Magenta to Pink 



was brought from Europe, and ran wild beyond colonial farms to 

 roadsides, along which she has travelled over nearly our entire 

 area. Underground runners and abundant seed soon form thrifty 

 colonies. This plant, to which our grandmothers ascribed heal- 

 ing virtues, makes a cleansing, soap-like lather when its bruised 

 leaves are agitated in water. 



Butterflies, which delight in bright colors and distinct markings, 

 find little to charm them here ; but the pale shade of pink or 

 white, easily distinguished in the dark, and the fragrance, strongest 

 after sunset, effectively advertise the flower at dusk when its bene- 

 fiictors begin to fly. The sphinx moth, a frequent visitor, works 

 as rapidly in extracting nectar from the deep tube as any hawk 

 moth, so frequently mistaken for a humming-bird. The little 

 cliff-dwelling bees {Halictiis). among others, visit the flovv'ers by 

 day for pollen only. At first five outer stamens protrude slightly 

 from the flower and shed their pollen on the visitor, immediately 

 over the entrance. Afterward, having spread apart to leave the 

 entrance free, the path is clear for the hve inner stamens to follow 

 the same course. Now the styles are still enclosed in the tube ; 

 but when there is no longer fear of self-fertilization — that is to say, 

 when the pollen has all been carried off, and the stamens have 

 withered — up they come and spread apart to expose their rough 

 upper surfaces to pollen brought from younger flowers by the 

 moths. 



Deptford Pink 



{Diauthiis Armeria) Pink family 



Flowers — Pink, with whitish dots, small, borne in small clusters at 

 end of stem. Calyx tubular, s-toothed, with several bract-like 

 leaves at base; s petals with toothed edges, clawed at base 

 within deep calyx: lostamens; i pistil with 2 stvles. Stem : 

 6 to 18 in. high, stiff, erect, finely hairy, few branches. Leaves: 

 Opposite, blade-shaped, or lower ones rounded at end. 



Preferred Habitat — Fields, roadsides. 



Ftowerin^ Season — ^June — September. 



Distrilnition — Southern Ontario, New England, south to Maryland, 

 west to Michigan. 



The true pinks of Europe, among which are the Sweet Wil- 

 liam or Bunch Pink {D. barbaius) of our gardens, occasionally wild 

 here, and the deliciously spicy Clove Pink {D. Caroplivllus), an- 

 cestor of the superb carnations of the present da v. that have reached 

 a climax in the Lawson pink of newspaper fame, were once held 

 sacred to Jupiter, hence DIaiitlnis ~]owc's, own flower. The 

 Deptford pink, a rather insignificant little European immigrant, 

 without fragrance, has a decided charm, nevertheless, when seen 



94 



