Early August 



canary-yellow blossom which has been 

 unable to close because the pink night- 

 moth, which is the plant's regular visitor, 

 is so overcome with sleep, or so drunk, 

 perhaps, with nectar, that it is quite ob- 

 livious of the growing day and of its 

 host's custom of closing its doors with 

 sunrise. We are so unused to seeing 

 these gay creatures that we feel a little as 

 if we had surprised some ballroom beauty 

 fast asleep on the scene of her midnight 

 triumphs. 



The slender spikes of the tall purple 

 vervain have a somewhat jagged appear- 

 ance, owing to the reluctance of its little 

 deep-hued flowers to open simultaneously. 

 The mullein is not without this same pe- 

 culiarity. Its sleepy - looking blossoms 

 open one by one, giving the dense spike 

 an unfinished, sluggish aspect. In fact, I 

 think it is the most ' ' logy ' ' looking 

 plant we have. Although it came to us 

 originally from England, it is now com- 

 103 



