WILD FLOWERS yellow and orange 



and open waste places, everywhere, from June to Sep- 

 tember, throughout the United States and Canada, 

 where it has become naturalized from Europe. 



FOUR-LEAVED, OR WHORLED LOOSESTRIFE. 

 CROSSWORT 



Lysimachia qhadrifolia. Primrose Family. 



Fairies' Fountain would have been a more deserv- 

 ing and appropriate name for this pretty floral cas- 

 cade. During a shower this allusion becomes more 

 real than fancied, as the attractive leaves are arranged 

 in whorls or wheels, one above the other, at regular 

 intervals along the slender, upright stalk, just like 

 basins in a fountain, that catch the drip from tip to 

 base. The trembling yellow flowers, which spring 

 gracefully from the centre of the green leafy basins, 

 are sprayed in every direction, and when the plant 

 sways in the sunshine, they glitter and sparkle as they 

 play over the curving leafy rims. The Four-leaved 

 Loosestrife is found from June to August, in moist, 

 open woodlands and thickets. The light green stalk 

 is often faintly hairy, and grows from one to three feet 

 in height. The toothless, yellow-green leaves are 

 narrowly oblong, or lance-shaped, and are pointed at 

 both ends. Their surface is obscurely covered with 

 tiny, oblong black marks which follow the direction 

 of the veinings. The midrib is noticeable and the 

 texture is thin. They are arranged in circles of from 

 three to seven, but commonly in fours, about the stalk, 

 and as they approach the top they gradually diminish 



157 



