HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



before the leaves, the pistillate in threes on a common peduncle ; 

 the staminate in fascicles from the leaf-axils of the preceding year. 



In swamps and along river-banks from Illinois to Georgia 

 and westward to Texas. 



Yellow Jessamine or Jasmine 



Gelseminum sempervirens. — Family, Logania. Color, bright, 

 golden yellow. Calyx, 5-parted. Corolla, tubular, 1 to ii inches 

 long, the border deeply 5-parted into broad lobes. Stamens, 5, 

 with arrow - shape anthers. Style, 1 . Short stamens and long 

 style in one flower, corresponding to long stamens and short style 

 in another. A high climber over trees. Leaves, small, shining, 

 ovate or lance-shape, short-petioled, simple, evergreen. March 

 and April. 



This is one of the most beautiful of our vines, deservedly 

 dear to the Southern heart, the profusion of bright, deliciously 

 fragrant, axillary-clustered flowers, in shape somewhat like 

 the Northern foxglove, contrasting finely with the richly 

 colored evergreen leaves. Low grounds, from Virginia to 

 Florida and Texas. 



Dodder. Love Vine 



Cuscuta. Gron&viu — Family, Convolvulus. Color, yellowish or 

 whitish, heaves, none. 



Our commonest parasite, and very troublesome in clover 

 and alfalfa fields, or wherever it obtains a hold. The seed — 

 a coiled thread, a worm-like embryo — germinates in the 

 ground. When the yellow stem which springs from this seed 

 is 2 inches high, it reaches for any neighboring herb or shrub. 

 Once in touch, it develops haitstoria, or suckers, which pene- 

 trate the bark of the host, and thence draw the plant's juices, 

 already assimilated, appropriating them for its own. The 

 part in the ground now dies and falls away, leaving the plant 

 wholly parasitic. It quickly entwines itself around the whole 

 shrub, reaching out for others near by, and thus we often see 

 tangled mats and masses of yellow threads in the woods, by 

 the roads, everywhere. Under the magnifying-glass the 

 small, cabbage-like flowers show 5 divisions of calyx and 

 corolla, with a 2 -celled ovary, and thus they are brought 

 within the Family which includes the apparently most dis- 

 similar morning glory and sweet potato. Being parasitic, 

 the plants possess no green leaves, but yellowish scales in- 



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