BLUE AND PURPLE 



FORGET-ME-NOT. 



Mysotis laxa. Borage Family. 



Stems. Slender. Leaves. Alternate, lance-oblong. Florvers. Blue, 

 small, growing in a raceme. Calyx. Five-lobed. Corolla. Salver-shaped, 

 five-toothed. Stamens. Five. Pistil. One. 



Along the banks of the stream, and in low wet places, we 

 may look for these exquisite little flowers. This plant is smaller 

 and less luxuriant than the European species, blossoming in early 

 summer. 



WILD PHLOX. 



Phlox divaricata. Polemonium Family. 



Nine to eighteen inches high. Stems. Spreading or ascending. Leaves. 

 Opposite, oblong or lance-oblong, Flowers. Pale lilac-purple, in a loose, 

 spreading cluster. Calyx. With five slender teeth. Corolla. With a five- 

 parted border, salver-shaped, with a long tube. Stamens. Five, unequally 

 inserted in the tube of the corolla. Pistil. One, with a three-lobed style. 



We may search for these graceful, delicately tinted flowers in 

 the rocky woods of April and May. 



Nearly allied to them is the wild sweet William, P. maculata, 

 the pink-purple blossoms of which are found along the streams 

 and in the rich woods of somewhat southern localities. 



The beautiful moss pink, P. subulata, is also a member of 

 this genus. This little evergreen heath-like plant clothes the 

 dry hill-sides with a glowing mantle of purple-pink every spring, 

 Southern New York being probably its most northerly range in 

 our Eastern States. Great masses of these flowers may be seen 

 covering the rocks in the Central Park in May. 



The pink or whitish clusters of P. glaberrima are found in 

 the open woods and prairies somewhat westward in July. 



ROBIN'S PLANTAIN. BLUE SPRING-DAISY. 



Erigeron bellidifolius . Composite Family (p. 13). 



Stem. Simple, hairy, producing offsets from the base. Root-leaves. 

 Somewhat rounded or wedge-shaped. Stem-leaves. Somewhat oblong, 

 lance - shaped, partly clasping. Flower - heads. Rather large, on slender 

 flower-stalks, composed of both strap-shaped and tubular flowers, the for- 

 mer (ray-flowers) bluish-purple, the latter (disk-flowers) yellow. 



This is one of the earliest members of the Composite family 

 to make its appearance, that great tribe being usually associated 



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