PINK 



pale leaves, dull pink clustered flowers which appear in July, 

 and later the puffy pods filled with the silky-tufted seeds beloved 

 of imaginative children, are familiar to nearly everyone who 

 spends a portion of the year in the country. The young sprouts 

 are said to make an excellent pot-herb; the silky hairs of the 

 seed-pods have been used for the stuffing of pillows and mat- 

 tresses, and can be mixed with flax or wool and woven to ad- 

 vantage ; while paper has been manufactured from the stout 

 stalks. 



The four-leaved milkweed, A. quadrifolia, is the most deli- 

 cate member of the family, with fragrant rose-tinged flowers 

 which appear on the dry wooded hill-sides quite early in June, 

 and slender stems which are usually leafless below, and with one 

 or two whorls and one or two pairs of oval, taper-pointed leaves 

 above. 



The swamp milkweed, A. incarnata, grows commonly in 

 moist places. Its very leafy stems are two or three feet high, 

 with narrowly oblong, pointed leaves. Its intense purple-pink 

 flowers gleam from the wet meadows nearly all summer. They 

 are smaller than those of the purple milkweed, A. purpurascens, 

 which abounds in dry ground, and which may be classed among 

 the deep pink or purple flowers according to the eye of the be- 

 holder. 



HERB ROBERT. 



Geranium Robertianum. Geranium Family. 



Stem. Forking, slightly hairy. Leaves. Three, divided, the divisions 

 again dissected. Flowers. Purple-pink, small. Calyx. Of five sepals. 

 Corolla. Of five petals. Stamens. Ten. Pistil. One, with five styles 

 which split apart in fruit. 



From June until October many of our shaded woods and 

 glens are abundantly decorated by the bright blossoms of the 

 herb Robert. The reddish stalks of the plant have won it the 

 name of ' ' red -shanks ' ' in the Scotch Highlands. Its strong scent 

 is caused by a resinous secretion which exists in several of the 

 geraniums. In some species this resin is so- abundant that the 

 stems will burn like torches, yielding a powerful and pleasant 

 perfume. The common name is said to have been given the 



