JULY, AUGUST, AND SEPTExMBER. 



207 



rose, deep pink, purple, palest yellow, and rich, dark 

 claret-maroon color. The last-mentioned variety is 

 most beautiful ; it has the effect 

 of a iine piece of beadwork ; the 

 tiny anthers are pale lilac ; and 

 the corollas, funnel-formed, are 

 the richest, darkest wine-red color 

 imaginable ; the whole effect of 

 the flower is hlack, and it is well 

 named Black Scabiosa. The flower stem 

 is exceedingly long and stiff, as well as 

 bare. The leafage is variously shaped, bnt 

 in general slightly resembles that of the 

 common wild daisy, except that it is larger 

 and broader. It blooms in late summer. 

 The flower might deceive one as to its fam- 

 ily connection ; it looks like a Composite, 

 but Gray has given it the position of the 

 latter's next-door neighbor. It belongs to 

 the Teasel family. The distinguishing differences 

 which separate it from its Composite neighbors are 

 four separate stamens to each corolla (Composites 

 have their five stamens tied together by the connect- 

 ing anthers, which form a tube inclosing the style) 

 and an ovary, which becomes an akene in fruit con- 

 taining a hanging seed. The seeds of the Composites 

 do not hang, but are borne in stout shell-like akenes. 



Black 

 Scabiosa. 



