MADDER FAMILY 



The number of common names this Uttle plant pos- 

 sesses is evidence that its delicate beauty has appealed 

 to and has won the popular heart. Among its common 

 names are Innocents, Blue-Eyed Babies, and in the 

 neighborhood of Philadelphia it is called Quaker 



Ladies. Sometimes the blos- 

 soms are called Forget-me- 

 nots, from the tradition 

 prevailing in the country 

 that all small bluish flowers 

 of whatever kind are to be 

 thus designated. What- 

 ever name is given, it is 

 always a caress. 



The spreading rootstock 

 sends up a tuft of small 

 leaves from which the slen- 

 der stems arise and the 

 whole is so delicate that it 

 seems almost like a flower- 

 ing moss. The blossoms are 

 set on the tip of the stem, where they nod in the bud, 

 but are erect in bloom. In color they fade from sky- 

 blue to white, but the yellow eye remains. The flowers 

 are extremely sensitive to atmospheric conditions; at 

 night and in rainy weather the blossoms bend down, 

 to become erect again when sunshine appears. 



The flowers are peculiar in that they are what bot- 

 anists call dimorphous; that is, some of them have 

 long anthers and a short style, while others have short 

 anthers and a long style. This arrangement for the 

 exchange of pollen secures cross-fertiHzation. 



Bluets. Eoustonia ccerulea 



214 



