less conspicuous than the prettily tufted, white-veined leaves which may
be found in the rich woods throughout the year. The plant has been
reputed an infallible cure for hydrophobia and snake-bites. It is said
that the Indians had such faith in its remedial virtues that they would
allow a snake to drive its fangs into them for a small sum, if they had
these leaves on hand to apply to the wound.
COMMON YARROW. MILFOIL.
_Achillea Millefolium._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Simple at first, often branching near the summit.
_Leaves._—Divided into finely toothed segments. _Flower-heads._—White,
occasionally pink, clustered, small, made up of both ray and
disk-flowers.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXVIII
WILD CARROT.—_D. carota._ YARROW.—_A. millefolium._
]
This is one of our most frequent roadside weeds, blossoming throughout
the summer and late into the autumn. Tradition claims that it was used
by Achilles to cure the wounds of his soldiers, and the genus is named
after that mighty hero. It still forms one of the ingredients of an
ointment valued by the Scotch Highlanders. The early English botanists
called the plant “nosebleed,” “because the leaves being put into the
nose caused it to bleed;” and Gerarde writes that “Most men say that the
leaves chewed, and especially greene, are a remedie for the toothache.”
These same pungent leaves also won it the name of “old man’s pepper,”
while in Sweden its title signifies _field hop_, and refers to its
employment in the manufacture of beer. Linnæus considered the beer thus
brewed to be more intoxicating than that in which hops were utilized.
The old women of the Orkney Islands hold “milfoil tea” in high repute,
believing it to be gifted with the power of dispelling melancholy. In
Switzerland a good vinegar is said to be made from the Alpine species.
The plant is cultivated in the gardens of Madeira, where so many
beautiful, and in our eyes rare, flowers grow in wild profusion.
WILD CARROT. BIRD’S NEST. QUEEN ANNE’S LACE.
_Daucus carota._ Parsley Family (p. 15).
_Stems._—Tall and slender. _Leaves._—Finely dissected.
_Flowers._—White, in a compound umbel, forming a circular flat-topped
cluster.
When the delicate flowers of the wild carrot are still unsoiled by the
dust from the highway, and fresh from the early summer rains, they are
very beautiful, adding much to the appearance of the roadsides and
fields along which they grow so abundantly as to strike despair into the
heart of the farmer, for this is, perhaps, the “peskiest” of all the
weeds with which he has to contend. As time goes on the blossoms begin
to have a careworn look and lose something of the cobwebby aspect which
won them the title of Queen Anne’s lace. In late summer the
flower-stalks erect themselves, forming a concave cluster which has the
appearance of a bird’s nest. I have read that a species of bee makes use
of this ready-made home, but have never seen any indications of such an
occupancy.
This is believed to be the stock from which the garden carrot was
raised. The vegetable was well known to the ancients, and we learn from
Pliny that the finest specimens were brought to Rome from Candia. When
it was first introduced into Great Britain is not known, although the
supposition is that it was brought over by the Dutch during the reign of
Elizabeth. In the writings of Parkinson we read that the ladies wore
carrot-leaves in their hair in place of feathers. One can picture the
dejected appearance of a ball-room belle at the close of an
entertainment.
WATER-HEMLOCK. SPOTTED COWBANE.
_Cicuta maculata._ Parsley Family (p. 15).
_Stem._—Smooth, stout, from two to six feet high, streaked with
purple. _Leaves._—Twice or thrice-compound, leaflets coarsely toothed.
_Flowers._—White, in compound umbels, the little umbels composed of
numerous flowers.
This plant is often confused with the wild carrot, the sweet Cicely, and
other white-flowered members of the Parsley family; but it can usually
be identified by its purple-streaked stem. The umbels of the
water-hemlock are also more loosely clustered than those of the carrot,
and their stalks are much more unequal. It is commonly found in marshy
ground, blossoming in midsummer. Its popular names refer to its
poisonous properties, its root being said to contain the most dangerous
vegetable-poison native to our country and to have been frequently
confounded with that of the edible sweet Cicely with fatal results.
MOCK BISHOP-WEED.
_Discopleura capillacea._ Parsley Family (p. 15).
One or two feet high, occasionally much taller. _Stems._—Branching.
_Leaves._—Dissected into fine, thread-like divisions.
_Flowers._—White, very small, growing in compound umbels with
thread-like bracts.
This plant blossoms all summer in wet meadows, both inland and along the
coast; but it is especially common in the salt marshes near New York
City. It probably owes its English name to the fancied resemblance
between the bracted flower-clusters and a bishop’s cap. Its effect is
feathery and delicate.
SWEET CICELY.
_Osmorrhiza longistylis._ Parsley Family (p. 15).
One to three feet high. _Root._—Thick, aromatic, edible.
_Leaves._—Twice or thrice-compound. _Flowers._—White, growing in a
few-rayed compound umbel.
The roots of the sweet Cicely are prized by country children for their
pleasant flavor. Great care should be taken not to confound this plant
with the water-hemlock, which is very poisonous, and which it greatly
resembles, although flowering earlier in the year. The generic name is
from two Greek words which signify _scent_ and _root_.
WATER-PARSNIP.
_Sium cicutæfolium._ Parsley Family (p. 15).
Two to six feet high. _Stem._—Stout. _Leaves._—Divided into from three
to eight pairs of sharply toothed leaflets. _Flowers._—White, in
compound umbels.
This plant is found growing in water or wet places throughout North
America.
ARROW-HEAD.
_Sagittaria variabilis._ Water-plantain Family.
_Scape._—A few inches to several feet high. _Leaves._—Arrow-shaped.
_Flowers._—White, unisexual, in whorls of three on the leafless scape.
_Calyx._—Of three sepals. _Corolla._—Of three white, rounded petals.
_Stamens and Pistils._—Indefinite in number, occurring in different
flowers, the lower whorls of flowers usually being pistillate, the
upper staminate.
Among our water-flowers none are more delicately lovely than those of
the arrow-head. Fortunately the ugly and inconspicuous female flowers
grow on the lower whorls, while the male ones, with their snowy petals
and golden centres, are arranged about the upper part of the scape,
where the eye first falls. It is a pleasure to chance upon a slow stream
whose margins are bordered with these fragile blossoms and bright,
arrow-shaped leaves.
WATER-PLANTAIN.
_Alisma Plantago._ Water-plantain Family.
_Scape._—One to three feet high, bearing the flowers in whorled,
panicled branches. _Leaves._—From the root, oblong, lance-shaped or
linear, mostly rounded or heart-shaped at base. _Flowers._—White or
pale pink, small, in large, loose clusters which branch from the
scape. _Calyx._—Of three sepals. _Corolla._—Of three petals.
_Stamens._—Usually six. _Pistils._—Many, on a flattened receptacle.
The water-plantain is nearly related to the arrow-head, and is often
found blossoming with it in marshy places or shallow water.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXIX
ARROW-HEAD.—_S. variabilis._
]
GROUND CHERRY.
_Physalis Virginiana._ Nightshade Family.
A strong-scented, low, much branched and spreading herb.
_Leaves._—Somewhat oblong or heart-shaped, wavy-toothed.
_Flowers._—Greenish or yellowish-white, solitary on nodding
flower-stalks. _Calyx._—Five-cleft; enlarging and much inflated in
fruit, loosely enclosing the berry. _Corolla._—Between wheel-shaped
and funnel-form. _Stamens._—Five, erect, with yellow anthers.
_Pistil._—One. _Fruit._—A green or yellow edible berry which is
loosely enveloped in the much-inflated calyx.
We find the ground cherry in light sandy soil, and are more apt to
notice the loosely enveloped berry of the late year than the rather
inconspicuous flowers which appear in summer.
TURTLE-HEAD.
_Chelone glabra._ Figwort Family.
One to seven feet high. _Stem._—Smooth, upright, branching.
_Leaves._—Opposite, lance-shaped, toothed. _Flowers._—White or
pinkish, growing in a spike or close cluster. _Calyx._—Of five sepals.
_Corolla._—Two-lipped, the upper lip broad and arched, notched at the
apex, lower lip three-lobed at the apex, woolly bearded in the throat.
_Stamens._—Four perfect ones, with woolly filaments and very woolly,
heart-shaped anthers, and one small sterile one. _Pistil._—One.
It seems to have been my fate to find the flowers which the botany
relegates to “dry, sandy soil” flourishing luxuriantly in marshes; and
to encounter the flowers which by rights belong to “wet woods” flaunting
themselves in sunny meadows. This cannot be attributed to the natural
depravity of inanimate objects, for what is more full of life than the
flowers?—and no one would believe in their depravity except perhaps the
amateur botanist who is endeavoring to master the different species of
golden-rods and asters. Therefore it is pleasant to record that I do not
remember ever having met a turtle-head, which is assigned by the botany
to “wet places,” which had not gotten as close to a stream or a marsh or
a moist ditch as it well could without actually wetting its feet. The
flowers of this plant are more odd and striking than pretty. Their
appearance is such that their common name seems fairly appropriate. I
have heard unbotanical people call them “white closed gentians.”
[Illustration:
PLATE XXX
TURTLE-HEAD.—_C. glabra._
]
COMMON DODDER. LOVE VINE.
_Cuscuta Gronovii._ Convolvulus Family.
_Stems._—Yellow or reddish, thread-like, twining, leafless.
_Flowers._—White, in close clusters. _Calyx._—Five-cleft.
_Corolla._—With five spreading lobes. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One,
with two styles.
Late in the summer we are perhaps tempted deep into some thicket by the
jasmine-scented heads of the button-bush or the fragrant spikes of the
clethra, and note for the first time the tangled golden threads and
close white flower-clusters of the dodder. If we try to trace to their
source these twisted stems, which the Creoles know as “angels’ hair,” we
discover that they are fastened to the bark of the shrub or plant about
which they are twining by means of small suckers; but nowhere can we
find any connection with the earth, all their nourishment being
extracted from the plant to which they are adhering. Originally this
curious herb sprang from the ground which succored it until it succeeded
in attaching itself to some plant; having accomplished this it severed
all connection with mother-earth by the withering away or snapping off
of the stem below.
The flax-dodder, _C. Epilinum_, is a very injurious plant in European
flax-fields. It has been sparingly introduced into this country with
flax-seed.
TRAVELLER’S JOY. VIRGIN’S BOWER.
_Clematis Virginiana._ Crowfoot Family.
_Stem._—Climbing, somewhat woody. _Leaves._—Opposite, three-divided.
_Flowers._—Whitish, in clusters, unisexual. _Calyx._—Of four
petal-like sepals. _Corolla._—None. _Stamens and Pistils._—Indefinite
in number, occurring on different plants.
In July and August this beautiful plant, covered with its white blossoms
and clambering over the shrubs which border the country lanes, makes
indeed a fitting bower for any maid or traveller who may chance to be
seeking shelter. Later in the year the seeds with their silvery plumes
give a feathery effect which is very striking.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXXI
TRAVELLER’S JOY.—_Clematis Virginiana._
]
This graceful climber works its way by means of its bending or clasping
leaf-stalks. Darwin has made interesting experiments regarding the
movements of the young shoots of the _Clematis_. He discovered that,
“one revolved describing a broad oval, in five hours, thirty minutes;
and another in six hours, twelve minutes; they follow the course of the
sun.”
SWEET PEPPERBUSH. WHITE ALDER.
_Clethra alnifolia._ Heath Family.
A shrub from three to ten feet high. _Leaves._—Alternate, ovate,
sharply toothed. _Flowers._—White, growing in clustered finger-like
racemes. _Calyx._—Of five sepals. _Corolla._—Of five oblong petals.
_Stamens._—Ten, protruding. _Pistil._—One, three-cleft at apex.
Nearly all our flowering shrubs are past their glory by midsummer, when
the fragrant blossoms of the sweet pepperbush begin to exhale their
perfume from the cool thickets which line the lanes along the New
England coast. There is a certain luxuriance in the vegetation of this
part of the country in August which is generally lacking farther inland,
where the fairer flowers have passed away, and the country begins to
show the effects of the long days of heat and drought. The moisture of
the air, and the peculiar character of the soil near the sea, are
responsible for the freshness and beauty of many of the late flowers
which we find in such a locality.
_Clethra_ is the ancient Greek name for the alder, which this plant
somewhat resembles in foliage.
THORN-APPLE. JAMESTOWN WEED.
_Datura Stramonium._ Nightshade Family.
_Stem._—Smooth and branching. _Leaves._—Ovate, wavy-toothed or
angled. _Flowers._—White, large and showy, on short flower-stalks
from the forks of the branching stem. _Calyx._—Five-toothed.
_Corolla._—Funnel-form, the border five-toothed. _Stamens._—Five.
_Pistil._—One. _Fruit._—Green, globular, prickly.
The showy white flowers of the thorn-apple are found in waste places
during the summer and autumn, a heap of rubbish forming their usual
unattractive background. The plant is a rank, ill-scented one, which was
introduced into our country from Asia. It was so associated with
civilization as to be called the “white man’s plant” by the Indians.
Its purple-flowered relative, _D. Tatula_, is an emigrant from the
tropics. This genus possesses narcotic-poisonous properties.
WILD BALSAM-APPLE.
_Echinocystis lobata._ Gourd Family.
_Stem._—Climbing, nearly smooth, with three-forked tendrils.
_Leaves._—Deeply and sharply five-lobed. _Flowers._—Numerous, small,
greenish-white, unisexual; the staminate ones growing in long racemes,
the pistillate ones in small clusters or solitary. _Fruit._—Fleshy,
oval, green, about two inches long, clothed with weak prickles.
This is an ornamental climber which is found bearing its flowers and
fruit at the same time. It grows in rich soil along rivers in parts of
New England, Pennsylvania, and westward; and is often cultivated in
gardens, making an effective arbor-vine. The generic name is from two
Greek words which signify _hedgehog_ and _bladder_, in reference to the
prickly fruit.
WHITE ASTERS.
_Aster._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Flower-heads._—Composed of white ray-flowers with a centre of yellow
disk-flowers.
While we have far fewer species of white than of blue or purple asters,
some of these few are so abundant in individuals as to hold their own
fairly well against their bright-hued rivals.
The slender zigzag stems, thin, coarsely toothed, heart-shaped leaves,
and white, loosely clustered flower-heads of _A. corymbosus_, are
noticeable along the shaded roadsides and in the open woods of August.
Bordering the dry fields at this same season are the spreading wand-like
branches, thickly covered with the tiny flower-heads as with snowflakes,
of _A. ericoides_.
_A. umbellatus_ is the tall white aster of the swamps and moist
thickets. It sometimes reaches a height of seven feet, and can be
identified by its long tapering leaves and large, flat flower-clusters.
A beautiful and abundant seaside species is _A. multiflorus_. Its small
flower-heads are closely crowded on the low, bushy, spreading branches;
its leaves are narrow, rigid, crowded, and somewhat hoary. The whole
effect of the plant is heath-like; it also somewhat suggests an
evergreen.
BONESET. THOROUGHWORT.
_Eupatorium perfoliatum._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Stout and hairy, two to four feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite,
widely spreading, lance-shaped, united at the base around the stem.
_Flower-heads._—Dull white, small, composed entirely of tubular
blossoms borne in large clusters.
To one whose childhood was passed in the country some fifty years ago
the name or sight of this plant is fraught with unpleasant memories. The
attic or wood-shed was hung with bunches of the dried herb which served
as so many grewsome warnings against wet feet, or any over-exposure
which might result in cold or malaria. A certain Nemesis, in the shape
of a nauseous draught which was poured down the throat under the name of
“boneset tea,” attended such a catastrophe. The Indians first discovered
its virtues, and named the plant ague-weed. Possibly this is one of the
few herbs whose efficacy has not been over-rated. Dr. Millspaugh says:
“It is prominently adapted to cure a disease peculiar to the South,
known as break-bone fever (Dengue), and it is without doubt from this
property that the name boneset was derived.”
WHITE SNAKEROOT.
_Eupatorium ageratoides._ Composite Family (p. 13).
About three feet high. _Stem._—Smooth and branching.
_Leaves._—Opposite, long-stalked, broadly ovate, coarsely and sharply
toothed. _Flower-heads._—White, clustered, composed of tubular
blossoms.
Although this species is less common than boneset, it is frequently
found blossoming in the rich Northern woods of late summer.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXXII
BONESET.—_E. perfoliatum._
]
CLIMBING HEMP-WEED.
_Mikania scandens._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Twining and climbing, nearly smooth. _Leaves._—Opposite,
somewhat triangular-heart-shaped, pointed, toothed at the base.
_Flower-heads._—Dull white or flesh-color, composed of four tubular
flowers; clustered, resembling boneset.
In late summer one often finds the thickets which line the slow streams
nearly covered with the dull white flowers of the climbing hemp-weed. At
first sight the likeness to the boneset is so marked that the two plants
are often confused, but a second glance discovers the climbing stems and
triangular leaves which clearly distinguish this genus.
LADIES’ TRESSES.
_Spiranthes cernua._ Orchis Family (p. 17).
_Stem._—Leafy below, leafy-bracted above, six to twenty inches high.
_Leaves._—Linear-lance-shaped, the lowest elongated. _Flowers._—White,
fragrant, the lips wavy or crisped; growing in slender spikes.
This pretty little orchid is found in great abundance in September and
October. The botany relegates it to “wet places,” but I have seen dry
upland pastures as well as low-lying swamps profusely flecked with its
slender, fragrant spikes. The braided appearance of these spikes would
easily account for the popular name of ladies’ tresses; but we learn
that the plant’s English name was formerly “ladies’ _traces_,” from a
fancied resemblance between its twisted clusters and the lacings which
played so important a part in the feminine toilet. I am told that in
parts of New England the country people have christened the plant “wild
hyacinth.”
The flowers of _S. gracilis_ are very small, and grow in a much more
slender, one-sided spike than those of _S. cernua._ They are found in
the dry woods and along the sandy hill-sides from July onward.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXXIII
LADIES’ TRESSES.—_S. cernua._
]
GREEN-FLOWERED MILKWEED.
_Asclepias verticillata._ Milkweed Family.
_Stem._—Slender, very leafy to the summit. _Leaves._—Very narrow, from
three to six in a whorl. _Flowers._—Greenish-white, in small clusters
at the summit and along the sides of the stem. _Fruit._—Two erect
pods, one often stunted.
This species is one commonly found on dry uplands, especially southward,
with flowers resembling in structure those of the other milkweeds. (Pl.
.)
GROUNDSEL TREE.
_Baccharis halimifolia._ Composite Family (p. 13).
A shrub from six to twelve feet high. _Leaves._—Somewhat ovate
and wedge-shaped, coarsely toothed on the upper entire.
_Flower-heads._—Whitish or yellowish, composed of unisexual
tubular flowers, the stamens and pistils occurring on different
plants.
Some October day, as we pick our way through the salt marshes which lie
back of the beach, we may spy in the distance a thicket which looks as
though composed of such white-flowered shrubs as belong to June.
Hastening to the spot we discover that the silky-tufted seeds of the
female groundsel tree are responsible for our surprise. The shrub is
much more noticeable and effective at this season than when—a few weeks
previous—it was covered with its small white or yellowish flower-heads.
GRASS OF PARNASSUS.
_Parnassia Caroliniana._ Saxifrage Family.
_Stem._—Scape-like, nine inches to two feet high, with usually one
small rounded leaf clasping it below; bearing at its summit a single
flower. _Leaves._—Thickish, rounded, often heart-shaped, from the
root. _Flower._—White or cream-color, veiny. _Calyx._—Of five slightly
united sepals. _Corolla._—Of five veiny petals. _True Stamens._—Five,
alternate with the petals, and with clusters of sterile gland-tipped
filaments. _Pistil._—One, with four stigmas.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXXIV
GRASS OF PARNASSUS.—_P. Caroliniana._
]
Gerarde indignantly declares that this plant has been described by blind
men, not “such as are blinde in their eyes, but in their understandings,
for if this plant be a kind of grasse then may the Butter-burre or
Colte’s-foote be reckoned for grasses—as also all other plants
whatsoever.” But if it covered Parnassus with its delicate veiny
blossoms as abundantly as it does some moist New England meadows each
autumn, the ancients may have reasoned that a plant almost as common as
grass must somehow partake of its nature. The slender-stemmed, creamy
flowers are never seen to better advantage than when disputing with the
fringed gentian the possession of some luxurious swamp.
PEARLY EVERLASTING.
_Anaphilis margaritacea._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Erect, one or two feet high, leafy. _Leaves._—Broadly linear
to lance-shaped. _Flower-heads._—Composed entirely of tubular flowers
with very numerous pearly white involucral scales.
This species is common throughout our Northern woods and pastures,
blossoming in August. Thoreau writes of it in September: “The pearly
everlasting is an interesting white at present. Though the stems and
leaves are still green, it is dry and unwithering like an artificial
flower; its white, flexuous stem and branches, too, like wire wound with
cotton. Neither is there any scent to betray it. Its amaranthine quality
is instead of high color. Its very brown centre now affects me as a
fresh and original color. It monopolizes small circles in the midst of
sweet fern, perchance, on a dry hill-side.”
FRAGRANT LIFE-EVERLASTING.
_Gnaphalium polycephalum._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Erect, one to three feet high, woolly. _Leaves._—Lance-shaped.
_Flower-heads._—Yellowish-white, clustered at the summit of the
branches, composed of many tubular flowers.
This is the “fragrant life-everlasting,” as Thoreau calls it, of late
summer. It abounds in rocky pastures and throughout the somewhat open
woods.
NOTE.—Flowers so faintly tinged with color as to give a white effect
in the mass or at a distance are placed in the White section:
_greenish_ or _greenish-white_ flowers are also found here. The Moth
Mullein (p. 152) and Bouncing Bet (p. 196) are found frequently
bearing white flowers: indeed, white varieties of flowers which are
usually colored, need never surprise one.
II
YELLOW
MARSH MARIGOLD.
_Caltha palustris._ Crowfoot Family.