I70 I'lNI^ TO RED 



of their ncij^hbours and thus prey upon juices ahx-ady partially 

 assimilated. They have not, however, as yet become hardened 

 thieves; if they had, they would have lost their leaxes and green 

 colouring matter (chlorophyll), for every plant that turns pirate 

 is punished by Nature, and branded for all the world to see, 

 by being gradually deprived of its foliage and its honest hue. 

 But the Castillcia is only guilty of petty larceny, being but a 

 partial parasite, and so far it is the botanist, and not Nature, 

 who has denounced its backsliding. 



C. pallida^ or White Indian Paint-brush, much resembles 

 the preceding species, but its flowers and bracts are always 

 greenish-white, cream colour, or ])alest yellow. It is a small 

 short plant, with slender stems and tiny narrow leaves, and it 

 only grows at very high altitudes. 



Though this si)ecies i)roperly belongs in the White to Green 

 Section, it is placed here for greater convenience. 



BRIGHT PAINTED-CUP 



CastilU'i.i iiiiiiiala. I'"i;^\vort Family 



Stems: numerous and tuflcd on a .short rootstock, mostly simple and 

 strict. Leaves: lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, entire. Flowers: spikes 

 short and dense ; corolla lontj ; galea exserted, lou'jjcr than the tube, the 

 short lower lip protuberant and callous with short, ovate, involute teeth. 



The leaves of the Bright Painted-cu]) are entire; that is to 

 .say, their margins form an unbroken line and are not wavy, 

 nor have the)' uneven rounded teeth like those of C. scptcn- 

 triouxlis. The corolla is very jxde in colour, but the l^racts 

 are nearly always red or magenta. 



Thoreau sjK'aks thus of the prairie species: 



" The I'aintcd-cup is in its prime. It reddens the meadow, — Painted- 

 cup meadow. It is a splendid show of brilliant scarlet, the colour of 

 the Cardinal Flower, and surpassing it iu mass and jirofusion. I do 

 not like the name. It does not remind me of a cup, rather of a fiame 

 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 



