BLUE AND PURPLE WILD FLOWERS 



roadsides, from July to November, and ranges from 

 New Brunswick and Quebec, to Virginia and Kansas. 

 Also in Asia. 



GROUND-IVY. GILL=OVER=THE=GROUND. FIELD 



BALM. HAYMAIDS. CAT'S FOOT. 



CREEPING CHARLIE 



Nepeta hederacea. Mint Family. 



This gallivanting perennial came to us from Europe, 

 and delights to trapse over moist, shady dells, thickets, 

 and turnpikes, where it blossoms gaily during the 

 spring months. It is an old and familiar herb, formerly 

 much used as a " simple" in those homely days when 

 hospitals were few and far between, and skill and 

 scalpel were less in vogue in the medical line, and 

 " Angels with lint and lance, and God's messenger, 

 the ambulance," were blessings yet to record. 

 Dear, quaint, old Gerarde! Quoth he: " Boiled 

 in mutton-broth, it helpeth weake and acking backs. " 

 It has a peculiar, disagreeable odour, and a bitterish, 

 somewhat aromatic taste, and cattle purposely avoid it. 

 As a domestic remedy it is said to be a gentle stimulant 

 and tonic, and useful in lung troubles. The creeping 

 and trailing stalk grows sometimes eighteen inches in 

 length, with ascending branches. It is square and 

 leafy, and roots at the joints. The small, roundish, 

 evergreen leaves are set in pairs, on long, slender, curv- 

 ing stems, which are flattened and grooved on one side. 

 They are heart-shaped at the base, and their margins 

 are cut with broad, rounded scallops. Their surface 



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