PLANTS GROWING IN WASTE SOIL. 311 



Stamens: four, in pairs of unequal length. Pistil : one. Leaves: those of the 

 base, tufted ; those of the stem, alternate ; linear ; sessile ; parallel-veined. 

 Stem : erect ; leafy ; smooth. 



Along the sandy roadsides the blue linaria seems to be per- 

 fectly at home and happy. It comes early in the summer and re- 

 mains until late in the autumn ; enjoying the sunshine, the 

 singing of the birds and the fun-loving urchins that know it so 

 well. It can hardly be said to resemble very closely its near 

 relative, the sprightly butter-and-eggs. 



L. repens, pale-blue toad-flax, is a small species that is found 

 about the Atlantic seaports. It has come to us from Europe. 



POKEWEED. PIGEON=BERRY. 



Phytoldcca decdndra, 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pokeweed. White and pink. Scentless. General. July-September. 



Flowers : on pedicels; growing in a long raceme. Calyx : of five rounded, pet- 

 al-like sepals, pinkish on the outside and whitish within. Stamens : ten. Pistil: 

 one; styles, ten. The ovary like a green eye. Fruit: a bunch of many 

 purple, juicy berries. Leaves: large; alternate; on long petioles; lanceolate; 

 conspicuously veined ; smooth and thin. Stem : five to ten feet high ; stocky ; 

 smooth. Roots : poisonous. 



In the distribution of talents it is not given to every one to 

 be an admirer of pokeweed. Even the long, cylindrical racemes 

 of purple berries that, clustered among the soft green leaves, 

 line many a roadside in the late autumn, fail to call forth the 

 least enthusiasm from these slighted people. To them poke- 

 weed is pokeweed and that is an end of the matter. Mr. Bur- 

 roughs is fond of pokeweed and says : " What a lusty, royal 

 plant it is ! It never invades cultivated fields but hovers about 

 the borders and looks over the fences like a painted Indian 

 sachem." 



Although the bloom is usually ascribed to July and the fruit 

 to September, there are many spots on Long Island and in New 

 Jersey where the plant lingers in blossom until early September. 

 Country people boil the young shoots as greens, and from their 

 accounts of them they quite rival asparagus in delicacy of 

 flavour. The berries also are greatly enjoyed by birds. 



