252 PLANTS GROWING IN SANDY SOIL. 
It would seem as though the painted cup had been conscious 
of the insignificance of its pale yellow bloom and so had called 
upon the loyalty of its leaves for assistance. They then re- 
sponded nobly by forming about them a scarlet cloak which 
enables the flower to appear one of the most brilliant of all. It 
blooms in such profusion that a sandy meadow where it grows 
suggests that it is traversed by some vagrant, wandering flame. 
PURPLE GERARDIA, (Plate CXXX7) 
Gerdrdia purpurea. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Figwort. Pinkish lavender. Scentless. North and south. August, September. 
Flowers: axillary; growing along the diverging flower-stalks. Calyx: of 
five-toothed sepals. Coro//a: one inch across; tubular ; bell-shaped with five 
irregular lobes daintily dotted with a deeper colour. Stamens: four, in pairs of 
unequal length; downy. /7/st//; one. Fyvuzt: an ovate, pointed pod. Leaves: 
opposite: linear. Stem: branched. 
A lovely little flower of quaint expression which peeps at one 
in the low meadows. It is very frail and soon drops from the 
stem when picked ; but the pretty buds come out well after 
having been placed in water. To climate it is very susceptible, 
and when it wanders to other than its native soil the bloom 
soon shows the difference. 
G. maritima is the species that is found on salt meadows. It 
is seldom over a foot high, while the preceding plant is fre- 
quently four feet high. The flowers are also smaller and 
fainter in colour. 
They have both forsaken the two-lipped corolla of the fig- 
wort family, as have the foxgloves. No doubt they are both 
of them a trifle perverse ; and that they are indolent is made 
certain by their having the reputation of being parasites. 
FLOWERING SPURGE. (Plate CXXXIZ) 
Euphorbia corollata. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Spurge. White. Scentless. Mass. to Florida. July-October, 
Flowers : staminate and pistillate; growing on forked branches in umbels, 
and surrounded by a five-lobed corolla-like involucre. The staminate flowers 
