been discovered, be correct, we can hardly place the dandelion in that
category, for its young sprouts have been valued as a pot-herb, its
fresh leaves enjoyed as a salad, and its dried roots used as a
substitute for coffee in various countries and ages. It is said that the
Apache Indians so greatly relish it as food, that they scour the country
for many days in order to procure enough to appease their appetites, and
that the quantity consumed by one individual exceeds belief. The
feathery-tufted seeds which form the downy balls beloved as “clocks” by
country children, are delicately and beautifully adapted to
dissemination by the wind, which ingenious arrangement partly accounts
for the plant’s wide range. The common name is a corruption of the
French _dent de lion_. There is a difference of opinion as to which part
of the plant is supposed to resemble a lion’s tooth. Some fancy the
jagged leaves gave rise to the name, while others claim that it refers
to the yellow flowers, which they liken to the golden teeth of the
heraldic lion. In nearly every European country the plant bears a name
of similar signification.
POVERTY-GRASS.
_Hudsonia tomentosa._ Rock-rose Family.
“Bushy, heath-like little shrubs, seldom a foot high.” (Gray.)
_Leaves._—Small, oval or narrowly oblong, pressed close to the stem.
_Flowers._—Bright yellow, small, numerous, crowded along the upper
part of the branches. _Calyx._—Of five sepals, the two outer much
smaller. _Corolla._—Of five petals. _Stamens._—Nine to thirty.
_Pistil._—One, with a long and slender style.
In early summer many of the sand-hills along the New England coast are
bright with the yellow flowers of this hoary little shrub. It is also
found as far south as Maryland and near the Great Lakes. Each blossom
endures for a single day only. The plant’s popular name is due to its
economical habit of utilizing sandy unproductive soil where little else
will flourish.
BUSH-HONEYSUCKLE.
_Diervilla trifida._ Honeysuckle Family.
An upright shrub from one to four feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite,
oblong, taper-pointed. _Flowers._—Yellow, sometimes much tinged with
red, clustered usually in threes, in the axils of the upper leaves and
at the summit of the stem. _Calyx._—With slender awl-shaped lobes.
_Corolla._—Funnel-form, five-lobed, the lower lobe larger than the
others and of a deeper yellow, with a small nectar-bearing gland at
its base. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One.
[Illustration:
PLATE XLIV
BUSH-HONEYSUCKLE.—_D. trifida._
]
This pretty little shrub is found along our rocky hills and mountains.
The blossoms appear in early summer, and form a good example of
nectar-bearing flowers. The lower lobe of the corolla is crested and
more deeply colored than the others, thus advising the bee of secreted
treasure. The hairy filaments of the stamens are so placed as to protect
the nectar from injury by rain. When the blossom has been despoiled and
at the same time fertilized, for the nectar-seeking bee has probably
deposited some pollen upon its pistil, the color of the corolla changes
from a pale to a deep yellow, thus giving warning to the insect world
that further attentions would be useless to both parties.
COW WHEAT.
_Melampyrum Americanum._ Figwort Family.
_Stem._—Low, erect, branching. _Leaves._—Opposite, lance-shaped.
_Flowers._—Small, greenish-yellow, solitary in the axils of the upper
leaves. _Calyx._—Bell-shaped, four-cleft. _Corolla._—Two-lipped, upper
lip arched, lower three-lobed and spreading at the apex.
_Stamens._—Four. _Pistil._—One.
In the open woods, from June until September, we encounter the pale
yellow flowers of this rather insignificant little plant. The cow wheat
was formerly cultivated by the Dutch as food for cattle. The Spanish
name, _Trigo de Vaca_, would seem to indicate a similar custom in Spain.
The generic name, _Melampyrum_, is from the Greek, and signifies _black
wheat_, in reference to the appearance of the seeds of some species when
mixed with grain. The flower would not be likely to attract one’s
attention were it not exceedingly common in some parts of the country,
flourishing especially in our more eastern woodlands.
MEADOW LILY. WILD YELLOW LILY.
_Lilium Canadense._ Lily Family.
_Stem._—Two to five feet high. _Leaves._—Whorled, lance-shaped.
_Flowers._—Yellow, spotted with reddish-brown, bell-shaped, two to
three inches long. _Perianth._—Of six recurved sepals, with a
nectar-bearing furrow at their base. _Stamens._—Six, with anthers
loaded with brown pollen. _Pistil._—One, with a three-lobed stigma.
What does the summer bring which is more enchanting than a sequestered
wood-bordered meadow hung with a thousand of these delicate, nodding
bells which look as though ready to tinkle at the least disturbance and
sound an alarum among the flowers?
[Illustration:
PLATE XLV
MEADOW LILY.—_L. Canadense._
]
These too are true “lilies of the field,” less gorgeous, less imposing
than the Turks’ caps, but with an unsurpassed grace and charm of their
own. “Fairy-caps,” these pointed blossoms are sometimes called;
“witch-caps,” would be more appropriate still. Indeed they would make
dainty headgear for any of the dim inhabitants of Wonder-Land.
The growth of this plant is very striking when seen at its best. The
erect stem is surrounded with regular whorls of leaves, from the upper
one of which curves a circle of long-stemmed, nodding flowers. They
suggest an exquisite design for a church candelabra.
PRICKLY PEAR. INDIAN FIG.
_Opuntia Rafinesquii._ Cactus Family.
_Flowers._—Yellow, large, two and a half to three and a half inches
across. _Calyx._—Of numerous sepals. _Corolla._—Of ten or twelve
petals. _Stamens._—Numerous. _Pistil._—One, with numerous stigmas.
_Fruit._—Shaped like a small pear, often with prickles over its
surface.
This curious-looking plant is one of the only two representatives of the
Cactus family in the Northeastern States. It has deep green, fleshy,
prickly, rounded joints and large yellow flowers, which are often
conspicuous in summer in dry, sandy places along the coast.
_O. vulgaris_, the only other species found in Northeastern America, has
somewhat smaller flowers, but otherwise so closely resembles _O.
Rafinesquii_ as to make it difficult to distinguish between the two.
FOUR-LEAVED LOOSESTRIFE.
_Lysimachia quadrifolia._ Primrose Family.
_Stem._—Slender, one or two feet high. _Leaves._—Narrowly oblong,
whorled in fours, fives, or sixes. _Flowers._—Yellow, spotted or
streaked with red, on slender, hair-like flower-stalks from the axils
of the leaves. _Calyx._—Five or six-parted. _Corolla._—Very deeply
five or six-parted. _Stamens._—Four or five. _Pistil._—One.
[Illustration:
PLATE XLVI
FOUR-LEAVED LOOSESTRIFE.—_L. quadrifolia._
]
This slender pretty plant grows along the roadsides and attracts one’s
notice in June by its regular whorls of leaves and flowers. Linnæus says
that this genus is named after Lysimachus, King of Sicily. Loosestrife
is the English for Lysimachus; but whether the ancient superstition that
the placing of these flowers upon the yokes of oxen rendered the beasts
gentle and submissive arose from the peace-suggestive title or from
other causes, I cannot discover.
YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE.
_Lysimachia stricta._ Primrose Family.
The yellow loosestrife bears its flowers, which are similar to those of
_L. quadrifolia_, in a terminal raceme; it has opposite lance-shaped
leaves. Its bright yellow clusters border the streams and brighten the
marshes from June till August.
ROCK-ROSE. FROST-WEED.
_Helianthemum Canadense._ Rock-rose Family.
About one foot high. _Leaves._—Set close to the stem, simple,
lance-oblong. _Flowers._—Of two kinds: the earlier, more noticeable
ones, yellow, solitary, about one inch across; the later ones small
and clustered, usually without petals. _Calyx._—(Of the petal-bearing
flowers) of five sepals. _Corolla._—Of five early falling petals which
are crumpled in the bud. _Stamens._—Numerous. _Pistil._—One, with a
three-lobed stigma.
These fragile bright yellow flowers are found in gravelly places in
early summer. Under the influence of the sunshine they open once; by the
next day their petals have fallen, and their brief beauty is a thing of
the past. On June 17th Thoreau finds this “broad, cup-like flower, one
of the most delicate yellow flowers, with large spring-yellow petals,
and its stamens laid one way.”
In the Vale of Sharon a nearly allied rose-colored species abounds. This
is believed by some of the botanists who have travelled in that region
to be the Rose of Sharon which Solomon has celebrated.
The name of frost-weed has been given to our plant because of the
crystals of ice which shoot from the cracked bark at the base of the
stem in late autumn.
[Illustration:
PLATE XLVII
YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE.—_L. stricta._
]
——— ———
_Steironema ciliatum._ Primrose Family.
_Stem._—Erect, two to four feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite, narrowly
oval, on fringed leaf-stalks. _Flowers._—Yellow, on slender stalks
from the axils of the leaves. _Calyx._—Deeply five-parted.
_Corolla._—Deeply five-lobed, wheel-shaped, yellow, with a reddish
centre. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One.
This plant is nearly akin to the yellow loosestrifes, but unfortunately
it has no English name. It abounds in low grounds and thickets, putting
forth its bright wheel-shaped blossoms early in July.
COMMON BARBERRY.
_Berberis vulgaris._ Barberry Family.
A shrub. _Leaves._—Oblong, toothed, in clusters from the axil of a
thorn. _Flowers._—Yellow, in drooping racemes. _Calyx._—Of six sepals,
with from two to six bractlets without. _Corolla._—Of six petals.
_Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One. _Fruit._—An oblong scarlet berry.
This European shrub has now become thoroughly wild and very plentiful in
parts of New England. The drooping yellow flowers of May and June are
less noticeable than the oblong clustered berries of September, which
light up so many overgrown lanes, and often decorate our lawns and
gardens as well.
The ancients extracted a yellow hair-dye from the barberry; and to-day
it is used to impart a yellow color to wool. Both its common and
botanical names are of Arabic origin.
YELLOW STAR-GRASS.
_Hypoxis erecta._ Amaryllis Family.
_Scapes._—Slender, few-flowered. _Leaves._—Linear, grass-like, hairy.
_Flowers_.—Yellow. _Perianth._—Six-parted, spreading, the divisions
hairy and greenish outside, yellow within. _Stamens._—Six.
_Pistil._—One.
When our eyes fall upon what looks like a bit of evening sky set with
golden stars, but which proves to be only a piece of shaded turf
gleaming with these pretty flowers, we recall Longfellow’s musical
lines:
Spake full well in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth on the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers so blue and golden,
Stars, which in earth’s firmament do shine.
The plant grows abundantly in open woods and meadows, flowering in early
summer.
[Illustration:
PLATE XLVIII
YELLOW STAR-GRASS.—_H. erecta._
]
WILD INDIGO.
_Baptisia tinctoria._ Pulse Family (p. 16).
Two or three feet high. _Stems._—Smooth and slender. _Leaves._—Divided
into three rounded leaflets, somewhat pale with a whitish bloom,
turning black in drying. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, clustered
in many short, loose racemes.
This rather bushy-looking, bright-flowered plant is constantly
encountered in our rambles throughout the somewhat dry and sandy parts
of the country in midsummer. It is said that it is found in nearly every
State in the Union, and that it has been used as a homœopathic remedy
for typhoid fever. Its young shoots are eaten at times in place of
asparagus. Both the botanical and common names refer to its having
yielded an economical but unsuccessful substitute for indigo.
YELLOW CLOVER. HOP CLOVER.
_Trifolium agrarium._ Pulse Family (p. 16).
Six to twelve inches high. _Leaves._—Divided into three oblong
leaflets. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, small, in close heads.
Although this little plant is found in such abundance along our New
England roadsides and in many other parts of the country as well,
comparatively few people seem to recognize it as a member of the clover
group, despite a marked likeness in the leaves and blossoms to others of
the same family.
The name clover probably originated in the Latin _clava_-clubs, in
reference to the fancied resemblance between the three-pronged club of
Hercules and the clover leaf. The clubs of our playing-cards and the
_trèfle_ (trefoil) of the French are probably an imitation of the same
leaf.
The nonesuch, _Medicago lupulina_, with downy, procumbent stems, and
flowers which grow in short spikes, is nearly allied to the hop clover.
In its reputed superiority as fodder its English name is said to have
originated. Dr. Prior says that for many years this plant has been
recognized in Ireland as the true shamrock.
DYER’S GREEN-WEED. WOOD-WAXEN. NEW ENGLAND WHIN.
_Genista tinctoria._ Pulse Family (p. 16).
A shrubby plant from one to two feet high. _Leaves._—Lance-shaped.
_Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, growing in spiked racemes.
This is another foreigner which has established itself in Eastern New
York and Massachusetts, where it covers the barren hill-sides with its
yellow flowers in early summer. It is a common English plant, formerly
valued for the yellow dye which it yielded. It is an undesirable
intruder in pasture-lands, as it gives a bitter taste to the milk of
cows which feed upon it.
YELLOW SWEET CLOVER. YELLOW MELILOT.
_Melilotus officinalis._ Pulse Family (p. 16).
Two to four feet high. _Stem._—Upright. _Leaves._—Divided into three
toothed leaflets. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, growing in
spike-like racemes.
This plant is often found blossoming along the roadsides in early
summer. It was formerly called in England “king’s-clover,” because, as
Parkinson writes, “the yellowe flowers doe crown the top of the
stalkes.” The leaves become fragrant in drying.
RATTLEBOX.
_Crotalaria sagittalis._ Pulse Family (p. 16).
_Stem._—Hairy, three to six inches high. _Leaves._—Undivided, oval or
lance-shaped. _Flowers._—Papilionaceous, yellow, but few in a cluster.
_Pod._—Inflated, many-seeded, blackish.
The yellow flowers of the rattlebox are found in the sandy meadows and
along the roadsides during the summer. Both the generic and English
names refer to the rattling of the loose seeds within the inflated pod.
BUTTER-AND-EGGS. TOADFLAX.
_Linaria vulgaris._ Figwort Family.
_Stem._—Smooth, erect, one to three feet high. _Leaves._—Alternate,
linear or nearly so. _Flowers._—Of two shades of yellow, growing in
terminal racemes. _Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Pale yellow tipped
with orange, long-spurred, two-lipped, closed in the throat.
_Stamens._—Four. _Pistil._—One.
The bright blossoms of butter-and-eggs grow in full, close clusters
which enliven the waste places along the roadside so commonly, that
little attention is paid to these beautiful and conspicuous flowers.
They would be considered a “pest” if they did not display great
discrimination in their choice of locality, usually selecting otherwise
useless pieces of ground. The common name of butter-and-eggs is
unusually appropriate, for the two shades of yellow match perfectly
their namesakes. Like nearly all our common weeds, this plant has been
utilized in various ways by the country people. It yielded what was
considered at one time a valuable skin lotion, while its juice mingled
with milk constitutes a fly-poison. Its generic name, _Linaria_, and its
English title, toadflax, arose from a fancied resemblance between its
leaves and those of the flax.
WILD SENNA.
_Cassia Marilandica._ Pulse Family.
_Stem._—Three or four feet high. _Leaves._—Divided into from six to
nine pairs of narrowly oblong leaflets. _Flowers._—Yellow, in short
clusters from the axils of the leaves. _Calyx._—Of five sepals.
_Corolla._—Of five slightly unequal, spreading petals, usually
somewhat spotted with reddish-brown. _Stamens._—Five to ten, unequal,
some of them often imperfect. _Pistil._—One. _Pod._—Long and narrow,
slightly curved, flat.
This tall, striking plant, with clusters of yellow flowers which appear
in midsummer, grows abundantly along many of the New England roadsides,
and also far south and west, thriving best in sandy soil. Although a
member of the Pulse family its blossoms are not papilionaceous.
[Illustration:
PLATE XLIX
BUTTER-AND-EGGS.—_L. vulgaris._
]
PARTRIDGE-PEA.
_Cassia Chamæcrista._ Pulse Family.
_Stems._—Spreading, eight inches to a foot long. _Leaves._—Divided
into from ten to fifteen pairs of narrow delicate leaflets, which
close at night and are somewhat sensitive to the touch.
_Flowers._—Yellow, rather large and showy, on slender stalks beneath
the spreading leaves; not papilionaceous. _Calyx._—Of five sepals.
_Corolla._—Of five rounded, spreading, somewhat unequal petals, two or
three of which are usually spotted at the base with red or purple.
_Stamens._—Ten, unequal, dissimilar. _Pistil._—One, with a slender
style. _Pod._—Flat.
The partridge-pea is closely related to the wild senna, and a pretty,
delicate plant it is, with graceful foliage, and flowers in late summer
which surprise us with their size, abounding in gravelly, sandy places
where little else will flourish, brightening the railway embankments and
the road’s edge. It is at home all over the country south of
Massachusetts and east of the Rocky Mountains, but it grows with a
greater vigor and luxuriance in the south than elsewhere. The leaves can
hardly be called sensitive to the touch, yet when a branch is snapped
from the parent-stem or is much handled, the delicate leaflets will
droop and fold, displaying their curious mechanism.
COMMON ST. JOHN’S-WORT.
_Hypericum perforatum._ St. John’s-wort Family.
_Stem._—Much branched. _Leaves._—Small, opposite, somewhat oblong,
with pellucid dots. _Flowers._—Yellow, numerous, in leafy clusters.
_Calyx._—Of five sepals. _Corolla._—Of five bright yellow petals,
somewhat spotted with black. _Stamens._—Indefinite in number.
_Pistil._—One, with three spreading styles.
“Too well known as a pernicious weed which it is difficult to
extirpate,” is the scornful notice which the botany gives to this plant
whose bright yellow flowers are noticeable in waste fields and along
roadsides nearly all summer. Its rank, rapid growth proves very
exhausting to the soil, and every New England farmer wishes it had
remained where it rightfully belongs—on the other side of the water.
[Illustration:
PLATE L
COMMON ST. JOHN’S-WORT.—_H. perforatum._
]
Perhaps more superstitions have clustered about the St. John’s-wort than
about any other plant on record. It was formerly gathered on St. John’s
eve, and was hung at the doors and windows as a safeguard against
thunder and evil spirits. A belief prevailed that on this night the soul
had power to leave the body and visit the spot where it would be finally
summoned from its earthly habitation, hence the all-night vigils which
were observed at that time.
The wonderful herb whose leaf will decide
If the coming year shall make me a bride,
is the St. John’s-wort, and the maiden’s fate is favorably forecast by
the healthy growth and successful blossoming of the plant which she has
accepted as typical of her future.
In early times poets and physicians alike extolled its properties. An
ointment was made of its blossoms, and one of its early names was
“balm-of-the-warrior’s-wound.” It was considered so efficacious a remedy
for melancholia that it was termed “fuga dæmonum.” Very possibly this
name gave rise to the general idea that it was powerful in dispelling
evil spirits.
ST. ANDREW’S CROSS.
_Ascyrum Crux-Andreæ._ St. John’s-wort Family.
_Stem._—Low, branched. _Leaves._—Opposite, narrowly oblong,
black-dotted. _Flowers._—Light-yellow. _Calyx._—Of four sepals, the
two outer broad and leaf-like, the inner much smaller. _Corolla._—Of
four narrowly oblong petals. _Stamens._—Numerous. _Pistil._—One, with
two short styles.
From July till September these flowers may be found in the pine-barrens
of New Jersey and farther south and westward, and on the island of
Nantucket as well.
COMMON MULLEIN.
_Verbascum Thapsus._ Figwort Family.
_Stem._—Tall and stout, from three to five feet high.
_Leaves._—Oblong, woolly. _Flowers._—In a long dense spike.
_Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Yellow, with five slightly unequal
rounded lobes. _Stamens._—Ten, the three upper with white wool on
their filaments. _Pistil._—One.
[Illustration:
PLATE LI
COMMON MULLEIN.—_V. Thapsus._
]
The common mullein is a native of the island of Thapsos, from which it
takes its specific name. It was probably brought to this country from
Europe by the early colonists, notwithstanding the title of “American
velvet plant,” which it is rumored to bear in England. The Romans called
it “candelaria,” from their custom of dipping the long dried stalk in
suet and using it as a funeral torch, and the Greeks utilized the leaves
for lamp-wicks. In more modern times they have served as a remedy for
the pulmonary complaints of men and beasts alike, “mullein tea” being
greatly esteemed by country people. Its especial efficacy with cattle
has earned the plant its name of “bullocks’ lungwort.”
A low rosette of woolly leaves is all that can be seen of the mullein
during its first year, the yellow blossoms on their long spikes opening
sluggishly about the middle of the second summer. It abounds throughout
our dry, rolling meadows, and its tall spires are a familiar feature in
the summer landscape.
MOTH MULLEIN.
_Verbascum Blattaria._ Figwort Family.
_Stem._—Tall and slender. _Leaves._—Oblong, toothed, the lower
sometimes lyre-shaped, the upper partly clasping. _Flowers._—Yellow or
white, tinged with red or purple, in a terminal raceme.
_Calyx._—Deeply five-parted. _Corolla._—Butterfly-shape, of five
rounded, somewhat unequal lobes. _Stamens._—Five, with filaments
bearded with violet wool and anthers loaded with orange-colored
pollen. _Pistil._—One.
Along the highway from July till October one encounters a slender weed
on whose erect stem it would seem as though a number of canary-yellow or
purplish-white moths had alighted for a moment’s rest. These are the
fragile, pretty flowers of the moth mullein, and they are worthy of a
closer examination. The reddened or purplish centre of the corolla
suggests the probability of hidden nectar, while the pretty tufts of
violet wool borne by the stamens are well fitted to protect it from the
rain. A little experience of the canny ways of these innocent-looking
flowers lead one to ask the wherefore of every new feature.
YELLOW FRINGED ORCHIS. ORANGE ORCHIS.
_Habenaria ciliaris._ Orchis Family (p. 17).
_Stem._—Leafy, one to two feet high. _Leaves._—The lower oblong to
lance-shaped, the upper passing into pointed bracts. _Flowers._—Deep
orange color, with a slender spur and deeply fringed lip; growing in
an oblong spike.
[Illustration:
PLATE LII
YELLOW FRINGED ORCHIS.—_H. ciliaris._
]
Years may pass without our meeting this the most brilliant of our
orchids. Suddenly one August day we will chance upon just such a boggy
meadow as we have searched in vain a hundred times, and will behold
myriads of its deep orange, dome-like spires erecting themselves in
radiant beauty over whole acres of land. The separate flowers, with
their long spurs and deeply fringed lips, will repay a close
examination. They are well calculated, massed in such brilliant
clusters, to arrest the attention of whatever insects may specially
affect them. Although I have watched many of these plants I have never
seen an insect visit one, and am inclined to think that they are
fertilized by night moths.
Mr. Baldwin declares: “If I ever write a romance of Indian life, my
dusky heroine, Birch Tree or Trembling Fawn, shall meet her lover with a
wreath of this orchis on her head.”
JEWEL-WEED. TOUCH-ME-NOT.
Geranium Family.