212 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OP FIELD AND GARDEN. 



gewasset Yalley, where a sawmill -w^as burned several 

 years ago, and now the site is covered by a luxu- 

 riantly shrubby growth of fireweed, which in August 

 is a glory of magenta-pink color. One may easily 

 understand why it is called Willow-herb, as its leaf is 

 exactly like that of the swamp willow. In Septem- 

 ber the pretty heads of magenta flowers are trans- 

 formed into clusters of curved and twisted seed-ves- 

 sels which are constantly shedding a disheveled mass 

 of stringy white silk, reminding one, perhaps, of the 

 wild gray hair of witches caught in the thicket. 



It seems scarcely necessary to call attention to the 

 fact that the fireweed is closely related to the evening 

 primrose : a comparison of the two flowers shows a 

 remarkable similarity between them. 



Joe-PyeWeed. Joe-Pye weed, oddly named for a 

 Mupatorium New England Indian doctor, is rather 



purpureum. ^ eonspicuous dull pale-magenta flow- 

 er whose fuzzy head towers five or six feet above the 

 lowlands in late summer and early autumn. The plant 

 will always be associated in my mind with Indian 

 doctors, who, by the way, have not yet finished their 

 " herb cures " among the country folk. There is such 

 a doctor in a New England village but four miles 

 from my summer home, who, I am given to under- 

 stand, does a thriving business — or shall I say com- 

 mands a wide practice ? — in a certain locality of cul- 



