Magenta to Pink 



fills farmers with dismay. It is like a small edition of the hedge 

 bindweed, only its calyx lacks the leaf-like bracts at its base, its ,, 



slender stem rarely exceeds two feet in length, and the little pink i 



and white flowers often grow in pairs. Their habit of closing | 



both in the evening and in rainy weather indicates that they are j 



adapted for diurnal insects only ; but if the bell hang down, or ■ 



if the corolla drop off, the pollen must fall on the stigma and i 



effect self-fertilization. Many more insects visit this flower than ] 



the large bindweed, attracted by the peculiar fragrance, and led | 



by the'white streaks to the orange-colored under surface of the i 



ovary, where the nectar lies concealed. Stigmas and anthers ma- : 



ture at the same time ; but as the former are slightly the longer, i 



they receive pollen brought from another flower before the visitor I 



gets freshly dusted. i 



Ground or Moss Pink I'r'V^ \ 



{Phlox subulata) Phlox family ! 



« 



Floivers — Very numerous, small, deep purplish pink, lavender or \ 



rose, varying to white, with a darker eye, growing in simple \ 



cymes, or solitary in a Western variety. Calyx with 5 slen- j 



der teeth ; corolla salver-form with 5 spreading lobes ; 5 sta- , 



mens inserted on corolla tube; style 3-lobed. S/^ws: Rarely ! 



exceeding 6 in. in height, tufted like mats, much branched, 1 



plentifully set with awl-shaped, evergreen leaves barely Yz ' 



in. long, growing in tufts at joints of stem. ' 



Preferred Habitat — Rocky ground, hillsides. i 



Flowering Season — April — ^June. ; 



Distribution — Southern New York to Florida, westward to Michi- j 



gan and Kentucky. \ 



A charming little plant, growing in dense evergreen mats \ 



with which Nature carpets dry, sandy, and rocky hillsides, is often ] 



completely hidden beneath its wealth of flowers. Far beyond its j 



natural range, as well as within it, the moss pink glows in gar- j 



dens, cemeteries, and parks, wherever there are rocks to conceal j 



or sterile wastes to beautify. Very slight encouragement induces 

 it to run wild. There are great rocks in Central Park, New York, i 



worth travelling miles to see in early May, when their stern faces ! 



are flushed and smiling with these blossoms. 



Another low ground species is the Crawling Phlox {P. rep- 

 tans). It rarely exceeds six inches in height ; nevertheless its 

 larger pink, purple, or white flowers, clustered after the manner of 

 the tall garden phloxes, are among the most showy to be found 

 in the spring woods. A number of sterile shoots with obovate \ 



leaves, tapering toward the base, rise from the runners and set , 



141 ) 



