_Chelone glabra_
_Flowers_--White tinged with pink, or all white, about 1 in. long,
growing in a dense, terminal cluster. Calyx 5-parted, bracted at base;
corolla irregular broadly tubular, 2-lipped; upper lip arched, swollen,
slightly notched;, lower lip 3-lobed, spreading, woolly within; 5
stamens, 1 sterile, 4 in pairs, anther-bearing, woolly; 1 pistil.
_Stem:_ 1 to 3 ft. high, erect, smooth, simple, leafy. _Leaves:_
Opposite, lance-shaped, saw-edged.
_Preferred Habitat_--Ditches, beside streams, swamps.
_Flowering Season_--July-September.
_Distribution_--Newfoundland to Florida, and half way across the
continent.
It requires something of a struggle for even so strong and vigorous an
insect as the bumblebee to gain admission to this inhospitable-looking
flower before maturity; and even he abandons the attempt over and over
again in its earliest stage before the little heart-shaped anthers are
prepared to dust him over. As they mature, it opens slightly, but his
weight alone is insufficient to bend down the stiff, yet elastic,
lower lip. Energetic prying admits first his head, then he squeezes
his body through, brushing past the stamens as he finally disappears
inside. At the moment when he is forcing his way in, causing the lower
lip to spring up and down, the eyeless turtle seems to chew and chew
until the most sedate beholder must smile at the paradoxical show. Of
course it is the bee that is feeding, though the flower would seem to
be masticating the bee with the keenest relish! The counterfeit
tortoise soon disgorges its lively mouthful, however, and away flies
the bee, carrying pollen on his velvety back to rub on the stigma of
an older flower.