ACCORDING TO SEASON 



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 un- 

 used 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 

 Vervain have a somewhat jagged appearance, owing to 

 the reluctance of its little deep-hued flowers to 

 open simultaneously. The mullein is not without 

 this same peculiarity. Its sleepy-looking blossoms 

 open one by one, giving the dense spike an un- 

 MulUin finished, 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 

 comparatively rare in that country. Mr. Bur- 

 roughs quotes a London correspondent, who says 

 that when one comes up in solitary glory its ap- 

 pearance is heralded much as if it were a comet, 

 the development of its woolly leaves and the 

 growth of its spike being watched and reported 

 upon day by day. 



The broad, butterfly-shaped flowers of the moth- 

 Mo^- mullein, another emigrant, are much more pleasing 

 than those of its kinsman. Its corolla is some- 

 times white, sometimes yellow, with a dash of 

 red or purple at the centre. Its stamens are 

 loaded with orange-colored pollen and bearded 



146 



mullein 



