WHITE 



COMMON DODDER. LOVE VINE. 



Cuscuta Gronovii. Convolvulus Family. 



Stems. Yellow or reddish, thread-like, twining, leafless. Flowers. 

 White, in close clusters. Calyx. Five-cleft. Corolla. With five spread- 

 ing lobes. Stamens. Five. Pistil. One, with two styles. 



Late in the summer we are perhaps tempted deep into some 

 thicket by the jasmine-scented heads of the button-bush or the 

 fragrant spikes of the clethra, and note for the first time the tan- 

 gled golden threads and close white flower-clusters of the dodder. 

 If we try to trace to their source these twisted stems, which the 

 Creoles know as "angels' hair," we discover that they are 

 fastened to the bark of the shrub or plant about which they are 

 twining by means of small suckers ; but nowhere can we find any 

 connection with the earth, all their nourishment being extracted 

 from the plant to which they are adhering. Originally this curi- 

 ous herb sprang from the ground which succored it until it suc- 

 ceeded in attaching itself to some plant ; having accomplished 

 this it severed all connection with mother-earth by the wither- 

 ing away or snapping off of the stem below. 



The flax-dodder, C. Epilmum, is a very injurious plant in 

 European flax-fields. It has been sparingly introduced into this 

 country with flax-seed. 







TRAVELLER'S JOY. VIRGIN'S BOWER. 



Clematis Virginiana. Crowfoot Family. 



Stem. Climbing, somewhat woody. Leaves. Opposite, three-divided. 

 Flowers. Whitish, in clusters, unisexual. Calyx. Of four petal-like se- 

 pals. Corolla. None. Stamens and Pistils. Indefinite in number, oc- 

 curring on different plants. 



In July and August this beautiful plant, covered with its white 

 blossoms and clambering over the shrubs which border the coun- 

 try lanes, makes indeed a fitting bower for any maid or traveller 

 who may chance to be seeking shelter. Later in the year the 

 seeds with their silvery plumes give a feathery effect which is 

 N very striking. 



This graceful climber works its way by means of its bending 



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