_Gerardia purpurea_
_Flowers_--Bright purplish pink, deep magenta, or pale to whitish, about
1 in. long and broad, growing along the rigid, spreading branches. Calyx
5-toothed; corolla funnel form, the tube much inflated above and
spreading into 5 unequal, rounded lobes, spotted within, or sometimes
downy; 4 stamens in pairs, the filaments hairy; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ 1 to
2-1/2 ft. high, slender, branches erect or spreading. _Leaves:_
Opposite, very narrow, 1 to 1-1/2 in. long.
_Preferred Habitat_--Low fields and meadows; moist, sandy soil.
_Flowering Season_--August-October.
_Distribution_--Northern United States to Florida, chiefly along
Atlantic Coast.
It is a special pity to gather the gerardias, which, as they grow, seem
to enjoy life to the full, and when picked, to be so miserable they turn
black as they dry. Like their relatives the foxgloves, they are
difficult to transplant except with a large ball of soil, because it is
said they are more or less parasitic, fastening their roots on those of
other plants. When robbery becomes flagrant, Nature brands sinners in
the vegetable kingdom by taking away their color, and perhaps their
leaves, as in the case of the broom-rape and Indian Pipe; but the fair
faces of the gerardias and foxgloves give no hint of the petty thefts
committed under cover of darkness in the soil below.