PLANTS GROWING IN SANDY SOIL. 241 



The generic name of this lovely plant, which means a wolf, 

 was bestowed upon it because it has been supposed to devour 

 and exhaust the soil. Well, if it does it has the good taste to 

 do so in a way highly considerate of its neighbour's feelings, 

 and one that it would be well if all wolves would imitate. By 

 spreading itself over sandy, waste places it transforms them 

 into an under sky that Venice might envy, and that cheers and 

 delights the eye. It has been called sun-dial, as its leaves 

 are said to turn to face the sun from morning until evening. 

 Old maid's bonnets is another and rather amusing common 

 name of the plant. 



In eastern North America we have but two species, of which 

 our plant is the northern representative. The southern sister 

 is called L. villosus. It has oblong simple leaves, in contrast to 

 the above, and its pods are beautifully covered with soft, silvery 

 hairs. 



The west boasts many varieties of this plant, which all 

 closely resemble each other. They are among the peculiarly 

 striking and attractive of our wild flowers. 



WILD, OR FALSE INDIGO. 



Baptisia tinctbria. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pulse. Yellow. Scentless. General. July- 



Flowers : clustered in a loose raceme. Calyx : four, or five toothed. 

 Corolla : papilionaceous, the banner erect. Leaves : small, divided into three 

 obovate leaflets, glaucous and whitish underneath. Stem : much branched 

 slender. 



We could hardly pass on without mentioning the wild indigo 

 as we are constantly coming across it in the sandy soil. It 

 yields, as its name indicates, a rather poor sort of indigo. 



RATTLEBOX. 



Crotallaria sagittalis. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pulse. Yellow. Scentless. Maine westward. July. 



Flowers : small; seldom more than two, or three clustered on a peduncle ; 

 Corolla: papilionaceous. Pods: one inch in length; inflated, and having 



