98 PLANTS GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 



Leaves : opposite ; sessile ; oblong ; entire ; glabrous. Stem : erect ; branch- 

 ing ; glabrous. 



There are no paupers among the Quakers ; and surely this 

 sameness of principle must have suggested the common name 

 of these little ladies. For to travel through the moist meadows 

 that are aglow with their quaint faces and bright eyes suggests 

 the most lavish luxury of bloom. In New England and about 

 Trenton, New Jersey, they are especially beautiful. In fact, 

 during the season, they gladden almost every spot that is sun- 

 shiny and moist. Besides their sprightly, crisp appearance they 

 have an added charm in not closing up arid fading quickly after 

 they have been plucked. 



Under a microscope it can be seen that the flowers are 

 dimorphous, occurring in two forms. In some blossoms the 

 pistil is long and the stamens short and in others the reverse 

 is the case. To effect fertilization it is necessary that the tall 

 pistils should receive the pollen from the tall stamens of an- 

 other flower ; and the short pistils, the pollen from the short 

 stamens. This is one of the very interesting guards against 

 self-fertilization. 



PURPLE SPIKED LOOSESTRIFE. 

 LytHrum Saltcaria. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Loosestrife. Purple. Scentless. General in middle states. Late summer. 



Flowers : whorled in a terminal, wand-like spike, tipped a little at the end. 

 Calyx: circular, with five to seven toothed points. Corolla: of five, six or 

 seven long, narrow, petals ; slightly puckered. Stamens : twelve, in two sets of 

 different lengths. Pistil: one; varying in length in the different blossoms. 

 Leaves: opposite; lanceolate; sessile; the lower ones heart-shaped at base. 

 Stem : tall ; smooth. 



Professor Darwin wrote to Doctor Gray about these flowers : 

 " I am almost stark, staring mad over lythrum. If I can prove 

 what I really believe it is a grand case of trimorphism, with 

 three different pollens and three stigmas. I have fertilized 

 above ninety flowers, trying all the eighteen distinct crosses 

 which are possible within the limits of this one species. For 



