TO INDIAN MONUMENT 241 



they grow along the ends of tall stems. They 

 looked like purple wands that witches, or fairy 

 godmothers, might wave. I thought, though, that 

 when so many of them were together it was quite 

 hard to see exactly how each stalk looked by itself. 

 The whole meadow was more like a sea of purple 

 water than a bed of wild flowers. 



Why these flowers were ever named Loose- 

 strifes is one of the secrets I am trying to find out 

 this summer. They don't look a bit like the Bulb- 

 bearing Loosestrifes which Philip found the day 

 he hurt his foot. They were yellow, and Tommy 

 said they and all their relatives belonged to the 

 Primrose family. But he told us the Purple-spiked 

 flowers were members of the Loosestrife family, 

 and not related to the others at all. I couldn't 

 help thinking that either the Yellow Loosestrifes, 

 or else the Purple-spiked ones should change their 

 name, as it is surely not easy for children to under- 

 stand why they are called by the same name, when 

 they look so different. 



" These purple flowers are not real Americans," 

 Grandmother said, " like Columbine and Cardi- 

 nal Flower and Goldenrod. They are European 

 plants, although hundreds and hundreds of them 

 appear to have settled very happily here, where 

 they take up a great deal of soil and torment the 

 farmers." 



I said I supposed they liked to travel about, and 

 see new countries, in the same way that Sallie did. 



