RED 



PAINTED CUP. 



Castilleia coccinea. Figwort Family. 



Stem. — Hairy; six inches to a foot high. Root-leaves. — Clustered; ob- 

 long. Stem-leaves. — Incised ; those among the flowers three to five-cleft, 

 bright scarlet toward the summit ; showy. Flowers. — Pale yellow ; spiked. 

 Calyx. — Tubular; flattened. Coivlla. — Two-lipped; its upper lip long and 

 narrow; its lower short and three-lobed. Stamens. — Four; unequal. 

 Pistil. — One. 



" Scarlet tufts 



Are glowing in the green like flakes of fire ; 

 The wanderers of the prairie know them well, 

 And call that brilliant flower the painted cup."* 



But we need not go to the prairie in order to see this plant, 

 for it is equally abundant in certain low sandy New England 

 meadows as well as in the near vicinity of New York City. Un- 

 der date of June 3d, Thoreau graphically describes its appearance 

 near Concord, Mass. : "The painted cup is in its prime. It 

 reddens the meadow, painted-cup meadow. It is a splendid 

 show of brilliant scarlet, the color of the cardinal flower, and 

 surpassing it in mass and profusion. . . . I do not like the 

 name. It does not remind me of a cup, rather of a flame when 

 it first appears. It might be called flame-flower, or scarlet tip. 

 Here is a large meadow full of it, and yet very few in the town 

 have ever seen it. It is startling to see a leaf thus brilliantly 

 painted, as if its tip were dipped into some scarlet tincture, sur- 

 passing most flowers in intensity of color." 



PITCHER PLANT. SIDE-SADDLE FLOWER. HUNTS- 

 MAN'S CUP. 



Sarracenia purpurea. Pitcher Plant P'amily. 



Scape. — Naked ; one- flowered ; about one foot high. Leaves. — Pitcher- 

 shaped ; broadly winged ; hooded. Flozuer. — Red, pink, or greenish ; large ; 

 nodding. Calyx. — Of five colored sepals, with three bractlets at the base. 

 Corolla. — Of five fiddle-shaped petals which are arched over the greenish- 

 yellow style. Stamens. — Numerous. Pistil. — One, with a short style 

 which expands at the summit into a petal-like umbrella-shaped body, with 

 five small hooked stigmas. 



* Bryant. 



258 



