Red and Indefinites 



tubular, sharply 5-toothed ; corolla tubular, widest at the 

 mouth, 2-lipped, 1^4 to 2 inches long ; 2 long, anther-bear- 

 ing stamens ascending, protruding; i pistil; the style 2-cleft, 

 Stem: 2 to 3 ft. tall. Leaves : Aromatic, opposite, dark green, 

 oval to oblong lance-shaped, sharply saw-edged, often hairy 

 beneath, petioled ; upper leaves and bracts often red. 



Preferred Habitat — Moist soil, especially near streams, in hilly or 

 mountainous regions. 



Flowermg Season — J uly — September. 



Distribtition — Canada to Georgia, west to Michigan. 



Gorgeous, glowing scarlet heads of bee balm arrest the dullest 

 eye, bracts and upper leaves often taking on blood-red color, too, 

 as if it had dripped from the lacerated flowers. Where their vivid 

 doubles are reflected in a shadowy mountain stream, not even 

 the cardinal flower is more strikingly beautiful. Thrifty clumps 

 transplanted from Nature's garden will spread about ours and add 

 a splendor like the flowers of salvia, next of kin, if only the roots 

 get a frequent soaking. 



With even longer flower tubes than the wild bergamot's (see 

 p. 144), the bee balm belies its name, for, however frequently 

 bees may come about for nectar when it rises high, only long- 

 tongued bumblebees could get enough to compensate for their 

 trouble. Butterflies, which suck with their wings in motion, 

 plumb the depths. The ruby-throated humming bird — to which 

 the Brazilian salvia of our gardens has adapted itself — flashes 

 about these whorls of Indian plumes just as frequently — of course 

 transferring pollen on his needle-like bill as he darts from flower 

 to flower. Even the protruding stamens and pistil take on the 

 prevailing hue. Most of the small, blue or purple flowered mem- 

 bers of the mint family cater to bees by wearing their favorite 

 color ; the bergamot charms butterflies with magenta, and tubes 

 so deep the short-tongued mob cannot pilfer their sweets ; and 

 from the frequency of the humming bird's visits, from the greater 

 depth of the bee balm's tubes and their brilliant, flaring red — an 

 irresistibly attractive color to the ruby-throat — it would appear 

 that this is a bird flower. Certainly its adaptation is quite as per- 

 fect as the salvia's. Mischievous bees and wasps steal nectar 

 they cannot reach legitimately through bungholes of their own 

 making in the bottom of the slender casks. 



"This species," says Mr. Ellwanger, "is said to give a de- 

 coction but little inferior to the true tea, and was largely used as 

 a substitute " by the Indians and the colonists, who learned from 

 them how to brew it. 



386 



