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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



from the west to the east along the highways of 

 commerce. In years gone by much clover seed 

 was shipped out of tne West, and black-eyed 

 susan hoboed her way along with it. Most of 

 the weeds of the field have traveled along with 

 the star of the empire, from the east to the 

 west; but black-eyed susan has reversed the 

 natural order, and already has secured a foot- 

 ing in European flower gardens, if not in Eu- 

 ropean fields. As one authority puts it, "By 

 the middle of July our dry meadows are merry 

 with black-eyed susans, which are laughing 

 from every corner and keeping up a gay mid- 

 summer carnival in company with the yellow 

 lily and brilliant milkweeds. They seem to live 

 in long days of blazing sunlight and are veri- 

 table salamanders among the flowers." 



Black-eyed susan is one of the most liberal 

 of all the entertainers in the flower world. 

 Bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and beetles all 

 gather around her festive board, and although 

 the nectar deep down in her tubular brown 

 florets can be found only by the insect with a 

 long and slender tongue, her pollen is accessi- 

 ble to all. 



Feeling so richly provided with methods that 

 assure fertilization to her blossom, black-eyed 

 susan inevitably sets many seeds. The result 

 would be a prolific reproduction, even though 

 there were not artificial agencies upon which it 

 could rely for its dissemination. The farmer 

 ■who stores hay in his barn carries the seeds of 

 black-eyed susan wherever that hay may go, 

 and the one who sows grass seed of any kind, 

 unless he is exceptionally careful to have his 

 seed free from filth, will spread black-eyed 

 susan broadcast along with his grasses. _ 



In these days of wide-spread warfare in Eu- 

 rope, we hear much concerning barbed-wire 

 entanglements and all sorts of defensive works 

 of a similar nature. Black-eyed susan long 

 ago learned to defend herself from would-be 

 pilferers in much the same way. If you will 

 observe her closely you will find her stem full 

 of tiny thistle-like bristles. No creeping crea- 

 ture stands any show of retting past these 

 defenses and up to the nectaries of the flower, 

 because black-eyed susan long generations ago 

 learned that they are not able to serve as pol- 

 len-bearers in exchange for her nectar. 



THE JEWEL WEED OR TOUCH-ME- 

 NOT (Impatiens pallida Nutt.) 



(See page ^94) 



Though somewhat rarer than its close rela- 

 tive, the spotted touch-me-not, the jewel weed, 

 or pale touch-me-not, is a common plant of wet 

 and shady situation in the northern part of the 

 eastern United States. It reaches as far south 

 as Georgia. Its flower is somewhat bell-shaped, 

 almost as broad as long. It develops its sta- 

 mens first and its pistil afterward, so that self- 

 fertilization is almost impossible and cross- 

 fertilization a usual thing. Late in the season, 

 after the brilliant jewel-like flowers have gone, 

 they bear inconspicuous blossoms which fer- 

 tilize in the bud and are called cleistogauiiis 



flowers. It thus becomes, in a measure, inde- 

 pendent of its insect guests for fertilization; 

 but, realizing that degeneracy follows close in- 

 breeding among plants as well as animals, it 

 tries to have as many seeds set by cross-fer- 

 tilization as possible. It is a curious fact that 

 in England, where there are no humming-birds, 

 the native jewel weed, nineteen times out of 

 twent}^ produces cleistogamus flowers instead 

 of showy blossoms, and that even when pro- 

 ducing the showy blossoms they seldom set 

 seed. Many botanists have wondered whether 

 this does not look like a determination on the 

 part of the plant to secure a firm foothold in 

 its new environment before expending its en- 

 ergies on flowers which, though radiant and 

 attractive, are quite dependent on insect facili- 

 ties for fertilization and perpetuation. 



The jewel weed belongs to the seed-shooting 

 family of plants. Its seed capsule is connected 

 with a delicate hair trigger, and at the slightest 

 touch this sets the seed-spreading mechanism 

 to work with a suddenness that makes one 

 jump. It is from this hair-trigger arrange- 

 ment that it gets its popular name of touch-- 

 me-not. Often the seeds are catapulted a dis- 

 tance of four feet or more. 



BULB-BEARING LOOSESTRIFE (Lysi- 

 machia terrestris (L.) B.S.P.) 



(See page 495) 



The bulb-bearing loosestrife, if it were as 

 efficacious as legend declares, might be used 

 with effect in Europe today. This legend is the 

 basis of its popular name — a loosing of strife. 

 It is said that in ancient times yokes of oxen 

 were rendered gentle and submissive by attach- 

 ing a loosestrife plant to the tongue o± the cart. 



This plant is to be found blooming from July 

 to September in open woodland and along road- 

 sides. It prefers a moist, sandy soil and finds 

 hospitable surroundings in almost the entire 

 eastern half of the United States and Canada. 

 Its yellow flowers are dotted with reddish 

 spots. The slender flower spike is distinctly 

 characte-ristic ; it forms an aggregation of misty 

 yellow color (when a large colony of plants is 

 seen) which is never to be found with other 

 species. Often little elongated bulblets appear 

 at the base of the leaves, and this caused Lin- 

 naeus to mistake the plant for a mistletoe that 

 grew on the ground. 



EASTERN BLUE-EYED GRASS (Sisy- 

 rinchium graminoides Bicknell) 



(See page 495) 



The violet-blue eastern blue-eyed grass, flow- 

 ering in May and June and lending its beauty 

 to the coastal region from jNlaine to Florida, 

 is a charming member of the iris family. It is 

 a tall, bending species, with a slender stalk 

 sometimes two feet long. It has been called a 

 little sister of the stately blue flag. Only on 

 bright days do its flowers venture out, and then 

 only one at a time. On being gathered, this 



