156 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 



edge of the thickets which border the meadows of 

 Campton, !N. H. It is not a striking flower, but it 

 attracts one by its tiny symmetry and pretty yellow 

 color. It blooms in early summer, and flourishes 

 where the soil is sandy. There is a purple loose- 

 strife (Lythrum. Salicaria) which blooms in August, 

 and is not quite so common as the yellow varieties. 

 Its flowers are magenta, and the narrow petals are 

 curved and twisted ; the leaves are lance-shaped. It 

 grows in wet ground. 



Common Loosestrife. The common loosestrife grows in 

 LydmaoMastricia. j^^^ ^gj ground, and may easily be 

 distinguished from the four-leaved variety by its 

 branching habit and its flower cluster which termi- 

 nates the stem ; it is also more leafy. The color 

 effect of this flower, growing thickly beneath the 

 scattered groups of low birch and elder-berry which 

 dot the intervales in the "White Mountain region, is 

 very beautiful. The yellow color blends softly with 

 the shadowy green of the foliage in July. I re- 

 member no prettier sight than a long belt of loose- 

 strife which skirts the shrubbery surrounding a re- 

 treat to which the boys resort on the warm July 

 days — the popular bathing place. Loosestrife may be 

 found almost anywhere ; not only with the environ- 

 ment just described, but on the banks of the beautiful 

 rivers which wind through the Vermont hills, in the 



