BLUE AND PURPLE 



little plant would seem to account for its name of rosemary, 

 which is derived from the Latin for sea- spray, but Dr. Prior 

 states that this name was given it on account of "its usually 

 growing on the sea-coast, and its odor." 



Blossoming with the lavender we often find the great rose 

 mallows and the dainty sea pinks. The marsh St. John's-wort as 

 well is frequently a neighbor, and, a little later in the season, the 

 salt marsh fleabane. 



BLAZING STAR. 



Liatris scariosa. Composite Family (p. 13). 



Stem. Simple, stout, hoary, two to five feet high. Leaves. Alternate, 

 narrowly lance-shaped. Flower-heads. Racemed along the upper part of 

 the stem, composed entirely of tubular flowers of a beautiful shade of rose- 

 purple. 



These showy and beautiful flowers lend still another tint to 

 the many-hued salt marshes and glowing inland meadows of the 

 falling year. Gray assigns them to dry localities from New 

 England to Minnesota and southward, while my own experience 

 of them is limited to the New England coast, where their stout 

 leafy stems and bright-hued blossoms are noticeable among the 

 golden-rods and asters of September. The hasty observer some- 

 times confuses the plant with the iron-weed, but the two flowers 

 are very different in color and in their manner of growth. 



COMMON DITTANY. 



Ciinila Mariana. Mint Family (p. 16). 



About one foot high. Stem. Much branched, reddish. Leaves. Op- 

 posite, aromatic, dotted, smooth, ovate, rounded or heart-shaped at base, 

 set close to the stem. Fevers. Small, purple, lilac or white, clustered. 

 Calyx. Five-toothed. Corolla. Small, two-lipped, the upper lip erect, 

 usually notched, the lower three-cleft. Stamens. Two, erect, protruding. 

 Pistil. One, with a two-lobed style. 



In late August or early September the delicate flowers of the 

 dittany brighten the dry, sterile banks which flank so many of 

 our roadsides. At a season when few plants are flowering save 

 the omnipresent members of the great Composite family these 

 dainty though unpretentious blossoms are especially attractive. 

 The plant has a pleasant fragrance. 



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