Blue to Purple Flowers 283 



TALL LUNGWORT 



Mertensia paniculata. Borage Family 



Rough-pubescent. Stems: erect, branched above, the branches slen- 

 der. Leaves: thin, pinnately veined, those of the stem ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate; basal leaves ovate, rounded. Flowers: several-flowered in 

 loose terminal panicles calyx-lobes acute; corolla funnel- form, crested 

 in the throat. 



The Tall Lungwort grows from one to three feet high, 

 and is one of the handsomest members of a family of coarse 

 and hairy plants. It has very showy blue flowers, their 

 tubes crested in the throat and the lobes only slightly spread- 

 ing. These grow in loose terminal clusters. 



Probably it is because there are so few really blue moun- 

 tain wild flowers that we specially prize this striking plant. 

 On every hand we see various shades of purple, mauve, vio- 

 let, and heliotrope, but very rarely of blue. 



" Blue ! Tis the life of heaven, the domain 

 Of Cynthia, the wide palace of the sun, 

 The tent of Hesperus, and all his train, 

 The bosomer of clouds, gold, gray, and 

 Blue! 'Tis the life of waters, ocean 

 And all its basal streams. 

 Blue ! Gentle cousin of the forest green, 

 Married to green in all the sweetest flowers." 



Mertensia oblongifolia, or Blue Lungwort, is not so tall 

 as the preceding species, growing only from four to eight 

 inches high, the stems usually solitary from the short, thick, 

 corn-like root. The leaves are oblong, and rounded at the 

 apex, the lower ones being smaller than these at the middle 

 of the stem. The very bright clear blue flowers are numer- 

 ous in a close terminal cluster, the narrow lobes of the four- 

 parted calyx are minutely hairy, and the funnel form corolla 

 has an abruptly dilated throat with pubescent crests at its 



