BLUE AND PURPLE 



ground appeals to one who is sufficiently without interest in 

 pasture-land (for it is obnoxious to cattle) to appreciate the 

 pleasant fashion in which this little immigrant from Europe has 

 made itself at home here, brightening the earth with such a gen- 

 erous profusion of blossoms every May. But it is somewhat of a 

 disappointment to learn that this name is derived from the French 

 guiller, and refers to its former use in the fermentation of beer. 

 Oddly enough the name of alehoof, which the plant has borne in 

 England and which naturally has been supposed to refer to this 

 same custom, is said by a competent authority (Professor Earle, 

 of Oxford) to have no connection with it, but to signify another 

 sort of hofe, hofe being the early English name for the violet, 

 which resembles these flowers in color. 



The plant was highly prized formerly as a domestic medicine. 

 Gerarde claims that ''boiled in mutton-broth it helpeth weake 

 and akeing backs. 



>> 



LARKSPUR. 



Delphinium. Crowfoot Family. 



Six inches to five feet high. Leaves. — Divided or cut. Flowers. — Blue 

 or purplish ; growing in terminal racemes. Calyx. — Of five irregular petal- 

 like sepals ; the upper one prolonged into a spur. Co7'olla. — Of four irregu- 

 lar petals ; the upper pair continued backward in long spurs which are en- 

 closed in the spur of the calyx, the lower pair with short claws. Stamens. 

 — Indefinite in number. Pistils. — One to five, forming pods in fruit. 



In April and May the bright blue clusters of the dwarf lark- 

 spur, £>. tricorne, are noticeable in parts of the country. Un- 

 fortunately they are not found east of Western Pennsylvania. 



The tall, wand-like purplish racemes of the tall larkspur, D. 

 exaltatmn, are found in July in the rich soil of Pennsylvania, 

 and much farther south and west as well. 



BOBIN'S PLANTAIN. BLUE SPRING-DAISY. 



Erigeron bellidif alius. Composite Family. 



Ste7n. — Simple; hairy; producing oiTsets from the base. Root-leaves. — 

 Somewhat rounded or wedge-shaped. Stem-leaves. — Somewhat oblong; 

 lance-shaped ; partly clasping. Flower-heads. — Rather large ; on slender 



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