RED 



not identical with the classic one, but that it has received its 

 common name through some superficial resemblance to the origi- 

 nal betony or Betonica. 



PAINTED CUP. 



Castilleia coccinea. Figwort Family. 



Stem. Hairy, six inches to a foot high. Root-leaves. Clustered, oblong. 

 Stem-leaves. Incised, those among the flowers three to five-cleft, bright 

 scarlet toward the summit, showy. Flowers. Pale yellow, spiked. Calyx. 

 Tubular, flattened. Corolla. Two-lipped, its upper lip long and narrow, 

 its lower short and three-lobed. Stamens. Four, unequal. Pistil. One. 



Scarlet tufts 



Are glowing in the green like flakes of fire ; 

 The wanderers of the prairie know them well, 

 And call that brilliant flower the painted cup.* 



But we need not go to the prairie in order to see this plant, 

 for it is equally abundant in certain low sandy New England 

 meadows as well as in the near vicinity of New York City. 

 Under date of June 3d, Thoreau graphically describes its ap- 

 pearance near Concord, Mass.: "The painted cup is in its 

 prime. It reddens the meadow, painted-cup meadow. It is a 

 splendid show of brilliant scarlet, the color of the cardinal 

 flower, and surpassing it in mass and profusion. . . . I do 

 not like the name. It does not remind me of a cup, rather of a 

 flame when it first appears. It might be called flame flower, or 

 scarlet tip. Here is a large meadow full of it, and yet very few 

 in the town have ever seen it. It is startling to see a leaf thus 

 brilliantly painted, as if its tip were dipped into some scarlet 

 tincture, surpassing most flowers in intensity of color. " 



WOOD LILY. WILD RED LILY. 



Lilium Philadclphicum. Lily Family. 



Stem. Two to three feet high. Leaves. Whorled or scattered, narrowly 

 lance-shaped. Flower. Erect, orange-red or scarlet, spotted with purple. 

 Perianth. Of six erect narrowly clawed sepals, with nectar-bearing furrows 

 at their base. Stamens. Six. Pistil. One, with three-lobed stigma. 



Here and there in the shadowy woods is a vivid dash of color 

 made by some wild red lily which has caught a stray sunbeam 



* Bryant. 

 219 



