WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 



is soft and downy to the touch. The rather large, 

 light, bluish purple, tubular flowers are two-lipped. 

 The upper lip, which arches over the four unequal 

 stamens and pistil, is erect and notched at the middle. 

 The spreading lower lip, which is spotted with dark 

 purple, is three-lobed, the middle one being much 

 enlarged. The long, ribbed, tubular calyx is unequally 

 five-parted. The flowers are borne in sparse clusters 

 from the axils of the leaves. The Ground-ivy often 

 forms dense, green mats, and is found in blossom from 

 March to May, from Newfoundland, Ontario and 

 Minnesota, south to Georgia and Kansas. 



SELF=HEAL. HEAL=ALL. BLUE CURLS. THIM- 

 BLE=FLOWER. ALL-HEAL. CARPENTER'S- 

 HERB. HEART=OF=THE=EARTH. BRUNELLA. 



Prunella vulgaris. Mint Family. 



One of the commonest and most widely ranged of 

 all plants. Along dusty roadsides, cowpaths, and in 

 fields, woods and waste places everywhere, this familiar, 

 low-growing perennial flourishes with little effort. 

 The thick, round, elongated flower head blossoms 

 sparingly as it lengthens, from spring to fall. The 

 usually smooth, slender, leafy and occasionally branch- 

 ing stalk, is usually too weak to hold itself erect, and 

 lies sprawling in the grass. The four-sided stalk is 

 deeply grooved on two opposite sides. The smooth, 

 oblong, lance-shaped leaves have a long, tapering tip 

 and a narrowed base. They are rather thin, and their 

 margins are often slightly toothed. They occur in 



355 



