WILD FLOWERS red 



and so wetting my feet. I once sat accidentally down 

 on such a bed of pitcher plants, and I found an uncom- 

 monly wet seat where I expected a dry one." The 

 plant exhibits many variations of colour, from deep 

 purple to pink, and from dark green to greenish yel- 

 low; and, as Alice Lounsberry says: "from a dis- 

 tance they appear like the mystic blending of colours 

 in a Persian rug." The Huntsman's Cup is said to 

 have been so named because hunters used them to 

 drink from, but it seems more likely that it applies 

 to its resemblance to the old-fashioned powder horn of 

 Davy Crockett's time. The Pitcher-plant is found in 

 peat-bogs and in wet, springy, mossy places, often 

 along railroad tracks, during May and June. The 

 pitchers are often found during the late fall and win- 

 ter, with the water in them, frozen solid. They range 

 from Labrador to the Canadian Rockies, and south 

 to Minnesota, Kentucky, and Florida. 



GROUNDNUT 



Apios tubnosa. Pea Family. 



All wise, happy-go-lucky country youngsters know 

 where and when to root out the edible pear-shaped 

 tubers of this beautiful climbing vine, which is famil- 

 iarly known to them as the Wild Bean. During the 

 early Colonial days, this tuberous root is said to have 

 been used as a substitute for bread. The slender, 

 twining stem has a milky juice, and grows several feet 

 in length. From five to seven broad, toothless, lance- 

 shaped leaflets, with their acute apex and rounding 



17 



