Gardens, the beautiful home of the editor of the London _Times_, is
celebrated for its fine specimens of mountain laurel and American
rhododendron. The English papers advertise the approach of the flowering
season, the estate is thrown open to the public, and the people for
miles around flock to see the radiant strangers from across the water.
The shrub is not known there as the laurel, but by its generic title,
_Kalmia_. The head gardener of the place received with some incredulity
my statement that in parts of America the waste hill-sides were
brilliant with its beauty every June.
The ingenious contrivance of these flowers to secure cross-fertilization
is most interesting. The long filaments of the stamens are arched by
each anther being caught in a little pouch of the corolla; the
disturbance caused by the sudden alighting of an insect on the blossom,
or the quick brush of a bee’s wing, dislodges the anthers from their
niches, and the stamens spring upward with such violence that the pollen
is jerked from its hiding-place in the pore of the anther-cell on to the
body of the insect-visitor, who straightway carries it off to another
flower upon whose protruding stigma it is sure to be inadvertently
deposited. In order to see the working of this for one’s self, it is
only necessary to pick a fresh blossom and either brush the corolla
quickly with one’s finger, or touch the stamens suddenly with a pin,
when the anthers will be dislodged and the pollen will be seen to fly.
This is not the laurel of the ancients—the symbol of victory and
fame—notwithstanding some resemblance in the form of the leaves. The
classic shrub is supposed to be identical with the _Laurus nobilis_
which was carried to our country by the early colonists, but which did
not thrive in its new environment.
The leaves of our species are supposed to possess poisonous qualities,
and are said to have been used by the Indians for suicidal purposes.
There is also a popular belief that the flesh of a partridge which has
fed upon its fruit becomes poisonous. The clammy exudation about the
flower-stalks and blossoms may serve the purpose of excluding from the
flower such small insects as would otherwise crawl up to it, dislodge
the stamens, scatter the pollen, and yet be unable to carry it to its
proper destination on the pistil of another flower.
The _Kalmia_ was named by Linnæus after Peter Kalm, one of his pupils
who travelled in this country, who was, perhaps, the first to make known
the shrub to his great master.
The popular name spoonwood grew from its use by the Indians for making
eating-utensils. The wood is of fine grain and takes a good polish.
The title calico-bush probably arose from the marking of the corolla,
which, to an imaginative mind, might suggest the cheap cotton-prints
sold in the shops.
WHITE SWAMP HONEYSUCKLE. CLAMMY AZALEA.
_Rhododendron viscosum._ Heath Family.
A shrub from three to ten feet high. _Leaves._—Oblong.
_Flowers._—White, clustered, appearing after the leaves.
_Calyx-lobes._—Minute. _Corolla._—White, five-lobed, the clammy tube
much longer than the lobes. _Stamens._—Usually five, protruding.
_Pistil._—One, protruding.
[Illustration:
PLATE XV
MOUNTAIN LAUREL.—_K. latifolia._
]
The fragrant white flowers of this beautiful shrub appear in early
summer along the swamps which skirt the coast, and occasionally farther
inland. The close family resemblance to the pink azalea (Pl. LXV.) will
be at once detected. On the branches of both species will be found those
abnormal, fleshy growths, called variously “swamp apples” and “May
apples,” which are so relished by the children. Formerly these growths
were attributed to the sting of an insect, as in the “oak apple;” now
they are generally believed to be modified buds.
AMERICAN RHODODENDRON. GREAT LAUREL.
_Rhododendron maximum._ Heath Family.
A shrub from six to thirty-five feet high. _Leaves._—Thick and
leathery, oblong, entire. _Flowers._—White or pink, clustered.
_Calyx._—Minute, five-toothed. _Corolla._—Somewhat bell-shaped,
five-parted, greenish in the throat, with red, yellow, or green spots.
_Stamens._—Usually ten. _Pistil._—One.
This beautiful native shrub is one of the glories of our country when in
the perfection of its loveliness. The woods which nearly cover many of
the mountains of our Eastern States hide from all but the bold explorer
a radiant display during the early part of July. Then the lovely waxy
flower-clusters of the American rhododendron are in their fulness of
beauty. As in the laurel, the clammy flower-stalks seem fitted to
protect the blossom from the depredations of small and useless insects,
while the markings on the corolla attract the attention of the desirable
bee.
In those parts of the country where it flourishes most luxuriantly,
veritable rhododendron jungles termed “hells” by the mountaineers are
formed. The branches reach out and interlace in such a fashion as to be
almost impassable.
The nectar secreted by the blossoms is popularly supposed to be
poisonous. We read in Xenophon that during the retreat of the Ten
Thousand, the soldiers found a quantity of honey of which they freely
partook, with results that proved almost fatal. This honey is said to
have been made from a rhododendron which is still common in Asia Minor
and which is believed to possess intoxicating and poisonous properties.
[Illustration:
PLATE XVI
AMERICAN RHODODENDRON.—_R. maximum._
]
Comparatively little attention had been paid to this superb flower until
the Centennial Celebration at Philadelphia, when some fine exhibits
attracted the admiration of thousands. The shrub has been carefully
cultivated in England, having been brought to great perfection on some
of the English estates. It is yearly winning more notice in this
country.
The generic name is from the Greek for _rose-tree_.
WOOD SORREL.
_Oxalis Acetosella._ Geranium Family.
_Scape._—One-flowered, two to five inches high. _Leaves._—Divided into
three clover-like leaflets. _Flower._—White veined with red, solitary.
_Calyx._—Of five sepals. _Corolla._—Of five petals. _Stamens._—Ten.
_Pistil._—One with five styles.
Surely nowhere can be found a daintier carpeting than that made by the
clover-like foliage of the wood sorrel when studded with its rose-veined
blossoms in the northern woods of June. At the very name comes a vision
of mossy nooks where the sunlight only comes on sufferance, piercing its
difficult path through the tent-like foliage of the forest, resting only
long enough to become a golden memory.
The early Italian painters availed themselves of its chaste beauty. Mr.
Ruskin says: “Fra Angelico’s use of the _Oxalis Acetosella_ is as
faithful in representation as touching in feeling. The triple leaf of
the plant and white flower stained purple probably gave it strange
typical interest among the Christian painters.”
Throughout Europe it bears the odd name of “Hallelujah” on account of
its flowering between Easter and Whitsuntide, the season when the Psalms
sung in the churches resound with that word. There has been an unfounded
theory that this title sprang from St. Patrick’s endeavor to prove to
his rude audience the possibility of a Trinity in Unity from the
three-divided leaves. By many this ternate leaf has been considered the
shamrock of the ancient Irish.
The English title, “cuckoo-bread,” refers to the appearance of the
blossoms at the season when the cry of the cuckoo is first heard.
[Illustration:
PLATE XVII
WOOD SORREL.—_O. Acetosella._
]
Our name sorrel is from the Greek for _sour_ and has reference to the
acrid juice of the plant. The delicate leaflets “sleep” at night; that
is, they droop and close one against another.
POISON SUMACH.
_Rhus venenata._ Cashew Family.
A shrub from six to eighteen feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into seven
to thirteen oblong entire leaflets. _Flowers._—Greenish or
yellowish-white, in loose axillary clusters; some perfect, others
unisexual. _Fruit._—Whitish or dun-colored, small, globular.
The poison sumach infests swampy places and flowers in June. In early
summer it can be distinguished from the harmless members of the family
by the slender flower-clusters which grow from the axils of the leaves,
those of the innocent sumachs being borne in pyramidal, terminal
clusters. In the later year the fruits of the respective shrubs are, of
course, similarly situated, but, to accentuate the distinction, they
differ in color; that of the poison sumach being whitish or dun-colored,
while that of the other is crimson.
STAGHORN SUMACH.
_Rhus typhina._ Cashew Family.
A shrub or tree from ten to thirty feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into
eleven to thirty-one somewhat lance-shaped, toothed leaflets.
_Flowers._—Greenish or yellowish-white, in upright terminal clusters,
some perfect, others unisexual, appearing in June. _Fruit._—Crimson,
small, globular, hairy.
This is the common sumach which illuminates our hill-sides every autumn
with masses of flame-like color. Many of us would like to decorate our
homes with its brilliant sprays, but are deterred from handling them by
the fear of being poisoned, not knowing that one glance at the crimson
fruit-plumes should reassure us, as the poisonous sumachs are
white-fruited. These tossing pyramidal fruit-clusters at first appear to
explain the common title of staghorn sumach. It is not till the foliage
has disappeared, and the forked branches are displayed in all their
nakedness, that we feel that these must be the feature in which the
common name originated.
POISON IVY.
_Rhus Toxicodendron._ Cashew Family.
A shrub which usually climbs by means of rootlets over rocks, walls,
and trees; sometimes low and erect. _Leaves._—Divided into three
somewhat four-sided pointed leaflets. _Flowers._—Greenish or
yellowish-white, small, some perfect, others unisexual; in loose
clusters in the axils of the leaves in June. _Fruit._—Small, globular,
somewhat berry-like, dun-colored, clustered.
This much-dreaded plant is often confused with the beautiful Virginia
creeper, occasionally to the ruthless destruction of the latter.
Generally the two can be distinguished by the three-divided leaves of
the poison ivy, the leaves of the Virginia creeper usually being
five-divided. In the late year the whitish fruit of the ivy easily
identifies it, the berries of the creeper being blackish. The poison ivy
is reputed to be especially harmful during the night, or at any time in
early summer when the sun is not shining upon it.
VIRGINIA CREEPER. AMERICAN IVY.
_Ampelopsis quinquefolia._ Vine Family.
A woody vine climbing by means of disk-bearing tendrils, and also by
rootlets. _Leaves._—Usually divided into five leaflets.
_Flowers._—Greenish, small, clustered, appearing in July. _Fruit._—A
small, blackish berry in October.
Surely in autumn, if not always, this is the most beautiful of our
native climbers. At that season its blood-like sprays are outlined
against the dark evergreens about which they delight to twine, showing
that marvellous discrimination in background which so constantly excites
our admiration in nature. The Virginia creeper is extensively cultivated
in Europe. Even in Venice, that sea-city where one so little anticipates
any reminders of home woods and meadows, many a dim canal mirrors in
October some crumbling wall or graceful trellis aglow with its vivid
beauty.
SHIN-LEAF.
_Pyrola elliptica._ Heath Family.
_Scape._—Upright, scaly, terminating in a many-flowered raceme.
_Leaves._—From the root, thin and dull, somewhat oval.
_Flowers._—White, nodding. _Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Of five
rounded, concave petals. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One, with a long
curved style.
In the distance these pretty flowers suggest the lilies-of-the-valley.
They are found in the woods of June and July, often in close company
with the pipsissewa. The ugly common name of shin-leaf arose from an
early custom of applying the leaves of this genus to bruises or sores;
the English peasantry being in the habit of calling any kind of plaster
a “shin-plaster” without regard to the part of the body to which it
might be applied. The old herbalist, Salmon, says that the name _Pyrola_
was given to the genus by the Romans on account of the fancied
resemblance of its leaves and flowers to those of a pear-tree. The
English also call the plant “wintergreen,” which name we usually reserve
for _Gaultheria procumbens_.
_P. rotundifolia_ is a species with thick, shining, rounded leaves.
COMMON BLACK HUCKLEBERRY.
_Gaylussacia resinosa._ Heath Family.
One to three feet high. _Stems._—Shrubby, branching. _Leaves._—Oval
or oblong, sprinkled more or less with waxy, resinous atoms.
_Flowers._—White, reddish, or purplish, bell-shaped, growing in
short, one-sided clusters. _Calyx._—With five short teeth.
_Corolla._—Bell-shaped, with a five-cleft border. _Stamens._—Ten.
_Pistil._—One. _Fruit._—A black, bloomless, edible berry.
The flowers of the common huckleberry appear in May or June; the berries
in late summer. The shrub abounds in rocky woods and swamps.
COMMON BLUEBERRY.
_Vaccinium corymbosun._ Heath Family.
Five to ten feet high.
The blueberry has a bloom which is lacking in the huckleberry. It is
found in swamps or low thickets in late summer.
[Illustration:
PLATE XVIII
SHIN-LEAF.—_P. elliptica._
]
SQUAW HUCKLEBERRY.
_Vaccinium stamineum._ Heath Family.
Two or three feet high. _Stems._—Diffusely branched.
This large greenish or yellowish berry is hardly edible. The flowers
appear in June, and are easily recognized by their protruding stamens.
The leaves are pale green above and whitish underneath.
PIPSISSEWA. PRINCE’S PINE.
_Chimaphila umbellata._ Heath Family.
_Stem._—Four to ten inches high, leafy. _Leaves._—Somewhat whorled or
scattered, evergreen, lance-shaped, with sharply toothed edges.
_Flowers._—White or purplish, fragrant, in a loose terminal cluster.
_Calyx._—Five-lobed. _Corolla._—With five rounded, widely spreading
petals. _Stamens._—Ten, with violet anthers. _Pistil._—One, with a
short top-shaped style and disk-like stigma.
When strolling through the woods in summer one is apt to chance upon
great patches of these deliciously fragrant and pretty flowers. The
little plant, with its shining evergreen foliage, flourishes abundantly
among decaying leaves in sandy soil, and puts forth its dainty blossoms
late in June. It is one of the latest of the fragile wood-flowers which
are so charming in the earlier year, and which have already begun to
surrender in favor of their hardier, more self-assertive brethren of the
fields and roadsides. The common name, pipsissewa, is evidently of
Indian origin, and perhaps refers to the strengthening properties which
the red men ascribed to it.
SPOTTED PIPSISSEWA.
_Chimaphila maculata._ Heath Family.
The spotted pipsissewa blossoms a little later than its twin-sister. Its
slightly toothed leaves are conspicuously marked with white.
WHITE DAISY. WHITE-WEED. OX-EYED DAISY.
_Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum._ Composite Family (p. 13).
[Illustration:
PLATE XIX
PIPSISSEWA.—_C. umbellata._
]
The common white daisy stars the June meadows with those gold-centred
blossoms which delight the eyes of the beauty-lover while they make sore
the heart of the farmer, for the “whiteweed,” as he calls it, is hurtful
to pasture-land and difficult to eradicate.
The true daisy is the _Bellis perennis_ of England,—the
Wee, modest crimson-tippit flower
of Burns. This was first called “day’s eye,” because it closed at night
and opened at dawn,—
That well by reason men it call may,
The Daisie, or else the eye of the day,
sang Chaucer nearly four hundred years ago. In England our flower is
called “ox-eye” and “moon daisy;” in Scotland, “dog-daisy.”
The plant is not native to this country, but was brought from the Old
World by the early colonists.
DAISY FLEABANE. SWEET SCABIOUS.
_Erigeron annuus._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Stout, from three to five feet high, branched, hairy.
_Leaves._—Coarsely and sharply toothed, the lowest ovate, the upper
narrower. _Flower-heads._—Small, clustered, composed of both ray and
disk-flowers, the former white, purplish, or pinkish, the latter
yellow.
During the summer months the fields and waysides are whitened with these
very common flowers which look somewhat like small white daisies or
asters.
Another common species is _E. strigosus_, a smaller plant, with smaller
flower-heads also, but with the white ray-flowers longer. The generic
name is from two Greek words signifying _spring_ and _an old man_, in
allusion to the hoariness of certain species which flower in the spring.
The fleabanes were so named from the belief that when burned they were
objectionable to insects. They were formerly hung in country cottages
for the purpose of excluding such unpleasant intruders.
MAYWEED. CHAMOMILE.
_Anthemis Cotula._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Branching. _Leaves._—Finely dissected.
_Flower-heads._—Composed of white ray and yellow disk-flowers,
resembling the common white daisy.
In midsummer the pretty daisy-like blossoms of this strong-scented plant
are massed along the roadsides. So nearly a counterpart of the common
daisy do they appear that they are constantly mistaken for that flower.
The smaller heads, with the yellow disk-flowers crowded upon a
receptacle which is much more conical than that of the daisy, and the
finely dissected, feathery leaves, serve to identify the Mayweed. The
country-folk brew “chamomile tea” from these leaves, and through their
agency raise painfully effective blisters in an emergency.
NEW JERSEY TEA. RED-ROOT.
_Ceanothus Americanus._ Buckthorn Family.
_Root._—Dark red. _Stem._—Shrubby, one to three feet high.
_Flowers._—White, small, clustered. _Calyx._—White, petal-like,
five-lobed, incurved. _Corolla._—With five long-clawed hooded petals.
_Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One, with three stigmas.
This shrubby plant is very common in dry woods. In July its white
feathery flower-clusters brighten many a shady nook in an otherwise
flowerless neighborhood. During the Revolution its leaves were used as a
substitute for tea.
BASTARD TOADFLAX.
_Comandra umbellata._ Sandalwood Family.
_Stem._—Eight to ten inches high, branching, leafy.
_Leaves._—Alternate, oblong, pale. _Flowers._—Greenish-white, small,
clustered. _Calyx._—Bell or urn-shaped. _Corolla._—None.
_Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One.
The bastard toadflax is commonly found in dry ground, flowering in May
or June. Its root forms parasitic attachments to the roots of trees.
WINTERGREEN. CHECKERBERRY. MOUNTAIN TEA.
_Gaultheria procumbens._ Heath Family.
_Stem._—Three to six inches high, slender, leafy at the summit.
_Leaves._—Oval, shining, evergreen. _Flowers._—White, growing from the
axils of the leaves. _Calyx._—Five-lobed. _Corolla._—Urn-shaped, with
five small teeth. _Stamens._—Ten. _Pistil._—One. _Fruit._—A globular
red berry.
He who seeks the cool shade of the evergreens on a hot July day is
likely to discover the nodding wax-like flowers of this little plant.
They are delicate and pretty, with a background of shining leaves. These
leaves when young have a pleasant aromatic flavor similar to that of the
sweet birch; they are sometimes used as a substitute for tea. The bright
red berries are also edible and savory, and are much appreciated by the
hungry birds and deer during the winter. If not thus consumed they
remain upon the plant until the following spring when they either drop
or rot upon the stem, thus allowing the seeds to escape.
WHITE SWEET CLOVER. WHITE MELILOT.
_Melilotus alba._ Pulse Family (p. 16).
_Stem._—Two to four feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into three-toothed
leaflets. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, white, growing in spike-like
racemes.
Like its yellow sister, _M. officinalis_, this plant is found blossoming
along the roadsides throughout the summer. The flowers are said to serve
as flavoring in Gruyère cheese, snuff, and smoking-tobacco, and to act
like camphor when packed with furs to preserve them from moths, besides
imparting a pleasant fragrance.
WATERLEAF.
_Hydrophyllum Virginicum._ Waterleaf Family.
One to two feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into five to seven oblong,
pointed, toothed divisions. _Flowers._—White or purplish, in one-sided
raceme-like clusters which are usually coiled from the apex when
young. _Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Five-cleft, bell-shaped.
_Stamens._—Five, protruding. _Pistil._—One.
This plant is found flowering in summer in the rich woods.
[Illustration:
PLATE XX
WINTERGREEN.—_G. procumbens._
]
INDIAN PIPE. CORPSE-PLANT.
_Monotropa uniflora._ Heath Family.
A low fleshy herb from three to eight inches high, without green
foliage, of a wax-like appearance, with colorless bracts in the place
of leaves. _Flower._—White or pinkish, single, terminal, nodding.
_Calyx._—Of two to four bract-like scales. _Corolla._—Of four or five
wedge-shaped petals. _Stamens._—Eight or ten, with yellow anthers.
_Pistil._—One, with a disk-like, four or five-rayed stigma.
The effect of a cluster of these nodding, wax-like flowers in the deep
woods of summer is singularly fairy-like. They spring from a ball of
matted rootlets, and are parasitic, drawing their nourishment from
decaying vegetable matter. In fruit the plant erects itself and loses
its striking resemblance to a pipe. Its clammy touch, and its
disposition to decompose and turn black when handled, has earned it the
name of corpse-plant. It was used by the Indians as an eye-lotion, and
is still believed by some to possess healing properties.
FIELD CHICKWEED.
_Cerastium arvense._ Pink Family.
Four to eight inches high. _Stems._—Slender. _Leaves._—Linear or
narrowly lance-shaped. _Flowers._—White, large, in terminal clusters.
_Calyx._—Usually of five sepals. _Corolla._—Usually of five two-lobed
petals which are more than twice the length of the calyx.
_Stamens._—Twice as many, or fewer than the petals. _Pistil._—One,
with as many styles as there are sepals.
This is one of the most noticeable of the chickweeds. Its starry flowers
are found in dry or rocky places, blossoming from May till July.
The common chickweed, which besets damp places everywhere, is _Stellaria
media_; this is much used as food for songbirds.
The long-leaved stitchwort, _S. longifolia_, is a species which is
common in grassy places, especially northward. It has linear leaves,
unlike those of _S. media_, which are ovate or oblong.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXI
INDIAN PIPE.—_M. uniflora._
]
ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE.
_Circæa Lutetiana._ Evening Primrose Family.
_Stem._—One or two feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite, thin, ovate,
slightly toothed. _Flowers._—Dull white, small, growing in a raceme.
_Calyx._—Two-lobed. _Corolla._—Of two petals. _Stamens._—Two.
_Pistil._—One.
This insignificant and ordinarily uninteresting plant arrests attention
by the frequency with which it is found flowering in the summer woods
and along shady roadsides.
_C. Alpina_ is a smaller, less common species, which is found along the
mountains and in deep woods. Both species are burdened with the
singularly inappropriate name of enchanter’s nightshade. There is
nothing in their appearance to suggest an enchanter or any of the
nightshades. It seems, however, that the name of a plant called after
the enchantress Circe, and described by Dioscorides nearly two thousand
years ago, was accidentally transferred to this unpretentious genus.
THIMBLE-WEED.
_Anemone Virginiana._ Crowfoot Family.