BLUE AND PURPLE 



CREEPING THYME. 



Thymus Serpyllum. Mint Family. 



Stems. — Prostrate. Leaves. — Small; ovate; strongly -veined ; not 

 toothed. Flowers. — Small ; purplish ; crowded at the ends of the branches. 

 Calyx. — Two-lipped. Corolla. — Slightly two-lipped. Statnens. — Two. 

 Pistil. — One, with a two-lobed style. 



This classic little plant is an emigrant from Europe, which 

 is not as yet extensively naturalized with us. The only 



" bank where the wild thyme blows " 



for me is somewhat too exposed a spot to be chosen as sleeping- 

 place by any fairy-queen. Neither is it 



" Over-canopied with luscious woodbine, 

 With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine." 



Instead it borders the beautiful but open highway leading from 

 Lenox into Stockbridge, fiUing the air with its pungent fragrance. 



BLUE CURLS. BASTARD PENNYROYAL. 



Trichostema dichotomum. Mint Family. 



Stem. — Rather low; branching; clammy. Leaves. — Opposite; narrowly 

 oblong or lance-shaped ; glutinous ; with a balsamic odor. Floivers. — Purple, 

 occasionally pinkish ; not usually clustered. Calyx. — Five-cleft; two-lipped. 

 Corolla. — Five-lobed ; the three lower lobes more or less united. Stamens. — 

 Four ; very long and curved ; protruding. Pistil. — One, with a two-lobed 

 style. 



In the sandy fields of late summer this little plant attracts 

 notice by its many purple flowers. Its corolla soon falls and 

 exposes to view the four little nutlets of the ovary lying within 

 the enlarged calyx like tiny eggs in their nest. Its aromatic 

 odor is very perceptible, and the little glands with which it is 

 covered may be seen with the aid of a magnifier. The generic 

 name, Trichoste?na, signifies hairy stamens, and alludes to the 

 curved hair-like filaments. 



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