WILD FLOWERS THAT BOYS AND GIRLS SHOULD KNOW 



479 



on to everything in its reach as it grows, 

 and sometimes almost seems to be guided 

 by a certain kind of intelligence. 



In Figure 16 we have a grand bunch 

 of New England Asters; but why thev 

 are called so it is hard to tell, for they 

 are to be found growing from Canada 

 over the entire eastern United States, down 

 as far as the Gulf of Mexico. There are 

 a great many different kinds of asters ; but 

 you should have no trouble in naming this 

 one, for its large, purple tlowers are very 

 striking, and then the stem is hairy and 

 the leaves lance-shaped. After the first 

 week in August, clear up to the middle of 



r 



October, 

 you will find 

 them, and oi 

 course, in 

 the South, 

 much later. 

 (General ly 

 they grow 

 where it is 

 wet or moist, 

 a 1 1 h o u g"h 

 somet 1 m e s 

 we may find 

 them doing 

 1) e a utifully 

 right alone 

 the road 

 somewhere. 

 Later on 

 you will find 

 the Late 

 Purple As- 

 ter ; but tlie 

 purple is of 

 a lighter 



shade, the flower-centers are smaller, and there are other 

 differences which you may study up some day. 



Many kinds of Buttercups ( Fig. 17) grow in oui- 

 country, and we meet with them at all times of the year. 

 Tn some cases they are pretty hard to tell apart; but this 

 hairy one, which is one of the earliest, .should give you 

 no trouble. If you want to find out whether that little 

 girl standing over there loves butter, just pick a big butter- 

 cup and hold it under her chin about an inch away 

 and if her chin turns bright yellow, you may be sure that 



DIFFERENT KINDS OF BUTTERCUPS 



Vtc 17, -When you come to study our Butter- 

 cups or Crowfoot.s. you will find that there are 

 a whole lot of diflferent kinds of them. The 

 one here shown is the Early Buttercup or 

 Crowfoot; note the hairy stems. The droop- 

 ing flower is the Bellwort; it is pale green, 

 and you can tell itj by the long stem passing 

 through the leaves. 



she is very fond of butter. 

 Most boys are fond of but 

 ter, too, as this flower will 

 surely tell you. 



When next spring, or early 

 summer, comes round, you 

 will meet with the bellworts 

 thickly growing in the thickets 

 and wet places, in the rich, 

 shady woods. There are sev- 

 eral species or kinds of them, 

 but in all of them the beauti- 

 ful light green flowers bend 

 over or droop as you see them 

 in the picture (Fig. 17). Some 



A CURIOUS FLOWER, THIS 



Fig. 18, Around the thickets in the 

 open woods, or sometimes up on the 

 sides of dry, rocky hills, this strange- 

 looking flower is met with. Its curious 

 tops may run all the way from white to 

 a deep magenta. You will not easily 

 forget the only name it has, for from 

 Maine to Mexico it is known as Wild 

 Bergamot. 



THIS GROWS IN WET PLACES 



Fh;. ly, Here is one of the handsomest flowers we have, and you may 

 find it in wettish places along streams and ditches, all the way from July 

 to October. It is known as the Great Lobelia or Blue Cardinal flower, 

 as its flowers really are of a bright blue color. 



