382 



Minnesota Plant Life. 



beardtongue or monkeyflower, but have a strongly two-lipped 

 aspect. There are four stamens, in one variety all pollen-bear- 

 ing, and in the others only two with pollen. 



Speedwells. The speedwells, of which there are several 

 species, have only two stamens. They are usually provided 

 with capsules of a heart shape, caused by the deep lobing of 

 the typical figwort fruit. Many of them are found in wet 

 places along the muddy shores of ponds or in woods. One 

 of them is a tall herb, often six feet in height, with willow- 

 shaped leaves in whorls of from three to nine, and several dense, 

 spike-like racemes of flowers, the central one of which develops 

 first. The flowers are small, 

 and white or blue. In this 

 variety the capsule is not 

 heart-shaped. The plant is 

 common in the edges of 

 woods. 



Gerardias. The Gerar- 

 dias, with about ten Minne- 

 sota species, are abundant 

 in various localities, but are 

 most often found among 

 sedges along the shores of 

 lakes or on dry prairies. 

 The flowers are not dis- 

 tinctly two-lipped, but are 

 almost bell-shaped, usually 

 of a pink color, varying 

 towards violet, purple or yellow. The leaves are commonly lin- 

 ear, or at most lance-shaped. The showy flowers, slender leaves 

 and capsules of the figwort type, half inclosed in the calyx, or 

 almost surrounded by it, will serve to distinguish these plants. 



Indian pinks. The Indian pinks, or painted-cups, form their 

 two-lipped flowers in leafy spikes. Many of the leaves in each 

 spike are themselves colored scarlet or yellow, giving to the 

 whole structure a much more ornate appearance than would be 

 produced by the flowers alone. One painted-cup has scarlet 

 leaves ; another has yellow leaves, while yet another is supplied 

 with green leaves to accompany the flowers. 



FIG. 183. I^ousewort. After Britton and Brown. 



