Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 259 



STAR FLOWER (Trientalis americana) is a very 

 dainty little plant often called the "Star Anemone," 

 because of its color, the position of the flower above 

 the whorl of leaves and the fact that it is often 

 found blooming very closely to the Anemones. 



The perennial rootstalk is long and horizontal and 

 throws up a single, smooth, slender stalk from 3 to 9 

 inches high; at the top of this stalk is a whorl of 

 from five to ten, thin, smooth, veiny light green leaves ; 

 they are lance-shaped and sharply pointed. During 

 May and June a solitary blossom, (rarely two,) ap- 

 pears above the whorl of leaves on a very slender 

 pedicel. The delicate white petals are sharply 

 pointed and range from six to eight in number; the 

 wide-spread stamens have tiny golden anthers that 

 mature later than the little stigma. Fertilization is 

 effected by the visits of small bees that visit the at- 

 tractive little flower for pollen. The Star Flower 

 is found in thin woodland from Labrador to Mani- 

 toba and south to Va., 111., and Minn. 



PIMPERNEL; POOR MAN'S WEATHER-GLASS 

 (Anagallis arvensis) (EUROPEAN) is a flower read- 

 ily identified; in the first place there are very few 

 red flowers to be found and no others with the shade 

 of red of this one, a salmon or coppery-red. The 

 square stem is smooth, slender and rather weak, 

 often lying prostrate on the ground. The small oval 

 leaves clasp the stem oppositely. 



The flowers grow singly, either on slender pedi- 

 cels terminating the stem or from the axils of the 

 outer leaves. They are five-parted, wheel-shaped, 

 each division being finely toothed at its apex. They 

 are very sensitive, opening only in sunshine and 

 closing quickly when the sun is obscured, and usual- 

 ly at four o'clock anyway. It is found in waste sandy 

 places especially near the coast. 



