WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 



centred, purple flowers have a star-shaped corolla, and 

 are set in a small, green, five-parted, bell-shaped calyx. 

 They hang gracefully on their curved stemlets in small, 

 loose, spreading and nodding clusters, from a slender 

 stem which springs from the axils of the leaves. The 

 five deeply cleft and pointed segments of the corolla are 

 prettily recurved, and at the base of each there are two 

 green spots. The five yellow stamens project with their 

 anthers united in the form of a cone. The bright red 

 berries form very attractive drooping clusters in the 

 fall. Nightshade is found from New Brunswick to 

 Minnesota, and south to North Carolina and Kansas. 

 The plant has a peculiar juice which is at first 

 sweetish to the taste, then soon becoming bitter and 

 it has also some medicinal qualities. It is related 

 to the potato, tomato and egg-plant of our gardens, 

 and is naturalized from Europe. 



BLUE, OR WILD TOAD FLAX 



Lin aria canadensis. Figwort Family. 



Here is an extremely dainty and slender white 

 throated blue-flowered relative of the notoriously com- 

 mon Butter-and-Eggs, and it is found in dry, sandy soils 

 from May to September. The slim, delicate, smooth and 

 shining green stalk is often branched, and grows from 

 four inches to two feet or more in height, annually or bi- 

 annually. It is weak-stemmed, and is often found sup- 

 ported by neighbouring vegetation. The alternating, 

 toothless leaves are very small, stemless, and sharply 

 pointed. The pretty little tubular flower is two lipped. 



