THE SEA OR MARSH PINK. 



\Sabbatia stellarls. ) 



The Sea or Marsh Pink, or the Rose 

 of Plymouth, as it is frequently called, 

 is a member of the beautiful gentian 

 family. The genus Sabbatia, a name 

 adopted in honor of an Italian botanist, 

 includes about fourteen species, all na- 

 tives of eastern North America and Mex- 

 ico. 



Our illustration is taken from ''Na- 

 ture's Garden" and Neltje Blanchan, its 

 author, writes as follows regarding those 

 species of the marsh pinks that are con- 

 fined to the vicinity of the Atlantic 

 ocean : "Three exquisite members of 

 the Sabbatia tribe keep close to the At- 

 lantic coast in salt meadows and marsh- 

 es, along the borders of brackish rivers, 

 and very rarely in the sand at the edges 

 of fresh-water ponds a little way in- 

 land. From Maine to Florida they 

 range, and less frequently are met along 

 the shores of the Gulf of Mexico so far 

 as Louisiana. How bright and daintv 

 they are ! Whole meadows are > radiant 

 with their blushing loveliness. Prob- 

 ably if they consented to live far awav 

 from the sea, they would lose some of 

 the deep, clear pink from out their 



lovely petals, since all flowers show a 

 tendency to brighten their colors as thev 

 approach the coast. 



"The Sea or Marsh Pink, whose 

 graceful alternate branching stem at- 

 tains a height of two feet only under 

 most favorable conditions, from July to 

 September opens a succession of pink 

 flowers that often fade to white. The 

 yellow eye is bordered with carmine. 

 They measure about one inch across, and 

 are usually solitary at the ends of 

 branches, or else sway on slender pedun- 

 cles from the axils." 



This plant is frequently called the 

 American Centaury, but it is not the 

 plant of which Pliny wrote these words : 

 "Centaury, it is said, effected a cure for 

 Chiron (the Centaur), on the occasion 

 when, while handling the arms of Her- 

 cules, his guest, he let one of his arrows 

 fall upon his foot : hence it is said that 

 by some it is called 'Chironion.' " Bo- 

 tanists are practically agreed that the 

 plant mentioned by Pliny was a species 

 of the genus Centaurea, so well repre- 

 sented in this country by the bachelor's- 

 button of our gardens. 



THE WORLD. 



Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World, 

 With the wonderful water around you curled, 

 And the wonderful grass upon your breast — 

 World, you are beautifully drest! 



The wonderful air is over me, 

 And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree; 

 It walks on the water, and whirls the mills. 

 And talks to itself on the top of the hills. 



— John Greenleaf Whittier. 



