow flowers escape all but the careful observer. The
shad-bush has been thus named because of its flowering at the season
when shad “run;” June-berry, because the shrub’s crimson fruit surprises
us by gleaming from the copses at the very beginning of summer;
service-berry, because of the use made by the Indians of this fruit,
which they gathered in great quantities, and, after much crushing and
pounding, utilized in a sort of cake.
WOOD ANEMONE. WIND-FLOWER.
_Anemone nemorosa._ Crowfoot Family.
_Stem._—Slender. _Leaves._—Divided into delicate leaflets.
_Flower._—Solitary, white, pink, or purplish. _Calyx._—Of from four to
seven petal-like sepals. _Corolla._—None. _Stamens and
Pistils._—Numerous.
—Within the woods,
Whose young and half transparent leaves scarce cast
A shade, gay circles of anemones
Danced on their stalks;
writes Bryant, bringing vividly before us the feathery foliage of the
spring woods, and the tremulous beauty of the slender-stemmed anemones.
Whittier, too, tells how these
—wind flowers sway
Against the throbbing heart of May.
[Illustration:
PLATE II
RUE ANEMONE.—_A. thalictroides._
WOOD ANEMONE.—_A. nemorosa._
]
And in the writings of the ancients as well we could find many allusions
to the same flower were we justified in believing that the blossom
christened the “wind-shaken,” by some poet flower-lover of early Greece,
was identical with our modern anemone.
Pliny tells us that the anemone of the classics was so entitled because
it opened at the wind’s bidding. The Greek tradition claims that it
sprang from the passionate tears shed by Venus over the body of the
slain Adonis. At one time it was believed that the wind which had passed
over a field of anemones was poisoned and that disease followed in its
wake. Perhaps because of this superstition the flower was adopted as the
emblem of sickness by the Persians. Surely our delicate blossom is far
removed from any suggestion of disease or unwholesomeness, seeming
instead to hold the very essence of spring and purity in its quivering
cup.
RUE ANEMONE.
_Anemonella thalictroides._ Crowfoot Family.
_Stem._—Six to twelve inches high. _Leaves._—Divided into rounded
leaflets. _Flowers._—White or pinkish, clustered. _Calyx._—Of five to
ten petal-like sepals. _Corolla._—None. _Stamens._—Numerous.
_Pistils._—Four to fifteen.
The rue anemone seems to linger especially about the spreading roots of
old trees. It blossoms with the wood anemone, from which it differs in
bearing its flowers in clusters.
STAR-FLOWER.
_Trientalis Americana._ Primrose Family.
STEM.—Smooth, erect. LEAVES.—Thin, pointed, whorled at the summit of
the stem. FLOWERS.—White, delicate, star-shaped. CALYX.—Generally
seven-parted. COROLLA.—Generally seven-parted, flat, spreading.
_Stamens._—Four or five. PISTIL.—One.
Finding this delicate flower in the May woods, one is at once reminded
of the anemone. The whole effect of plant, leaf, and snow-white blossom
is starry and pointed. The frosted tapering petals distinguish it from
the rounded blossoms of the wild strawberry, near which it often grows.
[Illustration:
PLATE III
STAR-FLOWER.—_T. Americana._
_Maianthemum Canadense._
]
——— ———
_Maianthemum Canadense._ Lily Family.
_Stem._—Three to six inches high, with two or three leaves.
_Leaves._—Lance-shaped to oval, heart-shaped at base. _Flowers._—White
or straw-color, growing in a raceme. _Perianth._—Four-parted.
_Stamens._—Four. _Pistil._—One, with a two-lobed stigma. _Fruit._—A
red berry.
It seems unfair that this familiar and pretty little plant should be
without any homely English name. Its botanical title signifies “Canada
Mayflower,” but while it undoubtedly grows in Canada and flowers in May,
the name is not a happy one, for it abounds as far south as North
Carolina, and is not the first blossom to be entitled “Mayflower.”
In late summer the red berries are often found in close proximity to the
fruit of the shin-leaf and pipsissewa.
GOLD THREAD.
_Coptis trifolia._ Crowfoot Family.
_Scape._—Slender, three to five inches high. _Leaves._—Evergreen,
shining, divided into three leaflets. _Flowers._—Small, white,
solitary. _Calyx._—Of five to seven petal-like sepals which fall
early. _Corolla._—Of five to seven club-shaped petals.
_Stamens._—Fifteen to twenty-five. _Pistils._—Three to seven.
_Root._—Of long, bright yellow fibres.
This little plant abundantly carpets the northern bogs and extends
southward over the mountains, its tiny flowers appearing in May. Its
bright yellow thread-like roots give it its common name.
PYXIE. FLOWERING-MOSS.
_Pyxidanthera barbulata._ Order _Diapensiaceæ_.
_Stems._—Prostrate and creeping, branching. _Leaves._—Narrowly
lance-shaped, awl-pointed. _Flowers._—White or pink, small, numerous.
_Calyx._—Of five sepals. _Corolla._—Five-lobed. _Stamens._—Five.
_Pistil._—One, with a three-lobed stigma.
In early spring we may look for the white flowers of this moss-like
plant in the sandy pine-woods of New Jersey and southward. At Lakewood
they appear even before those of the trailing arbutus which grows in the
same localities. The generic name is from two Greek words which signify
_a small box_ and _anther_, and refers to the anthers, which open as if
by a lid.
CRINKLE-ROOT. TOOTHWORT. PEPPER-ROOT.
_Dentaria diphylla._ Mustard Family (p. 17).
_Rootstock._—Five to ten inches long, wrinkled, crisp, of a pleasant,
pungent taste. _Stem._—Leafless below, bearing two leaves above.
_Leaves._—Divided into three-toothed leaflets. _Flowers._—White, in a
terminal cluster. _Pod._—Flat and lance-shaped.
The crinkle-root has been valued—not so much on account of its pretty
flowers which may be found in the rich May woods—but for its crisp
edible root which has lent savor to many a simple luncheon in the cool
shadows of the forest.
SPRING-CRESS.
_Cardamine rhomboidea._ Mustard Family (p. 17).
_Rootstock._—Slender, bearing small tubers. _Stem._—From a tuberous
base, upright, slender. _Root-leaves._—Round and often heart-shaped.
_Stem-leaves._—The lower rounded, the upper almost lance-shaped.
_Flowers._—White, large. _Pod._—Flat, lance-shaped, pointed with a
slender style tipped with a conspicuous stigma; smaller than that of
the crinkle-root.
The spring-cress grows abundantly in the wet meadows and about the
borders of springs. Its large white flowers appear as early as April,
lasting until June.
WHITLOW-GRASS.
_Draba verna._ Mustard Family (p. 17).
_Scapes._—One to three inches high. _Leaves._—All from the root,
oblong or lance-shaped. _Flowers._—White, with two-cleft petals.
_Pod._—Flat, varying from oval to oblong, lance-shaped.
This little plant may be found flowering along the roadsides and in
sandy places during April and May. It has come to us from Europe.
SHEPHERD’S PURSE.
_Capsella Bursa-pastoris._ Mustard Family (p. 17).
_Stem._—Low, branching. _Root-leaves._—Clustered, incised or toothed.
_Stem-leaves._—Arrow-shaped, set close to the stem. _Flowers._—White,
small, in general structure resembling other members of the Mustard
family. _Pod._—Triangular, heart-shaped.
This is one of the commonest of our wayside weeds, working its way
everywhere with such persistency and appropriating other people’s
property so shamelessly, that it has won for itself the nickname of
pickpocket. Its popular title arose from the shape of its little
seed-pods.
MAY-APPLE. MANDRAKE.
_Podophyllum peltatum._ Barberry Family.
_Flowering stem._—Two-leaved, one-flowered. _Flowerless
stems._—Terminated by one large, rounded, much-lobed leaf. _Leaves_
(of flowering stems).—One-sided, five to nine-lobed, the lobes oblong,
the leaf-stalks fastened to their lower side near the inner edge.
_Flower._—White, large, nodding from the fork made by the two leaves.
_Calyx._—Of six early falling sepals. _Corolla._—Of six to nine
rounded petals. _Stamens._—Twice as many as the petals. _Pistil._—One,
with a large, thick stigma set close to the ovary. _Fruit._—A large,
fleshy, egg-shaped berry, sweet and edible.
“The umbrellas are out!” cry the children, when the great green leaves
of the May-apple first unfold themselves in spring. These
curious-looking leaves at once betray the hiding-place of the pretty but
unpleasantly odoriferous flower which nods beneath them. They lie
thickly along the woods and meadows in many parts of the country,
arresting one’s attention by the railways. The fruit, which ripens in
July, has been given the name of “wild lemon,” in some places on account
of its shape. It was valued by the Indians for medicinal purposes, and
its mawkish flavor still seems to find favor with the children,
notwithstanding its frequently unpleasant after-effects. The leaves and
roots are poisonous if taken internally, and are said to have been used
as a pot-herb, with fatal results. They yield an extract which has been
utilized in medicine.
TWIN-LEAF. RHEUMATISM-ROOT.
_Jeffersonia diphylla._ Barberry Family.
A low plant. _Leaves._—From the root, long-stalked, parted into two
rounded leaflets. _Scape._—One-flowered. _Flower._—White, one inch
broad. _Sepals._—Four, falling early. _Petals._—Eight; flat, oblong.
_Stamens._—Eight. _Pistil._—One, with a two-lobed stigma.
The twin-leaf is often found growing with the blood-root in the woods of
April or May. It abounds somewhat west and southward.
HARBINGER-OF-SPRING.
_Erigenia bulbosa._ Parsley Family (p. 15).
_Stem._—Three to nine inches high, from a deep round tuber.
_Leaves._—One or two, divided into linear-oblong leaf-segments.
_Flowers._—White, small, few, in a leafy-bracted compound umbel.
[Illustration:
PLATE IV
MAY-APPLE.—_P. peltatum._
]
The pretty little harbinger-of-spring should be easily identified by
those who are fortunate enough to find it, for it is one of the smallest
members of the Parsley family. It is only common in certain localities,
being found in abundance in the neighborhood of Washington, where its
flowers appear as early as March.
EARLY EVERLASTING. PLANTAIN-LEAVED EVERLASTING.
_Antennaria plantaginifolia._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stems._—Downy or woolly, three to eighteen inches high.
_Leaves._—Silky, woolly when young; those from the root, oval,
three-nerved; those on the flowering stems, small, lance-shaped.
_Flower-heads._—Crowded, clustered, small, yellowish-white, composed
entirely of tubular flowers.
In early spring the hill-sides are whitened with this, the earliest of
the everlastings.
SPRING BEAUTY.
_Claytonia Virginica._ Purslane Family.
_Stem._—From a small tuber, often somewhat reclining. _Leaves._—Two;
opposite, long and narrow. _Flowers._—White, with pink veins, or pink
with deeper-colored veins, growing in a loose cluster. _Calyx._—Of two
sepals. _Corolla._—Of five petals. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One,
with style three-cleft at apex.
So bashful when I spied her,
So pretty, so ashamed!
So hidden in her leaflets
Lest anybody find:
So breathless when I passed her,
So helpless when I turned
And bore her struggling, blushing,
Her simple haunts beyond!
For whom I robbed the dingle,
For whom betrayed the dell,
Many will doubtless ask me,
But I shall never tell!
Yet we are all free to guess—and what flower—at least in the early year,
before it has gained that touch of confidence which it acquires later—is
so bashful, so pretty, so flushed with rosy shame, so eager to defend
its modesty by closing its blushing petals when carried off by the
despoiler—as the spring beauty? To be sure, she is not “hidden in her
leaflets,” although often seeking concealment beneath the leaves of
other plants—but why not assume that Miss Dickinson has availed herself
of something of the license so freely granted to poets—especially, it
seems to me—to poets of nature? Perhaps of this class few are more
accurate than she, and although we wonder at the sudden blindness which
leads her to claim that
—Nature rarer uses yellow
Than another hue—
when it seems as though it needed but little knowledge of flowers to
recognize that yellow, probably, occurs more frequently among them than
any other color, and also at the representation of this same nature as
—Spending scarlet like a woman—
when in reality she is so chary of this splendid hue; still we cannot
but appreciate that this poet was in close and peculiar sympathy with
flowers, and was wont to paint them with more than customary fidelity.
[Illustration:
PLATE V
SPRING BEAUTY.—_C. Virginica._
]
We look for the spring beauty in April and May, and often find it in the
same moist places—on a brook’s edge or skirting the wet woods—as the
yellow adder’s tongue. It is sometimes mistaken for an anemone, but its
rose-veined corolla and linear leaves easily identify it. Parts of the
carriage-drive in the Central Park are bordered with great patches of
the dainty blossoms. One is always glad to discover these children of
the country within our city limits, where they can be known and loved by
those other children who are so unfortunate as to be denied the
knowledge of them in their usual haunts. If the day chances to be cloudy
these flowers close and are only induced to open again by an abundance
of sunlight. This habit of closing in the shade is common to many
flowers, and should be remembered by those who bring home their
treasures from the woods and fields, only to discard the majority as
hopelessly wilted. If any such exhausted blossoms are placed in the
sunlight, with their stems in fresh water, they will probably regain
their vigor. Should this treatment fail, an application of very
hot—almost boiling—water should be tried. This heroic measure often
meets with success.
DUTCHMAN’S BREECHES. WHITE-HEARTS.
_Dicentra Cucullaria._ Fumitory Family.
_Scape._—Slender. _Leaves._—Thrice-compound. _Flowers._—White and
yellow, growing in a raceme. _Calyx._—Of two small, scale-like sepals.
_Corolla._—Closed and flattened; of four somewhat cohering white
petals tipped with yellow; the two outer—large, with spreading tips
and deep spurs; the two inner—small, with spoon-shaped tips uniting
over the anthers and stigma. _Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One.
[Illustration:
PLATE VI
DUTCHMAN’S BREECHES.—_D. Cucullaria._
]
There is something singularly fragile and spring-like in the appearance
of this plant as its heart-shaped blossoms nod from the rocky ledges
where they thrive best. One would suppose that the firmly closed petals
guarded against any intrusion on the part of insect-visitors and
indicated the flower’s capacity for self-fertilization; but it is found
that when insects are excluded by means of gauze no seeds are set, which
goes to prove that the pollen from another flower is a necessary factor
in the continuance of this species. The generic name, _Dicentra_, is
from the Greek and signifies _two-spurred._ The flower, when seen,
explains its two English titles. It is accessible to every New Yorker,
for in early April it whitens many of the shaded ledges in the upper
part of the Central Park.
SQUIRREL CORN.
_Dicentra Canadensis._ Fumitory Family.
The squirrel corn closely resembles the dutchman’s breeches. Its
greenish or pinkish flowers are heart-shaped, with short, rounded spurs.
They have the fragrance of hyacinths, and are found blossoming in early
spring in the rich woods of the North.
FOAM-FLOWER. FALSE MITRE-WORT.
_Tiarella cordifolia._ Saxifrage Family.
_Stem._—Five to twelve inches high, leafless, or rarely with one
or two leaves. _Leaves._—From the rootstock or runners,
heart-shaped, sharply lobed. _Flowers._—White, in a full raceme.
_Calyx._—Bell-shaped, five-parted. _Corolla._—Of five petals on
claws. _Stamens._—Ten, long and slender. _Pistil._—One, with two
styles.
Over the hills and in the rocky woods of April and May the graceful
white racemes of the foam-flower arrest our attention. This is a near
relative of the _Mitella_ or true mitre-wort. Its generic name is a
diminutive from the Greek for _turban_, and is said to refer to the
shape of the pistil.
EARLY SAXIFRAGE.
_Saxifraga Virginiensis._ Saxifrage Family.
_Scape._—Four to nine inches high. _Leaves._—Clustered at the root,
somewhat wedge-shaped, narrowed into a broad leaf-stalk.
_Flowers._—White, small, clustered. _Calyx._—Five-cleft. _Corolla._—Of
five petals. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One, with two styles.
[Illustration:
PLATE VII
FOAM-FLOWER.—_T. cordifolia._
]
In April we notice that the seams in the rocky cliffs and hill-sides
begin to whiten with the blossoms of the early saxifrage.
_Steinbrech_—stonebreak—the Germans appropriately entitle this little
plant, which bursts into bloom from the minute clefts in the rocks and
which has been supposed to cause their disintegration by its growth. The
generic and common names are from _saxum_—a rock, and _frango_—to break.
MITRE-WORT. BISHOP’S CAP.
_Mitella diphylla._ Saxifrage Family.
_Stem._—Six to twelve inches high, hairy, bearing two opposite leaves.
_Leaves._—Heart-shaped, lobed and toothed, those of the stem opposite
and nearly sessile. _Flowers._—White, small, in a slender raceme.
_Calyx._—Short, five-cleft. _Corolla._—Of five slender petals which
are deeply incised. _Stamens._—Ten, short. _Pistil._—One, with two
styles.
The mitre-wort resembles the foam-flower in foliage, but bears its
delicate crystal-like flowers in a more slender raceme. It also is found
in the rich woods, blossoming somewhat later.
INDIAN POKE. FALSE HELLEBORE.
_Veratrum viride._ Lily Family.
_Root._—Poisonous, coarse and fibrous. _Stem._—Stout, two to seven
feet high, very leafy to the top. _Leaves._—Broadly oval, pointed,
clasping. _Flowers._—Dull greenish, inconspicuous, clustered.
_Perianth._—Of six spreading sepals. _Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One,
with three styles.