YELLOW 



dows as a safeguard against thunder and evil spirits. A belief 

 prevailed that on this night the soul had power to leave the body 

 and visit the spot where it would be finally summoned from its 

 earthly habitation, hence the all-night vigils which were ob- 

 served at that time. 



The wonderful herb whose leaf will decide 

 If the coming year shall make me a bride, 



is the St. John's- wort, and the maiden's fate is favorably forecast 

 by the healthy growth and successful blossoming of the plant 

 which she has accepted as typical of her future. 



In early times poets and physicians alike extolled its proper- 

 ties. An ointment was made of its blossoms, and one of its early 

 names was " balm-of-the-warrior's-wound." It was considered 

 so efficacious a remedy for melancholia that it was termed ' ' fuga 

 daemonum." Very possibly this name gave rise to the general 

 idea that it was powerful in dispelling evil spirits. 



ST. ANDREW'S CROSS. 



Ascyrum Crux-Andrea. St. John's- wort Family. 



Stem. Low, branched. Leaves. Opposite, narrowly oblong, black- 

 dotted. Flowers. Light-yellow. Calyx. Of four sepals, the two outer 

 broad and leaf-like, the inner much smaller. Corolla. Of four narrowly 

 oblong petals. Stamens. Numerous. Pistil. One, with two short styles. 



From July till September these flowers may be found in the 

 pine-barrens of New Jersey and farther south and westward, 

 and on the island of Nantucket as well. 



COMMON MULLEIN. 



Verbasctim Thapsus. Figwort Family. 



Stem. Tall and stout, from three to five feet high. Leaves. Oblong, 

 woolly. Flowers. In a long dense spike. Calyx. Five-parted. Corolla. 

 Yellow, with five slightly unequal rounded lobes. Stamens. Ten, the 

 three upper with white wool on their filaments. Pistil. One. 



The common mullein is a native of the island of Thapsos, 

 from which it takes its specific name. It was probably brought 

 to this country from Europe by the early colonists, notwithstand- 

 ing the title of " American velvet plant," which it is rumored 

 to bear in England. The Romans called it "candelaria," from 



