PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS 



seedsman will tell you that it "bears freely 

 spikes two or three feet long of cream-colored 

 flowers," It is not difficult to reproduce, either 

 from seeds or by division ; indeed, once estab- 

 lished, " the trouble is to keep from it," as it 

 spreads rapidly by suckers. 



Callirhoe involucrata, a. member of the Mallow 

 family, grows wild in the Mississippi Valley from 

 Minnesota to Texas. It is a prostrate little plant, 

 spreading over a couple of feet of ground, and 

 bearing throughout the summer and until frost 

 numerous violet-crimson flowers about an inch 

 and one half in diameter. It does well in partial 

 shade or in full sunshine, and is perfectly hardy. 

 Instead of trusting to an enormous quantity of 

 seed for its perpetuation, as so many flowers do, 

 each blossom produces but five seeds, and of 

 these one appears to be invariably sterile. The 

 pistil is divided into five segments, each termi- 

 nating at the base in cup-shaped form, or more 

 like a human hand half-closed, which holds the 

 seed. As the stem dries and the seeds become 

 thoroughly ripe, one of these little cups will 

 loosen its hold on the base of the stem and 

 springing up suddenly throw the seed to a dis- 

 tance of ten or fifteen feet. The sketches on 



175 



