APPENDAGED WATERLEAF 



Hydrophyllum appendiculatum Michx. 



'I'lii' (.aiiyou bt'twcon the wet sandstone cliffs is cool 

 ;iii(l (luict and damp. The sunliiiht now, long withheld 



May 



Ravines, woods 



fidiu the hotloin oi the canyon because of the steep 

 walls, at last slants down through the oaks on the hilltop to thrust 

 through the last of the night's mists. The little stream makes noises 

 around the wet stones. A water thrush teeters and steps from stone to 

 stone and ])icks up insect morsels. And on the elilf-side. in a little 

 cranny, a plioebe has built a new nest. The nest, snug under a ledge, is 

 neatly u])holstered with live green knight's plinne moss and pale lichens. 

 There are lour white eggs in the nest, and the ])h()ehe sits on them now, 

 her eyes bright as the sunlight comes into the eanyon. 



Below her on the wet sloi)es the waterleaf llowers are in bloom. They 

 are as pale blue as lake water. shallow-cupi)ed bells with stamens ])urple- 

 tipped, and are gathered in loose clusters on tinc^hairy stems. The stems 

 stand above the broad, live-parted thin leaves, leaves which ai-e thin and 

 Mater}' in this canyon country of coolness and shade and moisture. The 

 waterleaf is in bloom, and the spiderwe])s spun among them during the 

 night glint now with illuminated drops of dew. 



Then a web is shattered by a (piickly Hashing wing as the phoebe 

 darts down and snatdies a Hying moth just as it enters a waterleaf 

 llawer. Tlie plants (piiver and the dew drops fall off, and the sunshine 

 comes more splendidly into the canyon, to shine through the translucent, 

 silky ])etals of the lavt-nder-blue llowers. It is mid-May. The i)hoebes 

 are nesting. Waterleaf is in bloom and once again the yeai^'s pattern of 

 flowers is completed by one more speeien to fulfill the cycle of the year. 



100 



