
98 PLANTS GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 
Leaves: opposite ; sessile; oblong; entire; glabrous, Stem: erect ; branch- 
ing ; glabrous. 
There are no paupers among the Quakers; and surely this 
sameness of principle must have suggested the common name 
of these little ladies. For to travel through the moist meadows 
that are aglow with their quaint faces and bright eyes suggests 
the most lavish luxury of bloom, In New England and about 
Trenton, New Jersey, they are especially beautiful. In fact, 
during the season, they gladden almost every spot that is sun- 
shiny and moist. Besides their sprightly, crisp appearance they 
have an added charm in not closing up and fading quickly after 
they have been plucked. 
Under a microscope it can be seen that the flowers are 
dimorphous, occurring in two forms. In some blossoms the 
pistil is long and the stamens short and in others the reverse 
is the case. To effect fertilization it is necessary that the tall 
pistils should receive the pollen from the tall stamens of an- 
other flower ; and the short pistils, the pollen from the short 
stamens. This is one of the very interesting guards against 
self-fertilization. 
PURPLE SPIKED LOOSESTRIFE. 
Lythrum Salicaria. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Loosestrife. Purple. Scentless. General in middle states. Late summer. 
Flowers: whorled in a terminal, wand-like spike, tipped a little at the end. 
Calyx: circular, with five to seven toothed points. Corol/a: of five, six or 
seven long, narrow, petals ; slightly puckered. Stamens : twelve, in two sets of 
different lengths. /yst#/ : one; varying in length in the different blossoms. 
Leaves: opposite; lanceolate; sessile; the lower ones heart-shaped at base. 
Stem: tall; smooth. - 
Professor Darwin wrote to Doctor Gray about these flowers : 
‘““T am almost stark, staring mad over lythrum. If I can prove 
what I really believe it is a grand case of trimorphism, with 
three different pollens and three stigmas. I have fertilized 
above ninety flowers, trying all the eighteen distinct crosses 
which are possible within the limits of this one species. For 

