ROCK-ROSE FAMILY. 



CISTACEJE. 

 Rock-Rose. Helianthemum Camadense. 



Frost Weed. 



Found in bloom during June on dry open hillsides and pastures. 



The slightly branching, leafy stalk, which grows from 12 to 15 

 inches high, is woody-fibred, and slender, and rough to the touch with 

 short stifE hairs ; it is red or tawny in color. 



The long narrow oval leaf is pointed at both ends ; its edge is 

 slightly rolled under, and the ribs are prominent and rough beneath ; 

 the texture is strong-fibred, and the surface is rough ; its green is 

 tawny. The leaves are set on short stems, with a pair of vdngs 

 (" stipules ") at the Junction with the stalk, and occur alternately. 



The 5-petaled flower is shaped like a shallow cup of very fine 

 and thin texture and a clear vigorous yellow color, which is in good 

 harmony with the many orange-tipped stamens ; the 5-pointed calyx is 

 hairy, and its green is toned with tawny. 



A very individual trait of this flower is the fact that the stamens 

 almost always gather together to one side of the pistil, lying flat upon 

 a petal, caused by the rude touch of a passing insect, it is said, so 

 sensitive is this charming plant, — a quality further manifested by the 

 swift fall of its petals if plucked. The flower never lasts more than a 

 single day, and but few blossoms are borne on a plant. This is the 

 first flowering of the Rock-Eose ; though ripening the seeds now 

 formed, there comes a second bloom in the fall whose blossoms are 

 very small, with few or no petals, clustered in the angles of the leaves, 

 and bearing but a few seeds. " Grenerally called ' Beauties of the Sun ' 

 by the ancients, — ' Sun-roses ' by the English folk." 



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