PLANTS GROWING IN SANDY SOIL. 235 



ROCK-ROSE. FROST-WEED. 



Helidnthemum Canadense. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Rock-rose. Yellow. Leaves, ^vhen bruised, Maine southward July* A ugust. 

 like balsam. and westward. 



Flowers: occurring in two forms ; the early blossoms large ; solitary, with 

 five petals ; the later ones small and axillary. Calyx : of the early flowers ; 

 of five sepals, two larger than the others and appearing like bracts. Corolla : 

 of five, or more early-falling petals. Stamens: numerous ; in the later 

 blossoms, three to ten. Pistil: one ; stigma, three-lobed. Leaves: opposite, 

 becoming alternate as they ascend the stem ; lanceolate ; pubescent under- 

 neath. Stem: erect; branched; pubescent. 



As is the case with many families the frost-weed raises two 

 sets of children. The first, which unfold in July, are large, 

 solitary and open in the sunshine only. The next day they 

 droop their petals and die. They resemble closely an evening 

 primrose. Perhaps the plant finds them too luxurious and deli- 

 cate as offsprings ; for later in the season, in August and Sep- 

 tember, it blooms again, and numerous smaller blossoms appear 

 in the axils of the leaves. They are quite different in aspect 

 from their brothers and sisters that have gone on before, and 

 are with or without petals. The plant, however, is hardly mis- 

 takable, especially in November, when ice crystals fantastic and 

 whimsical in shape burst open the bark and rear themselves on 

 high. These are supposed to be the sap of the plant, which ac- 

 cumulates moisture and then freezes. 



STAQGER=BUSH. 



Pier is Mariana. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Heath. White, or tinted with Scentless. Rhode Island to May, June, 



pink and red. Florida. 



Flcnuers : rather small ; nodding ; clustered on leafless shoots. Calyx : of five 

 lanceolate sepals. Corolla: roundish; of five petals. Stamens: ten. Pistil: 

 one. Leaves : oblong ; glossy veined. A shrub two to four feet high. 



Like lambkill the stagger-bush has a rather unkind way of 

 dealing with young lambs and sheep that browse upon its green 

 shoots. It turns their poor, foolish heads dizzy, or if they have 

 persistently eaten too freely, it sends them to their everlasting 



