THE POOR MAN'S WEATHER-GLASS. 261 



little red flower which shines like a star among the growing 

 harvest. 



You cannot mistake it, for, with the exception of the tiny 

 chaff- weed, the smallest wild plant which bears a distinct flower, 

 it is the only scarlet blossom in the wheat-field, except, indeed, 

 the red poppy, which every good farmer seeks to banish from 

 his land. Mark me, I say the only scarlet flower ; for there 

 are several as, for instance, the pheasant's eye, or Adonis 

 of a deep crimson. 



The pimpernel belongs to the Primrose family, or Primu- 

 laceae. It has a five-cleft calyx, and a monopetalous corolla. 

 Its stamens, of an equal number, are inserted on the corolla, 

 opposite its segments. It is a meteoric flower ; so-called, 

 because it keeps itself shut during wet or cloudy weather. 

 Hence, it is known among country people as ^the shepherd's 

 warning" or "poor man's weather-glass." And Darwin, 

 enumerating the various signs of rain, says of it 



" Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel ; 

 In fiery red the sun doth rise, 

 Then wades through clouds to mount the skies : 

 'Twill surely rain, we see 't with sorrow ; 

 No working in the fields to-morrow. " 



It should be added, however, that if the rain continue for 

 several days, the pimpernel will lose its sensibility, and cease 

 to act as a natural weather-glass. 



And here we may observe, that singular as is the habit of 

 the flowers anticipating rain by folding their petals within their 

 calices, the way which the Siberian sow-thistle has with it is 



