HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



being long and narrow. Stamens, generally 5, their anthers com- 

 ing together and forming a cone. Leaves, in a cluster at the root, 

 oblong or broader at apex than base. Flowers, in an umbel at 

 the top of a naked scape, nodding on slender pedicels, surrounded 

 by an involucre of small bracts. May and June. 



Name means the "twelve gods," under whose care prim- 

 roses were thought to be. This is a showy plant, found in 

 deep, cool, moist woods, and in prairies from Pennsylvania 

 westward and southward. 



Sea Pink 



Sabatia stettaris. — Family, Gentian. Color, pink, occasionally 

 white. Calyx, 5-parted, its lobes linear, awl-shaped, not as long 

 as the corolla. Corolla, 5-parted, wheel-shaped. Stamens, 5. 

 Leaves, opposite, entire, narrow, long, the lower broader than 

 those above. 6 to 24, but usually not over 8, inches high. July 

 to September. 



An exquisite flower found in salt marshes. A large, open 

 corolla with a yellow center, looks you squarely in the face. 

 Where not plucked to extermination these sea pinks grow 

 generously in their habitats, forming masses of pink color. 



S. gracilis is scarcely to be distinguished from the last, except 

 that the calyx-lobes are equal to the lobes of the corolla in length. 

 Both leaves and stem are more slender, the lowest leaves being 

 linear, those on the branches nearly filiform. May to August. 



In salt or brackish marshes, Nantucket to Florida, west- 

 ward to Louisiana. (See illustration, p. 283.) 

 Large Marsh Pink 



5. dodecandra. — Color, deep rose pink, rarely white. Corolla, 

 tubular, the border 8 to 12-parted, calyx-lobes narrow, about half 

 the length of the corolla. The blossoms are 2 inches across, of a 

 soft, rosy pink color. I have found them plentifully in southern 

 New Jersey. Leaves, spatulate — that is, broader at apex — taper- 

 ing below to a petiole, opposite, growing narrower above until they 

 become narrowly linear. Stem, 1 to 2 feet high. Flowers, single, 

 on peduncles, loosely panicled. July to September. 



The largest of our Sabatias. Borders of brackish ponds 

 and in salt marshes from Massachusetts to Florida and 

 Alabama. 



Centaury 



Centaurium pulchellum. — Family, Gentian. Color, crimson. 

 Calyx, tubular, deeply 4 to 5-parted into slender lobes. Corolla, 



280 



