PRIMROSE FAMILY 
PRIMULACEZ: 
The Primrose family does not occupy so promi- 
nent a place among our American wild flowers as 
it does in England where the beautiful English 
primroses grow wild in great abundance and are 
familiar to everyone. With the exception of the 
Star-flower, the Shooting Star and the Pimpernel, 
the American members of this family are not 
especially attractive. The family is character- 
ized by having flowers which are perfect and 
regular, with as many stamens as there are petals 
and a single style and stigma. 
SHOOTING STAR. The American Cowslip or 
Shooting Star is an attractive wild flower which is 
found abundantly in open woods from Pennsylva- 
nia southward. The rose-purple or white flowers 
are pendent from slender stalks which arise from 
a more robust scape, the flowers usually being ten: 
or more inches from the ground. The blossoms 
appear late in spring or early in summer. 
LoosEsTRIFE. In damp, swampy places one 
is almost certain to find one or more species of 
Loosestrife in -blossom throughout the summer. 
The commonest of these is the Yellow Loose- 
strife which has an abundance of small flowers 
160 
