PINK 



She comes to us from England, and her " feminine comeliness 

 and bounce" suggest to Mr. Burroughs a Yorkshire housemaid. 

 The generic name is from sapo soap, and refers to the lather 

 which the juice forms with water, and which is said to have been 

 used as a substitute for soap. 



STEEPLE-BUSH. HARDHACK. 



Spircea tomentosa. Rose Family. 



Stems. Very woolly. Leaves. Alternate, oval, toothed. Flowers. 

 Small, pink, in pyramidal clusters. Calyx. Five-cleft. Corolla. Of five 

 rounded petals. Stamens. Numerous. Pistils. Five to eight. 



The pink spires of this shrub justify its rather unpoetic name 

 of steeple-bush. It is closely allied to the meadow-sweet (PL 

 XXVI. ), blossoming with it in low grounds during the summer, 

 it differs from that plant in the color of its flowers and in the 

 woolliness of its stems and the lower surface of its leaves. 



\5 



DEPTFORD PINK. 



Dianthus Armeria. Pink Family. 



One or two feet high. Leaves. Opposite, long and narrow, hairy. 

 Flowers. Pink, with white dots, clustered. Calyx. Five-toothed, cylin- 

 drical, with awl-shaped bracts beneath. Corolla. Of five small petals. 

 Stamens. Ten. Pistil. One, with two styles. 



In July and August we find these little flowers in our eastern 

 fields. The generic name, which signifies Jove' 's own flower, 

 hardly applies to these inconspicuous blossoms. Perhaps it was 

 originally bestowed upon D. caryophyllus, a large and fragrant 

 English member of the genus, which was the origin of our gar- 

 den carnation. 

 / 



PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE. 



Ly thrum Salicaria. Loosestrife Family. 



Stem. Tall and slender. Leaves. Lance-shaped, with a heart-shaped 

 base, sometimes whorled in threes. Flowers. Deep purple-pink, crowded 

 and whorled in an interrupted spike. Calyx. Five to seven-toothed, with 

 little processes between the teeth. Corolla. Of five or six somewhat 

 wrinkled petals. Stamens. Usually twelve, in two sets, six longer and six 

 shorter. Pistil. One, varying in size in the different blossoms, being of 

 three different lengths. 



One who has seen an inland marsh in August aglow with 

 this beautiful plant, is almost ready to forgive the Old Country 



198 



