BLUE-EYED MARY 



BLUE-EYED MARY 



CoUinsia verna. 



Named in honor of Zaccheus Collins, a Philadelphia botanist; 

 1764-1831. 



A slender biennial herb with blue and white flowers, in umbel-like 

 clusters, whorled in the axils of the upper leaves. Found in moist soil 

 from Ontario, through New York and Ohio, to Iowa, and southward. 

 April to June. 



Stem. — Slender,. six to ten inches high. 



Leaves. — Ovate; the upper ovate-lanceolate, clasping by the heart- 

 shape base, toothed. 



Flowers. — Irregular, blue and white, borne on long peduncles, about 

 six in a whorl. 



Calyx. — Deeply five-cleft. 



Corolla. — Declined; two-lipped; upper lip two-cleft, its lobes partly 

 turned backward. The middle lobe of the lower lip sac-like and enclos- 

 ing the declined stamens. 



Stamens. — Four; fifth stamen gland-like; style single. 



Capsule. — Many-seeded. 



In northern Ohio the beautiful CoUinsia is a flower of May. 

 It is not abundant, indeed, may be considered rare; now and 

 then it is transferred to the garden where, in a moist and sheltered 

 location, it does well. The garden CoUinsia is the species hicolor 

 from California which greatly resembles verna, and is in some re- 

 spects a better plant because the flowers have shorter peduncles. 



FOXGLOVE. DIGITALIS 



Digitalis purpurea. 



Digitalis, Latin, digitus, a finger; because the flower is something 

 like a thimble in shape. 



A biennial, sometimes perennial; native to central Europe; cultivated 

 both for ornament and for medicinal use. June to September. 



Flowering-stalk. — Erect, two to five feet high, rising from masses of 

 radical leaves. 



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