2d 



JEWEL-WEED or SPOTTED 

 TOUCH-ME-NOT. 



Jewel-weed grows in rank, almost 

 tropical profusion in moist ground, 

 particularly about the edges of ponds 

 or along watercourses. The reason 

 for its name is not difficulty to under- 

 stand when one sees the funny little 

 orange cornucopias hanging from 

 their slender stems like jewels pend- 

 ent from a lady's ear in the olden 

 days. There are many, however, 

 who claim a different origin for the 

 name; perhaps they are right, — we 

 cannot say. The thin toothed leaves 

 have a peculiar texture that sheds 

 water; after a rain or heavy dew, we 

 will see glistening drops collected along the margins of the 

 leaves and it does not even require a fertile imagination to 

 see in them, jewels such as only Nature can produce. 



This plant grows from two to five feet in height, having a 

 reddish, smooth branching stem along which the leaves al- 

 ternate. The flowers hang in pairs from the axils of the 

 outer leaves, although usually but one of them opens at a 

 time. The peculiar flower has three petals and three sepals, 

 one of the latter forming the crooked sac in the base of 

 which nectar is concealed. While some bees and moths are 

 able to get at the nectar, apparently Hummingbirds which 

 visit the blossoms frequently are the benefactors for which 

 the plant is catering. However seed will be set, even if 

 neither bird nor insects visit the blossoms, for Jewel-weed 

 bears also cleistogamous flowers that never open and which 

 fertilize themselves. 



The plant is of more than passing interest even after the 

 flowering season because of the curiously twisted seed pods 

 that take the places of the blossoms. When these are ripen- 

 ed, the slightest touch causes them to instantly split and 

 coil so quickly as to send the seeds flying two or three feet 

 in every direction. Even though we know just what is going 

 to happen, one cannot help being startled at the very sud- 

 denness of the "explosion." 



