BLUE AND PURPLE 



FIVE-FLOWERED GENTIAN. 



Gentiana quinqueflora. Gentian Family. 



Stem. Slender ; usually branching ; one to two feet high. Leaves. Op- 

 posite ; ovate; lance-shaped; partly clasping. Flowers. Pale blue or pur- 

 plish ; smaller than those of the closed gentian ; in clusters of five or more 

 at the summit of stems and branches. Calyx. Four or five-cleft ; small. 

 Corolla. Funnel-form; four or five-lobed ; its lobes bristle-pointed. Sta- 

 mens. Four or five. Pistil. One, with two stigmas. 



In some localities the five-flowered gentian is very abundant. 

 Gray assigns the plant to " moist hills " and " along the moun- 

 tains to Florida;" and I never remember to have encountered 

 it save in more or less mountainous regions. In September it 

 tinges with delicate color the slopes of the Shawangunk moun- 

 tains and borders the woods and roadsides of the Berkshire hills. 



COMMON DITTANY. 



Cunila Mariana. Mint Family. 



About one foot high. Stem. Much branched, reddish. Leaves. Op- 

 posite ; aromatic ; dotted ; smooth ; ovate, rounded or heart-shaped at base. 

 Flowers. Small, purple, lilac or white; clustered. Calyx, Five-toothed. 

 Corolla. Small ; two-lipped ; the upper lip erect, usually notched, the lower 

 three-cleft. Stamens. Two; erect; protruding. Pistil. One, with a 

 two-lobed style. 



In late August or early September the delicate flowers of the 

 dittany brighten the dry, sterile banks which flank so many of 

 our roadsides. At a season when few plants are flowering save 

 the omnipresent members of the great Composite family these 

 dainty though unpretentious blossoms are especially attractive. 

 The plant has a pleasant fragrance. 



CLOSED GENTIAN. 



Gentiana Andrewsii. Gentian Family. 



Stem. One to two feet high; upright; smooth. Leaves. Opposite; 

 narrowly oval or lance-shaped. Flowers. Blue to purple ; clustered at the 

 summit of the stem and often in the axils of the leaves. Calyx. Four or 



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