132 PLANTS GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 



BLUE STOKESIA. {Plate LXVII) 



Stokesia cydnea. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Composite, Blue. Sweetly scented. S. Carolina^ Georgia Late summer 



and Louisiana, and aututnn. 



Flower-heads : large ; terminal ; individual flowers all tubular, the marginal 

 ones much larger than those of the centre, irregular, ray-like and split deeply 

 on the inside. The summit also deeply cleft. Scales of the involucre imbri- 

 cated in several rows, the outer one becoming bristly and leaf-like. Leaves : 

 alternate ; lanceolate ; entire ; glabrous ; the upper one sessile and fringed at 

 the base like the bracts. Slem : nearly two feet high ; erect ; downy. 



Very lovely is the blue stokesia, and when we come to in- 

 quire into its life history we find that it is no less interesting 

 than beautiful. Our curiosity is piqued concerning it because 

 it is the only member of its genus and seems not to be closely 

 related to any other. Now, as the theory is that every plant is 

 evolved from some other, we begin to wonder about the miss- 

 ing links between this flower and its antecedents. How has it 

 appeared among us without showing any trace of its passage 

 here ? Has it, like Topsy, "just come ?" It also pursues its 

 own course indomitably, without showing the slightest inclina- 

 tion to vary, or produce new species. From this might be 

 argued that the stokesia has reached its height of development 

 and is about to die out. As yet we need not grieve too deeply 

 over its loss, however ; evolution is very considerate and would 

 hardly effect so great a change in much less than a million 

 years. 



The gradation of the leaves on the stem into bracts also illus- 

 trates the theory of plant morphology almost more than is 

 done by any other one of the composites. Whether the 

 stokesia believes these theories of which it is so good an exam- 

 ple is, unfortunately, like its antecedents, wrapped in mystery. 



WILD LETTUCE. 



Lactiica Canadensis. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Chicory. Pale yello%v, purple or reddish. Scentless. General. Late summer. 



Flower-heads : growing in leafy panicles ; composed of strap-shaped flowers. 

 Leaves : very large, sometimes a foot long ; lanceolate ; the lower ones fre- 



