WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 



moon with secret incantations, after which it is supposed 

 to accomplish remarkable cures. Bridal wreaths 

 made of Vervain are used in Germany. It was one of 

 the most important assets of the old herb doctors who 

 were called "Simplers," and who professed to cure 

 everything that flesh was heir to. Virgil and Shakes- 

 peare both mention Vervain in their writings. The 

 Wild Hyssop, as it is sometimes called, is found from 

 Canada to Florida, Nebraska and New Mexico. 



BLUE CURLS. BASTARD PENNYROYAL 



Trichostema dichotomum. Mint Family. 



This rather stiff, slender-stemmed, sticky haired, 

 strong-scented, and much-branched annual grows from 

 six inches to two feet high in dry, sandy fields. The 

 toothless, short-stemmed, and nearly smooth, lance- 

 shaped leaves occur in opposite pairs. They are sticky 

 haired, and exhale a balsamic odour, coarsely suggest- 

 ing that of Pennyroyal. The numerous blue, pink, 

 or rarely white, deeply five-cleft, tubular flowers have 

 ridiculously long, hair-like blue or violet stamens, 

 which extend far beyond the corolla. When the flower 

 opens they are nearly erect, but soon curl gracefully 

 inward, forming a large spiral. The lobes of the corolla 

 spread open, and the lower and longer one is widely 

 flared like a long tongue or lip. They terminate the 

 branches, usually in pairs, and opening in the morning, 

 last only for the day. Some of the flowers grow upside 

 down, owing to the peculiar twisting of their short 

 stems. They blossom from July to October, and 



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