Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 255 



SHOOTING STAR; AMERICAN COWSLIP (Dod- 



ecatheon Meadia) is a western species that grows in 

 open woodlands and on prairies from Pa. and Md. to 

 Manitoba and southwards through the Mississippi 

 Valley. 



The leaves are all in a tuft radiating from the base; 

 they are oblong, bluntly-pointed and taper into trough- 

 like stems. From the center of this cluster of leaves 

 rises a bare flower stalk, 8 to 20 inches tall, branch- 

 ing at the summit into several slender, curving pe- 

 duncles, each suporting a single nodding flower. 



The flowers have five, light magenta, pink or 

 even white petals each sharply reflexed and with 

 purplish spots near the bases. The stamens project 

 from the throat of the flower, the five golden anthers 

 forming a conspicuous cone, within which is the slen- 

 der pistil. The pistil matures before the anthers so 

 that cross-fertilization is necessary and is performed 

 by bees, that, in endeavoring to reach the little store 

 of nectar at the bottom of the flower, must force their 

 tongue between the anthers and come in contact with 

 the stigma. Shooting Star blooms in April and May. 



MONEYWORT; MYRTLE (Lysimachia Nummular- 

 ia) (EUROPEAN) is a very dainty and beautiful 

 trailing or creeping vine, often spreading over large- 

 surfaces of ground. It is found in this country as an 

 escape from cultivation; it is a most beautiful plant 

 for rockeries and does well in the house in hanging 

 pots, the long slender, beautifully leaved branches 

 drooping over the edge of the pot, giving a very de- 

 corative effect. When in bloom, its beauty is great- 

 ly enhanced by the large, yellow, star-like flowers. 

 The leaves, that grow oppositely all along the stem, 

 are almost round; it is from their shape and the fact 

 that they are about the size of the English twopence 

 that they originally received the name of Moneywort. 

 It blooms from June until August. 



