Red and Indefinites 



civilized globe ; dying down every autumn, and depending on 

 seeds alone to keep the foothold once gained here, in Mexico and 

 South America, Europe, Egypt, Abyssinia, Cape of Good Hope, 

 Mauritius, New Holland, Nepaul, Persia, and China. What amaz- 

 ing travellers plants are ! The blue-flowered plants are now be- 

 lieved to be a distinct species (/t. coerulea). 



Notwithstanding the fact that many birds delight to feast on 

 the seeds, or perhaps because of it, for many must be dropped 

 undigested, the scarlet pimpernel is one of the most widely dis- 

 tributed species known. 



Before a storm, when the sun goes under a cloud, or on a 

 dull day, each little weather prophet closes. A score of pretty 

 folk names given it in every land it adopts testifies to its sensitive- 

 ness as a barometer. Under bright skies the flower may be said 

 to open out flat at about nine in the morning and to begin to 

 close at three in the afternoon. No nectar is secreted unless there 

 may be some in the colored hairs which clothe the filaments. As 

 if it knew perfectly well that however desirable insect visitors are 

 — and it has an excellent device for compelling them to transfer 

 pollen — it is likewise independent of them, it takes no risk in 

 exposing the precious vitalizing dust to wind and rain, but closes 

 up tight, thereby bringing its pollen-laden stamens in contact with 

 its stigma. Manifestly, it is better for a plant having aspirations to 

 colonize the globe to set even self-fertilized seed than none at all. 



Hound's Tongue; Gipsy Flower 



(Cynoglossum officinale) Borage family 



Flowers — Dull purplish red, about Yi in. across, borne in a curved 

 raceme or panicle that straightens as the bloom advances up- 

 ward. Calyx 5-parted ; corolla saberform, its 5 lobes spread- 

 ing ; 5 stamens ; i pistil. Stem: Erect, stout, hairy, leafy, 

 usually branched, ij^ to 3 ft; high. Leaves: Rather pale, 

 lower ones large, oblong, slender petioled ; upper ones lance- 

 shaped, sessile, or clasping. (Thought to resemble a dog's 

 tongue.) 



JPreferred Habitat — Dry fields, waste places. 



Flowering Season — May — September. 



Distribution — Quebec to Minnesota, south to the Carolinas and 

 Kansas. 



This is still another weed "naturalized from Europe " which, 

 by contenting itself with waste land, has been able in an incredibly 

 short time to overrun half our continent. How easy conquest of our 

 vast unoccupied area is for weeds that have proved fittest for sur- 

 vival in the overcultivated Old World ! Protected from the ravages 



384 



