MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 1 39 



WILD BLEEDING-HEART 



Dicentra fortfiosa. Fumitory Family 



Stems: from the apex of thick, almost naked, creeping rootstocks. 

 Leaves : twice or thrice ternately compound, the ultimate divisions narrow 

 and incisely pinnatifid. Flowers: pale magenta, in compound racemes 

 at summit of scapes ; corolla ovate-cordate, with connivent spurs ; petals 

 united up to and above the middle. 



This plant resembles, in miniature, the lovely pink and 

 white Bleeding-heart so popular in old-fashioned gardens ; 

 but its dull magenta-pink flowers are not nearly so attractive 

 in appearance as those of its beautiful cultivated cousin. The 

 only charm of the wild species lies in the grace of its slender 

 stems, which bear numerous pendent heart-shaped blossoms 

 along their drooping lengths, and its finely dissected foliage. 



CAROLINA CRANE'S-BILL 



Geranium Carolinianum. Geranium Family 



Stems : erect, much branched from the base. Leaves : petioled, reniform- 

 orbicular in outline, deeply cleft into five to nine oblong, cuneate, lobed 

 segments. Flowers : in compact clusters ; petals pink, obcordate, equal- 

 ling the awned sepals. 



This wild Geranium is very like the Herb Robert, and has 

 the same dull pink flowers veined with deep rose. The 

 Greek name of the plant means '' a crane," and the common 

 name Crane's-bill denotes the long grooved beak composed 

 of five styles that cohere at the top. The calyx is formed of 

 five pointed sepals, and the corolla of five indented petals. 

 The whole plant is covered with fine gray hairs and has an 

 extremely strong smell, caused by a resinous secretion. Its 

 leaves are roundish in form and deeply cleft ; the long stalks 

 are brittle and quite red where exposed to the sunlight. 

 Sometimes the flowers are white. 



