240 PLANTS GROWING IN SANDY SOIL. 



As the camel is adapted to the desert so is the cactus to 

 sandy soil, and in its firm, patient growth it is not unlike that 

 unwearying beast. Its succulent, fleshy parts retain within 

 themselves all the moisture it needs for existence, and the 

 leathery, non-porous skin prevents evaporation. It loves the 

 burning rays of the sun and will often choose to grow on rocks 

 where the heat is longest retained. Among the hills of New 

 Jersey and about Connecticut it is not unusual to find it cover- 

 ing large boulders. 



Our flower is one of the two species with which we are most 

 familiar. O. Opuntia^ the other species, has a western range, 

 from Minnesota to Texas, smaller flowers, few spines or none, 

 and greenish-yellow bristles. In other respects it is almost 

 identical with the above. 



GOAT'S RUE. WILD SWEET PEA. CAT-GUT. 



(Plate CXXIV.) 

 Crdcca Vtrgmiana. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pulse. Yellowish and purple. Scentless. Southern New England June , July. 



southward and "westward. 



Flowers : growing closely in a terminal cluster. Calyx : five-cleft. Corolla : 

 papilionaceous ; the standard broadly ovate and notched at the apex; the 

 wings a purplish red. Stamens : ten; nine of them united. Pistil: one. Pod: 

 flat; linear. Leaves: odd-pinnate, with smooth, oval leaflets. Stem: slightly 

 shrubby. 



It is always a pleasure to come upon the goat's rue whose 

 manner of growth is graceful and its colouring effective. It 

 would seem as though Dame Nature had mixed her palette to 

 paint it in accordance with her taste for variety. Again, we 

 lament the absence of fragrance, which we unconsciously expect 

 to find, as the bloom strongly suggests the garden sweet pea. 



WILD LUPINE. 



Luplnus perennis. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pulse. Blue. Scentless. Maine to Florida. June^July. 



Flowers: growing in a long, terminal raceme. Calyx: deeply toothed. 

 Corolla: showy ; papilionaceous. Leaves: palmately divided into seven to 

 eleven lanceolate, hairy leaflets. Stem : erect ; sometimes branching ; hairy. 



