Part 2

The large compound leaf is divided into 3 parts (they are set on hairy stems) that are divided twice again; the parts are sharp-pointed and deeply notched, with the ribs and veins showing plainly, of a coarse, loose texture, and very hairy both above and beneath. The arrangement is alternate, and clasping. The color is light yellowish-green.

The flower is small: a few little round yellow petals and a fringe of yellow stamens surround the base of the long thimble-shaped green head formed by the pistils. The flowers are set on hairy stems in loose leafy groups.

The admirable curve of the stalk is forgotten in the stinging sensation its prickly hairs produce upon the touch; it is very like plucking a nettle to try to gather this Crowfoot, though the effect is comparatively transient.

[Illustration: BRISTLY CROWFOOT: R. Pennsylvanicus.]

*Purple Clematis.* _Clematis verticillaris._

Found festooning rocks and walls on uplands and mountains in early May.

This handsome vine is sparingly leafy, somewhat branching, and not perfectly round; it is woody-fibred and breaks easily, smooth to the touch, and slightly shining; the color is a light brown of a golden hue.

The leaf is 3-parted, each leaflet upon a slender foot-stem; the leaflets are oval or wedge-shaped, the margin either irregularly cut, or deeply notched, or nearly entire; the many ribs and netted veins show; the texture is somewhat thin, and the surface is sparingly covered--particularly on the underside--by soft hairs. The color is light green, frequently running into red- or purple-bronze hues, especially when young. The leaves are set on long purplish or reddish stems, and arranged in pairs, at a considerable distance apart, along the lithe curving stalk.

The flower is large; its 4 calyx-parts look like petals: they are long oval, with pointed tips, of a particularly thin, loose texture, and have a very downy surface both inside and out; the many veins show distinctly; the color is a light purple of a broken tint, sometimes nearly white on the inner side. The stamens are many and crowded into a close central tuft, the outer row of them shaped like slender oblong petals; in color, green-white with light green-yellow tips. The single blossom is set on a slender green stem which springs from between the leaves.

The flower seldom spreads wide, its seeming petals curve inward in a deep cup-shape. A noticeable feature is the presence of the brown and dry leaf-stems of the last year’s growth standing out at right angles to the fresh leafage. This is one of the rarer plants, and therefore should be left where it grows, with free curves clinging to the rocks or swinging its violet-tinged greenery and purple bells from the stronger growth of a neighboring shrub.

[Illustration: PURPLE CLEMATIS: Clematis verticillaris.]

*Clematis.* _Clematis Virginiana._ *Virgin’s Bower.* *Traveller’s Joy.*

Found through July and August climbing over wayside thickets and along river banks.

The stalk of this charming vine is leafy, round, tough-fibred, and grooved, and rather slender. It is green in color, tinged more or less with dull bronzy purple.

The large leaf is compound of 3 leaflets, that are oval with a long, tapering point, and a slightly heart-shaped base; the margin is cut into a few large notches, and occasionally is lobed; the ribs are strong, the texture firm, and the surface is smooth. Each leaflet is set on a short curved stem; the leaves, on their long stems, are placed opposite each other. In color they are dark green.

The flowers are of two kinds, the pistil-bearing blossoms and the stamen-bearing occur on separate plants. The flower of both plants has 4 petal-like calyx-parts, of oblong shape with rounded tips; the color is greenish white; the stamens and pistils are pale green. The flowers grow on short light green stems, in branching clusters from the angles of the leaves and the end of the vine.

The Clematis climbs by means of its leaf-stems, which grow in strong deep curves; it sometimes hooks them over a support, and again clasps them more securely by twisting the stem once or twice around. It is what Ruskin calls a “gadding vine,” for it runs riot over stone wall and hedge, stretching out a social hand to every wayside shrub, and swinging its flowery festoons from dry twig to leafy sapling. The green of the leafage is agreeably varied by the purple-bronzy leaves of the new growths; and the silvery feathery seeds, following the pistil-bearing blossoms in September and October, are quite as beautiful as the flower, and have a faint, delightful fragrance of their own.

[Illustration: VIRGIN’S BOWER: C. Virginiana.]

BARBERRY FAMILY.

BERBERIDACEÆ.

*Barberry.* _Berberis vulgaris._

Found on hilly pastures, in roadside thickets, during May and June.

A shrub, which grows from 3 to 5 or more feet in height, and branches thickly; it is armed with many needle-like spines, and the bark is gray.

The leaf is a small oval with a rounded tip, its edge beset with many short sharp spines; its fibre is tough, and surface very smooth, and the color is a light bluish-green. The arrangement is in rosette-like groups of 5 or more leaves.

The small flower has 6 rounding, concave, yellow petals, a 6-parted calyx, and 6 stamens which curve outward from the circular green pistil and rest their tips in the hollows of the petals. The flowers grow in drooping clusters, hanging from the leafy rosettes all along the ends of the branches with a graceful gesture.

The fruit, ripe in September and October, is an oval red berry, sour and puckering to the taste. The wood is a strong yellow color, and the roots gleam in the freshly turned soil like pieces of gold in the dark earth. In some parts of the country the berries are made into a preserve, and the wood is used for dyeing.

[Illustration: BARBERRY: Berberis vulgaris.]

*Mandrake.* _Podophyllum peltatum._ *May Apple.*

Found in woodlands during May and June.

The single stalk, 14 to 18 inches in height, bears upon its summit a pair of great leaves on forking stems; it is large, round, very hard and fibrous, juicy, smooth, and somewhat glossy; a dry, tough, pale sheath enwraps it at the foot. In color it is a very light green, almost white.

The leaves are almost a foot across and nearly circular in shape, divided into 5 or 9 wedge-shaped radiating parts which are often 2- (or more) lobed, and with as many main ribs as there are divisions; all the lesser ribs and veins are conspicuous in these highly ornamental leaves--they have shallow but sharp-pointed margins, and are rather thin in texture, smooth and glossy, and of a rich dark green color, whitened with bloom underneath. The stems are large and pale.

The flower is formed of several wedge-shaped petals (6 to 9), firm and thick of texture, showing many fine-netted veins, and dull white in color; they spread and curve about the base of the prominent greenish seed-box, the large and conspicuous stamens forming a ring in the center. The flower, on a pale stem, grows from between the leaf-stems with a distinct inclination to one side.

In bud the flower is enfolded by 3 temporary bracts,--the 6 calyx-parts also fall when the petals expand. The long rather oval fruit is found eatable by the uncritical palates of children.

[Illustration: MANDRAKE: Podophyllum peltatum.

Leaf about ⅓ life size.]

WATER-LILY FAMILY.

NYMPHÆACEÆ.

*Yellow Pond-Lily.* _Nuphar advena._ *Cow Lily.* *Spatter-dock.*

Found in still and shallow water from June to September.

The leaves and flowers, on their long, smooth stems, rise to the surface of the water from the submerged root.

The leaf is large (from 6 to 12 inches in length), of a long oval shape, heart-shaped at the base, and blunt-pointed at the tip, with an entire margin; its fibre is tough and leathery, and its surface exceedingly smooth and shining. Its color is a strong light green, lighter underneath. The stem is large and half-cylindrical; the leaf floats on the water, or rises above it.

The large flower is almost spherical in form, with 6 large, rounded, concave, petal-like parts, somewhat unequal in size; the 3 smaller parts are green without, and a dull reddish-orange color within; the other 3 larger parts are yellow, with small green patches at the base. The large pistil is marked on the top with a 12- or 24-pointed star, the rays of which are yellow on an orange-red ground. The stamens are many, like loops of yellow ribbon which curl back and almost entirely fill the hollow flower-cup. The stem is large, round, and green, and the flower rises above the level of the water.

A flower of primitive type; the combination of yellow and red in the star design of the pistil is suggestive of Egyptian color and design. The half-round leaf-stem with its flat grooved side is an unusual variation on the common form.

[Illustration: YELLOW POND-LILY: Nuphar advena.]

*Pond-Lily.* _Nymphæa odorata._ *Water Nymph.*

Found in still, clear water in July.

The flowers and leaves rise to the water’s level from the submerged root.

The large leaf (4 or more inches long) is nearly round,--swinging out from the true circle at its heart-shaped base into two little points; its margin is entire; the ribs scarcely show on the upper side, radiating in faint lines from a heart-shaped figure outlined on the base of the leaf, but they are strongly marked on the under side; the surface is smooth and shining, and the texture is fine and firm. The color is a dark strong green above, and a fine coppery-red beneath. The leaf floats flat upon the surface of the water, anchored to the root by a long, elastic, round, red stem.

The many petals of the large flower are long, narrow, pointed, and hollowed like a shallow canoe; of a close, firm texture, and usually a pure brilliant white color. The numerous stamens are a pure cadmium-yellow. The 4 calyx-parts are shaped like the petals, dull green on the outside, and often tinged with pink on the edges and inside. The flower on the top of its long red stem floats on the water.

The fragrant Water Nymph is said to open at sunrise, closing about ten o’clock in the morning, and remaining shut during the heat of the day to open again later. The contrast of its brilliant white with the heart of gold is beautiful, with a charm which is partly lost when plucked,--it is seen to its best advantage floating in the midst of its green pads. The decorative design on the leaf is faintly marked and can only be discovered by close inspection; the color of its lower surface is fine. Sometimes the petals are pink-tinted.

[Illustration: POND-LILY: Nymphæa odorata.]

PITCHER PLANTS.

SARRACENIACEÆ.

*Pitcher Plant.* _Sarracenia purpurea._ *Huntsman’s Cup.* *Side-Saddle Flower.*

Found in swamps in early June.

The leaves and flower-stems grow directly from the root.

The curious leaf is in the form of a deep cup or pitcher, with a broad wing on one side, and a flaring top which answers to the lip of the pitcher; the outer surface is smooth while the inner surface is set with many short, downward-pointing bristles; the texture, especially of the old pitchers, is tough and leathery, and the color is a strong green more or less veined with dark red. A number of leaf-cups grow in a cluster close to the ground.

The large flower has 5 long dull red petals rounded at the ends, and folded over the large umbrella-like top of the pistil; beneath this spreading green top is the large seed-case encircled by the many yellow stamens; the 5 spreading parts of the calyx are thick and leathery, of a dull reddish-brown on the outside, and green on the inside, with the brown striking through in places. A single nodding flower grows on the top of a long, smooth, light green stem.

The pitchers are often found half filled with water, and sometimes contain the remains of small insects upon which the plant is said to feed. There is no apparent resemblance to a “side-saddle” in the flower unless it lies in the leathery texture of its parts. It might fittingly be called “the Russia-leather flower.”

[Illustration: PITCHER PLANT: Sarracenia purpurea.]

POPPY FAMILY.

PAPAVERACEÆ.

*Bloodroot.* _Sanguinaria Canadensis._

Found in April on sunny slopes and meadow-borders.

The leaf and flower rise from the root on short stems, from 3 to 6 inches high.

The large leaf (from 4 to 6 inches wide when fully grown) is rounding in shape, with a heart-shaped base, and irregularly cut into 5 or 7 lobes; the ribs are strong, the texture is close and fine--rather thick,--and the surface is smooth. The color is a cool green, silvery underneath, the short stem and the ribs being reddish. The single leaf grows from the root on a thick juicy stem.

The flower petals, usually 8, but sometimes 12 in number, spread in a square shape; they are long, narrow, and tapering at both ends (4 being slightly broader than the other 4), fine in texture, and of a brilliant white; the stamens are many, orange-yellow or golden, and the single large pale yellow pistil is grooved through the middle; the 2-parted pale greenish calyx falls as the blossom expands. The flower-stem is smooth, round, large, and pale green tinged with red.

The Bloodroot makes a wise provision against the inclement season in which it blooms, and comes up from the ground wrapped closely in its circular leaf-cloak, pushing its bud through the top to open in the sunlight. The leaf slowly unrolls itself and stands, large and broad, close to the ground,--in general effect it is suggestive of a grape leaf. The root is charged with a dark orange-red acrid juice which gives the plant its folk-name. To this plentiful rich color, no doubt, the brilliant quality of the white blossom is due.

[Illustration: BLOODROOT: Sanguinaria Canadensis.]

*Celandine.* _Chelidonium majus._

Found from May to August in waste grounds around dwellings, and along hedgerows.

The branching stalk grows from 2 to 3 feet in height; it has a saffron juice, and is covered with scattering, weak hairs; green.

The deeply divided leaf is cut into 5 or more oval irregular lobes which are not quite opposite in their occurrence, the terminal lobe being larger than the others; it is short-stemmed, with a rather weak fibre and smooth surface; the margin is notched in large rounded scallops and the color is yellow-green. The arrangement of the leaves is alternate.

The 4 oval petals of the flower are a lustreless orange-yellow color; the many stamens are yellow, and the pistil is green; the 2-parted calyx falls early.

This weak-fibred plant is of a somewhat sprawling growth; the leaf is more pleasing in shape than in color.

[Illustration: CELANDINE: Cheledonium majus.]

FUMITORY FAMILY.

FUMARIACEÆ.

*Dutchman’s Breeches.* _Dicentra Cucullaria._

Found in rich, moist woodlands in April.

The flower-stems and leaves (from 5 to 8 inches in height) spring from the root.

The large feathery leaf is many times divided and sub-divided in groups of threes, the margin being entire. In texture it is thin and delicate, the surface being noticeably cool to the touch; in color, gray-green, bluish underneath. It is borne on a pale, juicy stem, which is tinged with pink or reddish at the foot. Several leaves spring up enclosed by 2 or 3 dry, reddish sheaths.

The petals of this curious flower are 4 in number, one pair being joined together to form a 2-spurred heart-shaped bag, with its spurs spread widely apart; the other 2 petals held within the narrow mouth of the bag are very small, and join their tips over the slightly protruding stamens; the texture is very thin and delicate and slightly ribbed; the color of the petals is a pure white, the spurs being tipped with pure yellow. The 2 divisions of the small calyx hug the bag betwixt the spurs,--it is white, a trifle tinted with green. The foot-stem on which the bag hangs is small and pale; the flowers are set in a nodding row upon the long curving or upright stem, which is pale or tinted red.

In New England this is a less common variety than its sister Squirrel Corn, _D. Canadensis_, which is very like, though smaller and pink-tinted instead of yellow.

[Illustration: DUTCHMAN’S BREECHES: Dicentra Cucullaria.]

*Pale Corydalis.* _Corydalis glauca._

Found in woodsy, rocky places during June and July.

The erect and leafy stalk grows from 6 to 15 inches in height, and is slender and smooth, with a slight bloom, which makes its color a pale or whitish-green.

The pretty leaf is not large; it is compound, its 3 leaflets being sub-divided and cut into deep scallops on the entire edges; the ribs are very delicate, the texture thin and fine and smooth; in color, a cool green, the underside whitened by a pale bloom. The lower leaves are on slender, smooth stems, and the upper clasp the stalk; they are placed alternately.

The flower is small, fragile and smooth in texture, and hung upside down; the corolla, like a one-sided flat bag with a round bottom and a 2-lipped mouth, is pale pink, the lips being golden; the 2-parted calyx is pinkish. Three or four flowers hang in terminal groups on slender reddish stems.

The seed-pod is out of all expectation long, frequently over an inch in length, but very slender. The whole plant has a smooth daintiness, and especially is the leaf pretty.

[Illustration: PALE CORYDALIS: Corydalis glauca.]

MUSTARD FAMILY.

CRUCIFERÆ.

*Toothwort.* _Dentaria laciniata._ *Crinkle-root.* *Pepper-root.*

Found in flower, on the edge of thickets, in May.

A single stalk grows to the height of 6 or 7 inches; it is smooth, round, and juicy; light green.

The compound leaf is very deeply 3 times cut into long, narrow parts, with sharply notched edges; the texture is common (not to say coarse), and the color a full juicy green. Two or three leaves, on short foot-stems, grow in a whorl-like cluster about the stalk, a little below the flower-cluster.

The flower has 4 rounded petals spreading at the top; in texture rather thick, in color white, faintly tinged with violet; the 4-parted calyx is pale green, and the 6 stamens, 2 noticeably shorter than the others, are a dull greenish-yellow.

With the true vigor of its family this plant grows in small communities. It stays in bud a long time before the blossoms finally open. A number of small tubers are strung together on the roots, like beads on a necklace; pungent and peppery to the taste.

[Illustration: TOOTHWORT: Dentaria laciniata.]

*Herb of St. Barbara.* _Barbarea vulgaris._ *Yellow Rocket.* *Winter Cress.*

Found in sunny places, by clear water and in moist meadows during May.

The single stalk, from 12 to 16 inches in height, is branching only for the flowers; it is large, fibrous, and strong, grooved, but very smooth, and of a shining, pure, green color.

The lower leaves are 3 or 4 inches long, lyre-shaped, and cut nearly to the midrib into 5 or 7 irregular lobes, the middle lobe being very round; the upper leaves are cut less deeply, and are small; the margins are entire, the texture strong, and the lower surface rough, the upper being smooth and shining; in color, dark full green. The lowest leaves are on clasping stems, all the rest clasp the stalk with a pair of wings, alternately.

The 4 petals of the small flower are rounding, and arranged in pairs within the small 4-parted green calyx; they are of a charming light yellow color, and so are the 6 stamens. These stamens group themselves oddly about the central pistil,--two pairs stand in front of the pairs of petals, and the single shorter stamens fill the more open spaces left in the opposite angles. The flowers form loose terminal groups.

The stalk springs from a foot-rosette of the rich green leaves, and is one of the earliest risers of the spring, in its chosen home--a marshy meadow.

[Illustration: YELLOW ROCKET: Barbarea vulgaris.]

*Field Mustard.* _Brassica Sinapistrum._ *Charlock.* *Crowd Weed (W. Va.).*

Found in grain fields, and along cultivated lands, from July to September.

The large and branching stalk is zigzag or curved in habit of growth, about 2 or 3 feet high, and ribbed; with occasional hairs; it is bright green in color.

The lower leaves are lyre-shaped and large, the middle lobe wide and curving to a long pointed tip, the side lobes being narrow; the upper leaves are irregularly cut; the margins are notched (the points of the notches often turn toward the stem), the edge curling or wavy; the midribs and netted veins often pucker the surface, which is shining; the color is a clear full green. They are set on short stems, or clasp the stalk, and are alternately arranged.

The flower has 4 shell-shaped petals, with very long and erect bases, of a fine texture, and yellow color with a tinge of green; the calyx is 4-divided, its parts slender and wide-spreading, also yellow but with a marked tendency to green. The flowers form close leafy terminal clusters.

As the petals fall early and only two or three flowers are open at once, the seed-pods, green and shining, form a distinctive feature of the plant; when they ripen, and in their turn drop, their little foot-stems are left bristling along the elongating branch. The leaf suggests Gothic ornament with its quaint curves and lines.

[Illustration: CHARLOCK: Brassica Sinapistrum.]

*Wild Kale.* _Brassica nigra._ *Black Mustard.*

Found in fallow fields in August.

The stalk, about 3 feet in height, branches near the top, and is leafy; it is round, but flattened just beneath a joint, smooth, save for an occasional weak bristle-like hair, and of a shining light green color, becoming darker and tinged with purplish-red at the joints.

The lower leaves are deeply cleft into 5 or more lobes, the middle lobe being largest, with irregularly notched margins; the upper leaves are a narrow oblong shape, but slightly toothed; all the leaves are loose-textured, hairy underneath, and green, the lower ones having a yellow tint. They are set on stems, alternately, and at the spring of the branches.

The 4 petals of the small flower have slender bases, and spread their tips in the oblong-cross design which gives the family of Mustards its Latin name; their texture is delicate, and color a pure yellow; the pistil is green, with a yellow tip, and there are 4 yellow stamens; the 4 calyx-divisions are slender, greenish-yellow, and as long as the base of the petals which they hold loosely. The flowers form round club-like clusters, which prolong themselves as the blossoms mature.

The seed-pod is 4-angled, and tipped with the little tenacious pistil. These light and feathery flowers are seen to best advantage when, lifting their slender stems above the thickets that congregate in the lee of old buildings, they show their yellow against the weather-worn gray-lavender timbers. They love old cellar-holes also, and peep airily in at the blank windows of deserted houses.

[Illustration: WILD KALE: B. nigra.]

*Pepper-grass.* _Lepidium Virginicum._ *Birds’ Pepper (Neb.).*

Found blooming inconspicuously from June to October, upon barrens and waste fields.

The often branching stalk is leafy above the first branch, though bare below, and grows from 6 to 24 inches in height according to its opportunities; it is slender but of a woody, tough fibre, and smooth; gray-green in color.

The narrow small leaf, with its tapering base, is only occasionally notched, and is of a dusty-green color. The leaves are set on the stalk alternately, and in little groups.

The very tiny unnoticeable flower has 4 thin, white petals, and 2 little stamens; the green calyx is barely visible. The flowers are set on thread stems, in loose, stiff, club-shaped and long clusters.