WILD FLOWERS yellow and orange 



yellow flowers, which blossom from July to October. 

 The familiar oil of Citronella, used so extensively 

 for scenting soaps and as a mosquito lotion, is produced 

 by an altogether different species, which grows in 

 Ceylon. The Horse-balm has a stout, branching stem 

 and grows from two to five feet tall. The coarsely 

 toothed, pointed-oval or oblong leaves are either 

 narrowed or heart-shaped at the base, and the lower 

 ones are larger and slender stemmed. They are 

 usually in pairs. The numerous flowers are arranged 

 in loosely spreading and branching terminal clusters. 

 Four of the five lobes of the bell-shaped corolla are 

 nearly equal, and the fifth, which is much larger, and 

 has a finely fringed edge, protrudes like the drooping 

 lip of an Orchid. Two anther-bearing stamens and 

 the pistil extend far beyond the corolla. This plant 

 is found from Maine and Ontario to Wisconsin and 

 south to Florida and Kansas. 



GREAT MULLEIN. VELVET, OR MULLEIN DOCK. 

 FLANNEL-LEAF. AARON'S ROD 



Verhascum Tbapsus. Figwort Family. 



The Great Mullein erects its tall, stiff shafts here 

 and there, like so many floral lighthouses, guard- 

 ing our dry fields and rocky hillsides, or guiding 

 various insect aeroplanists by the irregular glint of its. 

 constantly changing blossoms. The Roman "can- 

 delaria," a torch used in funeral ceremonies, was made 

 from dried Mullein stalks dipped in melted suet. 

 The leaves were formerly used for lamp wicks by the. 



161 



