YELLOW 



advising the bee of secreted treasure. The hairy filaments of 

 the stamens are so placed as to protect the nectar from injury by 

 rain. When the blossom has been despoiled and at the same 

 time fertilized, for the nectar-seeking bee has probably deposited 

 some pollen upon its pistil, the color of the corolla changes from 

 a pale to a deep yellow, thus giving warning to the insect-world 

 that further attentions would be useless to both parties. 



POVERTY-GRASS. 



Hudsonia tomentosa. Rock-rose Family. 



" Bushy, heath-like little shrubs, seldom a foot high." (Gray.) Leaves. 

 ^-Small ; oval or narrowly oblong ; pressed close to the stem. Flowers. 

 Bright yellow ; small ; numerous ; crowded along the upper part of the 

 branches. Calyx. Of five sepals, the two outer much smaller. Corolla. 

 Of five petals. Stamens. Nine to thirty. Pistil. One, with a long and 

 slender style. 



In early summer many of the sand-hills along the New Eng- 

 land coast are bright with the yellow flowers of this hoary little 

 shrub. It is also found as far south as Maryland and near the 

 Great Lakes. Each blossom endures for a single day only. The 

 plant's popular name is due to its economical habit of utilizing 

 andy unproductive soil where little else will flourish. 



ROCK-ROSE. FROST-WEED. 



Helianthemum Canadense. Rock-rose Family. 



About one foot high. Leaves. Set close to the stem; simple; lance- 

 oblong. Flowers. Of two kinds : the earlier, more noticeable ones, yellow, 

 solitary, about one inch across ; the latter ones small and clustered, usually 

 without petals. Calyx. (Of the petal-bearing flowers) of five sepals. Co- 

 rolla. Of five early falling petals which are crumpled in the bud. Stamens. 

 Numerous. Pistil. One, with a three-lobed stigma. 



These fragile, bright-yellow flowers are found in gravelly 

 places in early summer. Under the influence of the sunshine 

 they open once ; by the next day their petals have fallen, and 

 their brief beauty is a thing of the past. On June lyth Thoreau 



152 



