IVILD, OR NATIVE FLOWERS. 31 



The Painted Cup owes its gay appearance, not to its flowers, which 

 are not very conspicuous at a distance, but to the deeply-cut, leafy 

 bracts that enclose them and clothe the stalks, forming at the ends of 

 the flower-branches clustered rosettes. 



The flower is a flattened tube, bordered with bright red, and edged 

 with golden yellow. Stamens, four ; pistil, one, projecting beyond the 

 tube of the calyx ; the capsule is many-seeded. The radical or root 

 leaves are of a dull, hoary green, tinged with reddish purple, as also is 

 the stem, which is rough, hairy, and angled. The bracts, or leafy ap. 

 pendages which appear on the lower part of the stalk, are but slightly 

 tinged with scarlet, but the colour deepens and brightens towards the 

 middle and summit of the branched stem. 



The Scarlet Cup appears in May, along with the white and red 

 Trilliums ; but these early plants are small ; the stem simple, rarely 

 branched, and the colour of a deeper red. As the summer advances, 

 our gallant, soldier-like plant, puts on all its bravery of attire. All 

 through the glowing harvest months, the open grassy plains and the 

 borders of the cultivated fields are enriched by its glorious colours. In 

 favourable soil the plant attains a height af from 2 to 3 feet, throwing out 

 many side branches, terminated by the clustered, brilliantly-tinted bracts ; 

 some heads being as large as a medium-sized rose. They have been 

 gathered in the corners of the stubble fields on the cultivated plains, as 

 late as October. A not uncommon slender variety occurs of a pale 

 buff, and also of a bright lemon colour. The American botanists speak 

 of Castilleia coccinea as being addicted to a low, wettish soil, but this 

 has not been my experience ; if you would find it in its greatest perfec- 

 tion, you must seek it on the high, dry, rolling plains of Rice-lake, 

 Brantford, the Humber, to the north of Toronto, Stoney Lake, the 

 neighborhood of Peterboro, and similar "localities. 



For soil, the Scarlet Cup seems to prefer light loam, and evidently 

 courts the sunshine rather than the shade. If it could be prevailed 

 upon to flourish in our garden borders, it would be a great acquisition, 

 from its long continuance in flower, and its brillianj: colouring. The seed 

 is light brown, contained in thinnish capsules, ripe in September. Gray 

 says : " Herbs parasitic on roots," but our brave plant is no parasite 

 but grows freely on open ground. Neither is it found with us in low 

 wettish places ; it loves the light and would not flourish in shade. It 

 is essentially a " Prairie flower." I have had bright specimens from 

 our North-West, and also from Wisconsin and Dakota, U. S. 



These lovely plants, like many others that adorn our Canadian woods 

 and wilds, yearly disappear from our midst, and soon we shall seek 

 them, but not find them. 



