EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY 



seed-pods, which fairly bristle all about the stem. 

 The buds are hung upside down, but become erect 

 as the flower opens. When a seed-pod splits asunder 

 it liberates a mass of soft, fluffy down which is attached 

 to the tiny seeds that float upon the moving air. The 

 plant in the mid-period of bloom bears white, silky 

 masses of seeds, long, bristling pods, a few flowers, and 

 many buds, looks dishevelled, and is disappointing in 

 garden or lawn. It is one of the free folk and com- 

 ports best with the ungardened hfe of the wild, and, 

 generous of both pollen and nectar, is loved by the bees. 



"Floating in nebulous masses about the black- 

 berry thicket, the delicately conspicuous hue of the 

 Fireweed catches the eye. If you study and watch 

 the slender pods it may be that you may surprise one 

 in the act — see one suddenly open and its four walls 

 silently withdraw, while there emerges from the 

 interior a phantom shape, the filmy mass of pappus 

 down with rows of golden seeds attached. This white 

 cloud of silk gradually takes shape, lingers a moment, 

 and then sails away on a passing breeze." 



The Small Willow-Herb, Epildhium coloratum often 

 called the Purple-Leaved Willow-Herb dwells in the 

 ditches by the roadside. It is a small brother of 

 the Great Willow-Herb, and consists of a slender, 

 branching stem, bearing many small pink flowers, 

 each sitting on the end of a slender pod which, when 

 mature, is fully two inches long. The effect of the 

 plant is slenderness and delicacy and its attractive- 

 ness is heightened by the purplish tinge which over- 

 spreads it; stem and leaves and early pods all have 

 more or less a flush of purple. 



130 



