memories of even those who are not ordinarily minute observers. It
contrives to secure a foothold in the most precipitous and uncertain of
nooks, its jewel-like flowers gleaming from their lofty perches with a
graceful _insouciance_ which awakens our sportsmanlike instincts and
fires us with the ambition to equal it in daring and make its loveliness
our own. Perhaps it is as well if our greediness be foiled and we get a
tumble for our pains, for no flower loses more with its surroundings
than the columbine. Indeed, these destructive tendencies which are
strong within most of us generally defeat themselves by decreasing our
pleasure in a blossom the moment we have ruthlessly and without purpose
snatched it from its environment. If we honestly wish to study its
structure, or to bring into our homes for preservation a bit of the
woods’ loveliness, its interest and beauty are sure to repay us. But how
many pluck every striking flower they see only to toss it carelessly
aside when they reach their destination, if they have not already
dropped it by the way. Surely if in such small matters sense and
self-control were inculcated in children, more would grow up to the
poet’s standard of worthiness:
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXVIII
WILD COLUMBINE.—_A. Canadensis._
]
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Loved the wood-rose and left it on its stalk?
At rich men’s tables eaten bread and pulse?
Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust?
And loved so well a high behavior,
In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained,
Nobility more nobly to repay?
O, be my friend, and teach me to be thine![8]
The name of columbine is derived from _colomba_—a dove, but its
significance is disputed. Some believe that it was associated with the
bird-like claws of the blossom; while Dr. Prior maintains that it refers
to the “resemblance of its nectaries to the heads of pigeons in a ring
around a dish, a favorite device of ancient artists.”
The meaning of the generic title is also doubtful. Gray derives it from
_aquilegus_—water-drawing, but gives no further explanation, while other
writers claim that it is from _aquila_, an eagle, seeing a likeness to
the talons of an eagle in the curved nectaries.
WAKE ROBIN. BIRTHROOT.
_Trillium erectum._ Lily Family.
_Stem._—Stout, from a tuber-like rootstock. _Leaves._—Broadly ovate,
three in a whorl a short distance below the flower. _Flower._—Single,
terminal, usually purplish-red, occasionally whitish, pinkish, or
greenish, on an erect or somewhat inclined flower-stalk. _Calyx._—Of
three green spreading sepals. _Corolla._—Of three large lance-shaped
petals. _Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One, with three large spreading
stigmas. _Fruit._—A large, ovate, six-angled reddish berry.
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXIX
WAKE ROBIN.—_T. erectum._
]
This wake robin is one of the few self-assertive flowers of the early
year. Its contemporaries act as if somewhat uncertain as to whether the
spring had really come to stay, but no such lack of confidence possesses
our brilliant young friend, who almost flaunts her lurid petals in your
face, as if to force upon you the welcome news that the time of birds
and flowers is at hand. Pretty and suggestive as is the common name, it
is hardly appropriate, as the robins have been on the alert for many
days before our flower unfurls its crimson signal. Its odor is most
unpleasant. Its reddish fruit is noticeable in the woods of late summer.
The sessile trillium, _T. sessile_, has no separate flower-stalk, its
red or greenish blossom being set close to the stem-leaves. Its petals
are narrower, and its leaves are often blotched or spotted. Its berry is
globular, six-angled, and red or purplish.
The wake robins are native to North America, only one species being
found just beyond the boundaries in the Russian territory.
WOOD BETONY. LOUSEWORT.
_Pedicularis Canadensis._ Figwort Family.
_Stems._—Clustered, five to twelve inches high. _Leaves._—The lower
ones deeply incised, the upper less so. _Flowers._—Yellow and red,
growing in a short dense spike. _Calyx._—Of one piece split in front.
_Corolla._—Two-lipped, the narrow upper lip arched, the lower
three-lobed. _Stamens._—Four. _Pistil._—One.
The bright flowers of the wood betony are found in our May woods, often
in the company of the columbine and yellow violet. Near Philadelphia
they are said to be among the very earliest of the flowers, coming soon
after the trailing arbutus. In the later year the plant attracts
attention by its uncouth spikes of brown seed-pods.
Few wayside weeds have been accredited with greater virtue than the
ancient betony, which a celebrated Roman physician claimed could cure
forty-seven different disorders. The Roman proverb, “Sell your coat and
buy betony,” seems to imply that the plant did not flourish so
abundantly along the Appian Way as it does by our American roadsides.
Unfortunately we are reluctantly forced to believe once more that our
native flower is not identical with the classic one, but that it has
received its common name through some superficial resemblance to the
original betony or _Betonica_.
PAINTED CUP.
_Castilleia coccinea._ Figwort Family.
_Stem._—Hairy, six inches to a foot high. _Root-leaves._—Clustered,
oblong. _Stem-leaves._—Incised, those among the flowers three to
five-cleft, bright scarlet toward the summit, showy. _Flowers._—Pale
yellow, spiked. _Calyx._—Tubular, flattened. _Corolla._—Two-lipped,
its upper lip long and narrow, its lower short and three-lobed.
_Stamens._—Four, unequal. _Pistil._—One.
——Scarlet tufts
Are glowing in the green like flakes of fire;
The wanderers of the prairie know them well,
And call that brilliant flower the painted cup.[9]
But we need not go to the prairie in order to see this plant, for it is
equally abundant in certain low sandy New England meadows as well as in
the near vicinity of New York City. Under date of June 3d, Thoreau
graphically describes its appearance near Concord, Mass.: “The painted
cup is in its prime. It reddens the meadow, painted-cup meadow. It is a
splendid show of brilliant scarlet, the color of the cardinal-flower,
and surpassing it in mass and profusion.... I do not like the name. It
does not remind me of a cup, rather of a flame when it first appears. It
might be called flame flower, or scarlet tip. Here is a large meadow
full of it, and yet very few in the town have ever seen it. It is
startling to see a leaf thus brilliantly painted, as if its tip were
dipped into some scarlet tincture, surpassing most flowers in intensity
of color.”
WOOD LILY. WILD RED LILY.
_Lilium Philadelphicum._ Lily Family.
_Stem._—Two to three feet high. _Leaves._—Whorled or scattered,
narrowly lance-shaped. _Flower._—Erect, orange-red or scarlet, spotted
with purple. _Perianth._—Of six erect narrowly clawed sepals, with
nectar-bearing furrows at their base. _Stamens._—Six. _Pistil._—One,
with three-lobed stigma.
Here and there in the shadowy woods is a vivid dash of color made by
some wild red lily which has caught a stray sunbeam in its glowing cup.
The purple spots on its sepals guide the greedy bee to the nectar at
their base; we too can take the hint and reap a sweet reward if we will,
after which we are more in sympathy with those eager, humming bees.
This erect, deep-hued flower is so different from its nodding sister of
the meadows, that we wonder that the two should be so often confused.
When seen away from its surroundings it has less charm perhaps than
either the yellow or the Turk’s cap lily; but when it rears itself in
the cool depths of its woodland home we feel the uniqueness of its
beauty.
TURK’S CAP LILY.
_Lilium superbum._ Lily Family.
_Stem._—Three to seven feet high. _Leaves._—Lance-shaped, the lower
whorled. _Flowers._—Orange or scarlet, with purple spots within, three
inches long, from three to forty growing in pyramidal clusters.
_Perianth._—Of six strongly recurved sepals. _Stamens._—Six, with long
anthers. _Pistil._—One, with a three-lobed stigma.
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
They toil not, neither do they spin;
And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory
Was not arrayed like one of these.
How they come back to us, the beautiful hackneyed lines, and flash into
our memories with new significance of meaning when we chance suddenly
upon a meadow bordered with these the most gorgeous of our wild flowers.
We might doubt whether our native lilies at all resembled those alluded
to in the scriptural passage, if we did not know that a nearly allied
species grew abundantly in Palestine; for we have reason to believe that
_lily_ was a title freely applied by many Oriental poets to any
beautiful flower.
Perhaps this plant never attains far inland the same luxuriance of
growth which is common to it in some of the New England lowlands near
the coast. Its radiant, nodding blossoms are seen in great profusion as
we travel by rail from New York to Boston.
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXX
WOOD LILY.—_L. Philadelphicum._
]
HOUND’S TONGUE.
_Cynoglossum officinale._ Borage Family.
_Stem._—Clothed with soft hairs. _Leaves._—Alternate, hairy, the upper
ones lance-shaped, clasping somewhat by a rounded or heart-shaped
base. _Flowers._—Purplish-red, growing in a curved raceme-like cluster
which straightens as the blossoms expand. _Calyx._—Five-parted.
_Corolla._—Funnel-form, five-lobed. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One.
_Fruit._—A large nutlet roughened with barbed or hooked prickles.
This coarse plant, whose disagreeable odor strongly suggests mice, is
not only a troublesome weed in pasture-land but a special annoyance to
wool-growers, as its prickly fruit adheres with pertinacity to the
fleece of sheep. Its common name is a translation of its generic title
and refers to the shape and texture of the leaves. The dull red flowers
appear in summer.
BUTTERFLY-WEED. PLEURISY-ROOT.
_Asclepias tuberosa._ Milkweed Family.
_Stem._—Rough and hairy, one or two feet high, erect, very leafy,
branching at the summit, without milky juice. _Leaves._—Linear to
narrowly lance-shaped. _Flowers._—Bright orange-red, in flat-topped,
terminal clusters, otherwise closely resembling those of the common
milkweed (p. 192.) _Fruit._—Two hoary erect pods, one of them often
stunted.
Few if any of our native plants add more to the beauty of the midsummer
landscape than the milkweeds, and of this family no member is more
satisfying to the color-craving eye than the gorgeous butterfly-weed,
whose vivid flower-clusters flame from the dry sandy meadows with such
luxuriance of growth as to seem almost tropical. Even in the tropics one
hardly sees anything more brilliant than the great masses of color made
by these flowers along some of our New England railways in July, while
farther south they are said to grow even more profusely. Its gay
coloring has given the plant its name of butterfly-weed, while that of
pleurisy-root arose from the belief that the thick, deep root was a
remedy for pleurisy. The Indians used it as food and prepared a crude
sugar from the flowers; the young seed-pods they boiled and ate with
buffalo-meat. The plant is worthy of cultivation and is easily
transplanted, as the fleshy roots when broken in pieces form new plants.
Oddly enough, at the Centennial much attention was attracted by a bed of
these beautiful plants which were brought from Holland. Truly, flowers
like prophets are not without honor save in their own country.
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXXI
BUTTERFLY-WEED.—_A. tuberosa._
]
EUROPEAN HAWKWEED. DEVIL’S PAINTBRUSH.
_Hieracium aurantiacum._ Composite Family (p. 13).
_Stem._—Hairy, erect. _Leaves._—Hairy, oblong, close to the ground.
_Flower-heads._—Orange-red, composed entirely of strap-shaped flowers,
clustered.
In parts of New York and of New England the midsummer meadows are ablaze
with the brilliant orange-red flowers of this striking European weed. It
is among the more recent emigrants to this country and bids fair to
become an annoyance to the farmer, hence its not altogether
inappropriate title of devil’s paintbrush. In England it was called
“Grimm the Collier,” on account of its black hairs and after a comedy of
the same title which was popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
Both its common and generic names refer to an ancient superstition to
the effect that birds of prey used the juice of this genus to strengthen
their eyesight.
OSWEGO TEA. BEE BALM.
_Monarda didyma._ Mint Family (p. 16).
_Stem._—Square, erect, about two feet high. _Leaves._—Opposite, ovate,
pointed, aromatic; those near the flowers tinged with red.
_Flowers._—Bright red, clustered in a close round head.
_Calyx._—Reddish, five-toothed. _Corolla._—Elongated, tubular,
two-lipped. _Stamens._—Two, elongated, protruding. _Pistil._—One, with
a two-lobed style, protruding.
We have so few red flowers that when one flashes suddenly upon us it
gives us a pleasant thrill of wonder and surprise. Then red flowers
know so well how to enhance their beauty by seeking an appropriate
setting. They select the rich green backgrounds only found in moist,
shady places, and are peculiarly charming when associated with a
lonely marsh or a mountain brook. The bee balm especially haunts these
cool nooks, and its rounded flower-clusters touch with warmth the
shadows of the damp woods of midsummer. The Indians named the flower
_O-gee-chee_—flaming flower, and are said to have made a tea-like
decoction from the blossoms.
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXXII
OSWEGO TEA.—_M. didyma._
]
PIMPERNEL. POOR-MAN’S-WEATHER-GLASS.
_Anagallis arvensis._ Primrose Family.
_Stems._—Low, spreading. _Leaves._—Opposite, ovate, set close to the
stem. _Flowers._—Red, occasionally blue or white, growing singly from
the axils of the leaves. _Calyx._—Five-parted. _Corolla._—Five-parted,
wheel-shaped. _Stamens._—Five, with bearded filaments. _Pistil._—One.
This flower is found in sandy fields, being noted for its sensitiveness
to the weather. It folds its petals at the approach of rain, and fails
to open at all on a wet or cloudy day. Even in fine weather it closes in
the early afternoon and “sleeps” till the next morning. Its ripened
seeds are of value as food for many songbirds. It was thought at one
time to be serviceable in liver complaints, which reputed virtue may
have given rise to the old couplet:
No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell
The virtues of the pimpernel.
CARDINAL-FLOWER.
_Lobelia cardinalis._ Lobelia Family.
_Stem._—From two to four feet high. _Leaves._—Alternate, narrowly
oblong, slightly toothed. _Flowers._—Bright red, growing in a raceme.
_Calyx._—Five-cleft. _Corolla._—Somewhat two-lipped, the upper lip of
two rather erect lobes, the lower spreading and three-cleft.
_Stamens._—Five, united into a tube. _Pistil._—One, with a fringed
stigma.
We have no flower which can vie with this in vivid coloring. In late
summer its brilliant red gleams from the marshes or is reflected from
the shadowy water’s edge with unequalled intensity——
As if some wounded eagle’s breast
Slow throbbing o’er the plain,
Had left its airy path impressed
In drops of scarlet rain.[10]
The early French Canadians were so struck with its beauty that they sent
the plant to France as a specimen of what the wilds of the New World
could yield. Perhaps at that time it received its English name which
likens it to the gorgeously attired dignitaries of the Roman Church.
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXXIII
CARDINAL-FLOWER.—_L. cardinalis._
]
TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE.
_Lonicera sempervirens._ Honeysuckle Family.
A twining shrub. _Leaves._—Entire, opposite, oblong, the upper pairs
united around the stem. _Flowers._—Deep red without, yellowish within;
in close clusters from the axils of the upper leaves. _Calyx._—With
very short teeth. _Corolla._—Trumpet-shaped, five-lobed.
_Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One. _Fruit._—A red or orange berry.
Many of us are so familiar with these flowers in our gardens that we
have, perhaps, considered them “escapes” when we found them brightening
the pasture thicket where really they are most at home, appearing at any
time from May till October.
The fragrant woodbine, _L. grata_, is also frequently cultivated. Its
natural home is the rocky woodlands, where its sweet-scented whitish or
yellowish flowers appear in May. Its stamens and style protrude
conspicuously beyond the corolla-tube, which is an inch in length.
The greenish or yellowish flowers of the fly honeysuckle, _L. ciliata_,
grow in pairs. They are found in the rocky woods of May, on an erect,
bushy shrub, the leaves of which are all distinct, never meeting about
the stem.
V
BLUE AND PURPLE
LIVERWORT. LIVER-LEAF.
_Hepatica triloba._ Crowfoot Family.
_Scape._—Fuzzy, one-flowered. _Leaves._—Rounded, three-lobed, from the
root. _Flowers._—Blue, white, or pinkish. _Calyx._—Of six to twelve
petal-like sepals; easily taken for a corolla, because directly
underneath are three little leaves which resemble a calyx.
_Corolla._—None. _Stamens._—Usually numerous. _Pistils._—Several.
The liver-leaf puts forth her sister blooms
Of faintest blue—
soon after the late snows have melted. Indeed these fragile-looking,
enamel-like flowers are sometimes found actually beneath the snow, and
form one of the many instances which we encounter among flowers, as
among their human contemporaries, where the frail and delicate-looking
withstand storm and stress far better than their more robust-appearing
brethren. We welcome these tiny newcomers with especial joy, not alone
for their delicate beauty, but because they are usually the first of all
the flowers upon the scene of action, if we rule out the never-tardy
skunk-cabbage. The rusty leaves of last summer are obliged to suffice
for the plant’s foliage until some little time after the blossoms have
appeared, when the young fresh leaves begin to uncurl themselves. Some
one has suggested that the fuzzy little buds look as though they were
still wearing their furs as a protection against the wintry weather
which so often stretches late into our spring. The flowers vary in color
from a lovely blue to pink or white. They are found chiefly in the
woods, but occasionally on the sunny hill-sides as well.
The generic name, _Hepatica_, is from the Greek for liver, and was
probably given to the plant on account of the shape of its leaf. Dr.
Prior says that “in consequence of this fancied likeness it was used as
a remedy for liver complaints, the common people having long labored
under the belief that nature indicated in some such fashion the uses to
which her creations might be applied.”
COMMON BLUE VIOLET.
_Viola cucullata._ Violet Family.
_Scape._—Slender, one-flowered. _Leaves._—Heart-shaped, all from the
root. _Flowers._—Varying from a pale blue to deep purple, borne singly
on a scape. _Calyx._—Of five sepals extended into ears at the base.
_Corolla._—Of five somewhat unequal petals, the lower one spurred at
the base. _Stamens._—Short and broad, somewhat united around the
pistil. _Pistil._—One with a club-shaped style and bent stigma.
Perhaps this is the best-beloved as well as the best known of the early
wild flowers. Whose heart has not been gladdened at one time or another
by a glimpse of some fresh green nook in early May where
—purple violets lurk,
With all the lovely children of the shade?
It seems as if no other flower were so suggestive of the dawning year,
so associated with the days when life was full of promise. Although I
believe that more than a hundred species of violets have been recorded,
only about thirty are found in our country; of these perhaps twenty are
native to the Northeastern States. Unfortunately we have no strongly
sweet-scented species, none
—sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes
Or Cytherea’s breath,—
as Shakespeare found the English blossom. Prophets and warriors as well
as poets have favored the violet; Mahomet preferred it to all other
flowers, and it was chosen by the Bonapartes as their emblem.
Perhaps its frequent mention by ancient writers is explained by the
discovery that the name was one applied somewhat indiscriminately to
sweet-scented blossoms.
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXXIV
LIVERWORT.—_H. triloba._
]
The bird-foot violet, _V. pedata_, unlike other members of the family,
has leaves which are divided into linear lobes. Its flower is peculiarly
lovely, being large and velvety. The variety, _V. bicolor_, is
especially striking and pansy-like, its two upper petals being of a
deeper hue than the others. It is found in the neighborhood of
Washington in abundance, and on the shaly soil of New Jersey.
An interesting feature of many of these plants is their cleistogamous
flowers. These are small and inconspicuous blossoms, which never open
(thus guarding their pollen against all depredations), but which are
self-fertilized, ripening their seeds in the dark. They are usually
found near or beneath the ground, and are often taken for immature buds.
DOG VIOLET.
_Viola canina, var. Muhlenbergii._ Violet Family.
Three to eight inches high. _Stems._—Leafy. _Leaves._—Heart-shaped,
wavy-toothed. _Flowers._—Pale violet.
This is the commonest blue species of the leafy-stemmed violets. It is
found in wet, shady places from May till July.
BLUETS. QUAKER LADIES.
_Houstonia cærulea._ Madder Family.
_Stem._—Erect, three to five inches high. _Leaves._—Very small,
opposite. _Flowers._—Small, delicate blue, lilac, or nearly white,
with a yellowish eye. _Calyx._—Four-lobed. _Corolla._—Salver-shaped,
four-lobed, corolla-tube long and slender. _Stamens._—Four.
_Pistil._—One, with two stigmas.
No one who has been in the Berkshire Hills during the month of May can
forget the loveliness of the bluets. The roadsides, meadows, and even
the lawns, are thickly carpeted with the dainty enamel-like blossoms
which are always pretty, but which seem to flourish with especial vigor
and in great profusion in this lovely region. Less plentiful, perhaps,
but still common is the little plant in grassy places far south and
west, blossoming in early spring.
[Illustration:
PLATE LXXXV
BLUETS.—_H. cærulea._
]
The flowers are among those which botanists term “dimorphous.” This word
signifies _occurring in two forms_, and refers to the stamens and
pistils, which vary in size, some flowers having a tall pistil and short
stamens, others tall stamens and a short pistil. Darwin has proved, not
only that one of these flowers can seldom fully fertilize itself, but
that usually the blossoms with tall pistils must be fertilized with
pollen from the tall stamens, and that the short pistils are only acted
upon by the short stamens. With a good magnifier and a needle these two
forms can easily be studied. This is one of the many interesting
safeguards against close-fertilization.
BLUEBELLS. VIRGINIAN COWSLIP. LUNGWORT.
_Mertensia Virginica._ Borage Family.
One to two feet high. _Stem._—Smooth, pale, erect. _Leaves._—Oblong,
veiny. _Flowers._—Blue, pinkish in bud, in raceme-like clusters which
are rolled up from the end and straighten as the flowers expand.
_Calyx._—Five-cleft. _Corolla._—Trumpet-shaped, one inch long,
spreading. _Stamens._—Five. _Pistil._—One.
These very lovely blossoms are found in moist places during April and
May in parts of New York as well as south and westward. The English
naturalist, Mr. Alfred Wallace, seeing them, for the first time, in the
vicinity of Cincinnati, writes in the _Fortnightly Review_: “In a damp
river-bottom, the exquisite blue _Mertensia Virginica_ was found. It is
called here the ‘Virginian cowslip,’ its drooping porcelain-blue bells
being somewhat of the size and form of those of the true cowslip.”
BLUE-EYED MARY. INNOCENCE.
_Collinsia verna._ Figwort Family.