From Blut to Purple 



nyroyal {Isanthus brachiatus) nevertheless prefers that its sandy 

 home should be near streams. From Quebec to Georgia, west- 

 ward to Minnesota and Texas, it blooms in midsummer, lifting its 

 small, tubular, pale-blue flowers from the axils of pointed, opposite 

 leaves. An unusual characteristic in one of the mint tribe is that 

 the five sharp lobes of its bell-shaped calyx, and the five rounded, 

 spreading lobes of the corolla, are of equal length, hence its Greek 

 name signifying an equal flower. 



Wild or Creeping Thyme 



(Thymus Serpyllum) Mint family 



Flowers — Very small purple or pink purple, fragrant, clustered at 

 ends of branches or in leaf axils. Hairy calyx and corolla 2- 

 lipped, the latter with lower lip 3-cleft; stamens 4; style 2- 

 cleft. Leaves: Oblong, opposite, aromatic. Stem: 4 to 12 

 in. long, creeping, woody, branched, forming dense cushions. 



Preferred Habitat — Roadsides, dry banks, and waste places. 



Flowering Season — June — September. 



Distribution — Naturalized from Europe. Nova Scotia to Middle 

 States. 



" 1 know a bank where the wild thyme blows. 

 Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows ; 

 Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine. 

 With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine." 



— A Midsummer Night's Dream, 



According to Danish tradition, any one waiting by an elder- 

 bush on Midsummer Night at twelve o'clock will see the king of 

 fairyland and all his retinue pass by and disport themselves in 

 favorite haunts, among others the mounds of fragrant wild thyme. 

 How well Shakespeare knew his folk-lore! 



Thyme is said to have been one of the three plants which 

 made the Virgin Mary's bed. Indeed, the European peasants have 

 as many myths as there are quotations from the poets about this 

 classic plant. Its very name denotes that it was used as an in- 

 cense in Greek temples. No doubt it was the Common Thyme 

 [T. vulgaris), an erect, tall plant cultivated in gardens here as a 

 savory, that Horace says the Romans used so extensively for bee 

 culture. 



Dense cushions of creeping thyme usually contain two forms 

 of blossoms on separate plants— hermaphrodite (male and female), 

 which are much the commoner ; and pistillate, or only female, 

 flowers, in which the stamens develop no pollen. The latter are 

 more fertile ; none can fertilize itself But blossoms so rich in 

 nectar naturally attract quantities of insects— bees and butterflies 



48 



