BLUE AND PURPLE 



BLUEWEED. VIPER'S BUGLOSS. 



[PI. cxxxix 



Echium vidgare. Borage P'amily. 



Stem. — Rough; bristly; erect; about two feet high. Leaves. — Alter- 

 nate ; lance-shaped ; set close to the stem. Flowers. — Bright blue ; spiked 

 on one side of the branches, which are at first rolled up from the end, 

 straightening as the blossoms expand. Calyx. — Five-parted. Corolla. — 

 Of five somewhat unequal, spreading lobes. Stamens. — Five; protruding; 

 red. Pistil. — One. 



When the blueweed first came to us from across the sea it 

 secured a foothold in Virginia. Since then it has gradually 

 worked its way northward, lining the Hudson's shores, over- 

 running many of the dry fields in its vicinity, and making itself 

 at home in parts of New England. We should be obliged to 

 rank it among the ''pestiferous" weeds were it not that, as a 

 rule, it only seeks to monopolize land which is not good for very 

 much else. The pinkish buds and bright blue blossoms, with 

 their red protruding stamens, make a valuable addition, from the 

 aesthetic point of view, to the bunch of midsummer field-flowers 

 in which hitherto the various shades of red and yellow have pre- 

 dominated. 



VENUS'S LOOKING-GLASS. 



Speciclaria perfoliata. Campanula Family. 



Steyn. — Somewhat hairy ; three to twenty inches high. Leaves. — 

 Toothed; rounded ; clasping by the heart-shaped base. Flowers. — Blue. 

 Calyx. — Three, four, or five-lobed. Corolla. — Wheel-shaped; five-lobed. 

 Stamens. — Five. Pistil. — One, with three stigmas. 



We borrow from Mr. Burrough's " Bunch of Herbs " a de- 

 scription of this little plant, which blossoms from May till Au- 

 gust. *'A pretty and curious little weed, sometimes found 

 growing in the edge of the garden, is the clasping specularia, a 

 relative of the harebell and of the European Venus's looking- 

 gla.ss. Its leaves are shell-shaped, and clasp the stalk so as to 

 form little shallow cups. In the bottom of each cup three buds 



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