ORPINE FAMILY. 



CRASSULACE^. 



Live-for-ever. Sedum TelepJiium. 



Pudding-bag-plant. 



Aaron's-rod (N. H.). 



Stone-crop. 



Witches' money-bags (Mass.). 



Found in rocky soil, along roads and in door-yards, blossoming 

 during August. 



Its very leafy and branching stalk, from 1 to 2 feet high, is large 

 and round and juicy ; very smooth, and pale green, inclining to pink 

 near the blossoms. 



The broad, oval leaf, with its stout midrib, and slightly scalloped 

 margin, is thick, tough, and juicy ; the surface is very smooth, and the 

 color a light gray-green, pale on the underside with a bloom, and 

 moist to the touch. The leaves clasp the stalk alternately, and very 

 close together, from foot to flower. 



The small richly-hued flower has 5 shai'p-pointed petals, which 

 spread widely, and are colored a full crimson or garnet ; the 5-parted 

 green calyx being also toned with red. The flowers form a close, round, 

 terminal cluster. 



Shrugged down among the close gathered leaves the bloom has a 

 jewel-like effect of glowing color, and the seed-cases take on a deep red 

 hue which prolongs its season of beauty as a compensation for its in- 

 frequent flowering. The plant's endurance during droughts and 

 tenacious hold on life are remarkable ; a cut stalk has been observed 

 full of unwithered bloom a fortnight after the farmer's scythe had 

 swept the roadside. To children its charm lies in the power of infla- 

 tion which belongs to the easily separated skin of the leaves. 



