NATIVE WILD FLOWERS 
eye, so full, so soft and delicate is the hue. Some species 
of the Evening Primrose, true to their descriptive name, 
open their blossoms only at sunset; others bloom during 
the daytime and endure the light and heat of a July or 
August sun. One form of the grandiflora is from 
three to four feet high, with stout branching stems and 
many-flowered spikes; others are low in stature, with rough 
hoary leaves and smaller flowers. &. pumila, a dwarf 
species, about six inches in height, has small flowers of 
pale color and of little floral beauty. (. biennis (L.), var. 
muricata (Gray), which is common in open fields and 
plains, is a large branching species with smooth, red- 
veined leaves, a red bristly stem, and smaller flowers than 
grandiflora. Tt is less fragrant but is a handsome species and 
continues flowering all through the summer till cut off by 
early frosts. But by far the finest and most interesting of 
our Evening Primroses is the large-flowered fragrant 
grandiflora under consideration. No sooner has the sun set 
than one after another may be seen, in quick succession, 
the bursting of the closely-shut sepals of the calyx. One 
by one the petals begin to unfold—slowly, slowly. You 
notice a slight movement in the corolla; first one petal is 
loosened from its plaited folds, then another, till in a few 
seconds the whole flower expands and opens its beautiful 
deep sulphur-colored cup with its eight stamens and yellow 
anthers, giving out a delightful scent upon the dewy air. 
What an object of interest is this flower to children as they 
gaze with watching, wondering eyes upon its fair unfolding 
blossoms. One little fellow, almost a baby, cried out, “ Oh, 
look! it’s waking now!” when he saw the first pure petal 
softly rolled back as the blossom commenced opening. The 
diagonal lines which cross the surface of the flower are 
caused by its twisted zstivation, or folding in the bud, and 
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