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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



its own; yet so closely does it resemble the 

 wild rose that many a passerby confounds it, 

 although a glance at the undivided leaves 

 would correct such an error. Although it is 

 called the purple flowering raspberry, it is quite 

 incapable of producing a true purple flower. 

 At first its color is deep crimson pink, which 

 finally fades to an unattractive magenta pink. 

 The "large leaves are three to five lobed and a 

 trifle hairy. The fruit is insipid and resembles 

 the flat red raspberry. Some people call it the 

 thimble berry. 



The leaves of the purple flowering raspberry 

 are rather large and children often fold the 

 lower ones, which sometime measure a foot 

 across, and make drinking cups of them. 



This flower is the "poor relation" of the ex- 

 quisite wild rose; yet even at that, when its 

 bright blossoms burst forth in rich confusion 

 at the edge of the woods, it lends enchant- 

 ment to the scene. 



BLACK HAW OR STAG BUSH (Vibur- 

 num prunifolium L.) 



(See page 503) 



The boy who has not wandered through 

 woodlands and gathered and eaten the smooth 

 bluish-black, sweet and edible fruit of the 

 black haw has missed one of the pleasures of 

 boyhood. The black haw is a very early 

 bloomer, the flat-topped whitish _ clusters ap- 

 pearing in April and lasting until July. The 

 black haw has it range between the Gulf States 

 and New England and Michigan. 



The black haw belongs to the honeysuckle 

 family. 



PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (Lythrum 

 Salicaria L.) 



(See page 504) 



An immigrant from Europe, loving wet 

 meadows, marshy places and banks of streams, 

 and flowering from June to August, the purple 

 loosestrife has secured a foothold in North 

 America and thrives from eastern Canada to 

 Delaware and from the Atlantic seaboard to 

 the Middle States. So beautiful is it that 

 many are ready to forgive Europe for all the 

 weeds it has sent us, when they see an inland 

 marsh in August aglow with this beautiful 

 flower born to the royal purple. The purple 

 flowering loosestrife is different from any 

 other heretofore mentioned, because it has 

 what are known as trimorphic flowers. Being 

 unable to set seed without the aid of insects, 

 the purple flowering loosestrife has devised a 

 most ingenuous sort of arrangement to make 

 sure that it shall not pass away until its flowers 

 hdve been fertilized. 



This plant produces six different kinds of 

 yellow and green pollen on its two sets of 

 three stamens ; these six different kinds of 

 pollen are deposited on the stigmas, which are 

 of three different lengths. Darwin showed that 

 only pollen brought from the shortest stamen 

 to the shortest pistil and from the other sta- 

 mens to the pistils of corresponding length 

 could effectuallv fertilize the flower. He found 



that the reproductive organs when of different 

 length behaved toward one another like differ- 

 ent species of the same genus, both with re- 

 gard to direct productiveness and the character 

 of the offspring. When he made his famous 

 discovery concerning the trimorphism of the 

 loosestrife, he wrote to Gray, the botanist: "I 

 am almost stark, staring mad over Lythrum; 

 . . . for the love of heaven have a look at 

 some of your species, and if you can get me 

 some seeds, do." 



Dressed in such bright-hued clothing and 

 secreting abundant supplies of nectar at the 

 base of its flower tubes, it is natural that many 

 insects should seek out the purple loosestrife. 

 When visiting the flower, they alight on the 

 stamens and pistils of the upper side first. 



MOTH MULLEIN (Verbascum Blattaria 

 E.) 



(See page 504) 



Belonging to the figwort family, other mem- 

 bers of which are the great mullein, the blue 

 toad-flax, the butter-and-eggs, the small snap- 

 dragon, the turtle-head, the beard-tongue, the 

 monkey-flower, the false foxgloves, the eye- 

 bright, the yellow rattler, the lousewort, and 

 the cow-wheat, the moth mullein is another 

 of those hardy immigrants of the weed world 

 that has traveled up and down the lanes of 

 international commerce, gained a foothold in 

 the United States, and overrun the country 

 almost from ocean to ocean and from lake to 

 gulf. For it the marsh and meadow have little 

 attraction. It prefers the dry. open land of 

 roadside and field, and while the grass of the 

 pasture may be parched in the dry, hot dog- 

 days, the moth mullein, like its larger sister, 

 the great mullein, is somewhat akin to the 

 cactus in its ability to resist drought. If all 

 of the cultivated plants that grow in garden 

 and on farm could defy dry weather with as 

 much success as the mullein, every year in 

 America would be a bonanza crop year. The 

 flowering time of the moth mullein is from 

 June to November. It is one of those plants 

 that have learned to take advantage of the 

 kindness of the agriculturist, as it always stays 

 close to the haunts of man and never thinks 

 of taking to forest and mountain for a habitat. 



The moth mullein for many a year has been 

 a rural moth-ball. The country-dwelling house- 

 wife has used its leaves in packing away 

 woolen garments of winter to keep out the tiny 

 cloth moths of summer. It is also believed to 

 be a bane to cockroaches, from whence comes 

 the latter part of its scientific name. 



John Burroughs was able to see much beauty 

 in the moth mullein in spite of its belonging to 

 the category of weeds. He once declared it a 

 favorite of his, which reminds one of a re- 

 mark of Dr. Liberty Hyde Bailey concerning 

 the dandelion. He declared that mental atti- 

 tude has much to do with the attractiveness of 

 flowers — that if a man could onlv bring hirn- 

 self to think so a dandelion might be as fair 

 a touch to a lawn as a hyacinth. It is also a 

 curious fact that the white ox-eye daisy and 

 the black-eved susan, which are admired so 



