Magenta to Pink 



positive affection. Motherwort, catnip, plantain, tansy, wild 

 mustard — what a homely, human look they have ! They are an 

 integral part of every old homestead. Your smart, new place 

 will wait long before they draw near it." 



How the bees love this generous, old-fashioned entertainer ! 

 One nearly always sees them clinging to the close whorls of 

 flowers that are strung along the stem, and of course transferring 

 pollen, in recompense, as they journey on. A more credulous 

 generation imported the plant for its alleged healing virtues. 

 What is the significance of its Greek name, meaning a lion's tail? 

 Let no one suggest, by a far-stretched metaphor, that our grand- 

 mothers, in Revolutionary days, enjoyed pulling it to vent their 

 animosity against the British. 



Wild Bergamot 



{Monarda fistulosa) Mint family 



Flowers — Extremely variable, purplish, lavender, magenta, rose, 

 pink, yellowish pink, or whitish, dotted ; clustered in a soli- 

 tary, nearly flat terminal head. Calyx tubular, narrow, 5- 

 toothed, very hairy within. Corolla \ to \% in. long, 

 tubular, 2-lipped, upper lip erect, toothed ; lower lip spread- 

 ing, 3-lobed, middle lobe longest ; 2 anther-bearing stamens 

 protruding ; i pistil ; the style 2-lobed. Stem ; 2 to 3 ft 

 high, rough, branched. Leaves: Opposite, lance-shaped, 

 saw-edged, on slender petioles, aromatic, bracts and upper 

 leaves whitish or the color of flower. 



Preferred Habitat — Open woods, thickets, dry rocky hills. 



Flowering Season — June — September. 



Distribution — Eastern Canada and Maine, westward to Minnesota, 

 south to Gulf of Mexico. 



Half a dozen different shades of bloom worn by this hand- 

 some, robust perennial afford an excellent illustration of the trials 

 that beset one who would arbitrarily group flowers according to 

 color. If the capricious blossom shows a decided preference for 

 any shade, it is for magenta, the royal purple of the ancients, scarcely 

 tolerated now except by Hoboken Dutch and the belles of the 

 kitchen, whose Sunday hats are resplendent with intense effects. 



Only a few bergamot flowers open at a time ; the rest of the 

 slightly rounded head, thickly set with hairy calices, looks as if it 

 might be placed in a glass cup and make an excellent penwiper. 

 If the cultivated human eye (and stomach) revolt at magenta, it is 

 ever a favorite shade with butterflies. They flutter in ecstasy 

 over the gay flowers ; indeed, they are the principal visitors and 

 benefactors, for the erect corollas, exposed organs, and level-topped 



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