168 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 



it as Brunella. But one can claim only a scraping 

 acquaintance with a flower who knows it by sight 

 and by name ; Brunella^ I think, deserves more at- 

 tention. If a good specimen is placed under the mi- 

 croscope, it will reveal quite a pretty little face. 

 We can not see its perfect form without the glass ; 

 the upper part is hooded over, and the lower has a 

 flange on either side and a lip below which seem 

 to invite the passing bumblebee to step in and take 

 a sip of honey. There is pretty nearly always a 

 yellow-striped visitor hanging on one of these purple 

 flowers of the self-heal ; his head is buried up to 

 his ears in the tiny corolla, and we must shake liim 

 off if we wish to get a close view of the pretty little 

 stamens and pistil which are encircled by the minia- 

 ture, soft purple throat. The flower is in bloom 

 from June to October. 



Common ^\\Q, Common meadow-sweet is com- 



Meadow-Sweet. jnon enough in some places, but rare 



Splraa^MclfMa. .^^ ^^^^^^^ j ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^, f^^^^^^j -^ -^ 



the southern Catskills nor in the northern part of 

 New Jersey, although I dare say it grows in both 

 localities. In my estimation, a flower is common when 

 you see it without the slight exertion of looking for 

 it. I have never looked for the flower in the locali- 

 ties mentioned ; but experiences differ, and some peo- 

 ple are fortunate in finding things which are not com- 



