PINK AND RED GROUP 



Meadow Beauty. Deergrass 



Rhexia <virginica. — Family, Melastoma. Color, deep rose or 

 magenta. Calyx - tube long and narrow, 4 - divided, purplish, 

 covered on the outside with glandular-tipped hairs. Petals, 4, 

 with the 8 stamens joined to the rim of the calyx-tube. Anthers, 

 large, prominent, curved, of a bright-yellow color. They open 

 by a small hole at the top for the exit of the pollen grains, and 

 where they are fastened to the filaments they bear a tiny spur. 

 Style and stigma, 1. Leaves, opposite, sessile, lance-shaped, 

 pointed, bristly around the edges, and to a lesser extent upon 

 the surfaces. July to September. 



As the petals take slight hold and drop soon after flower- 

 ing, and almost as soon as plucked, the flower then appears, 

 from its large stamens, to be yellow. The stem is square, 

 with distinct angles. Flowers, single or several, in loose 

 cymose clusters. A pretty species, growing in wet sand or 

 marshy borders of streams, from 4 to 10 inches high. I 

 have seen them in beds showing their pink color in masses 

 for quite a distance. In sandy swamps from Maine to 

 Florida. (See illustration, p. 272.) 



R. marikna. — This species has paler petals and narrower leaves. 

 The stem is round, very softly hairy. 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves, 

 3 -nerved, bristly around the edges, generally sessile. June to 

 September. 



In pine barrens of New Jersey, and swamps as far south as 

 Florida and westward. 



Water Purslane 



Lud<vigia palustris. — Family, Evening Primrose. Color of 

 petals, when present, red or reddish. Leaves, small, opposite, 

 petioled, oval or roundish with curving veins. This is at times 

 an aquatic plant; or it is found in swamps, its stems lying on the 

 mud, creeping and rooting. Petals, none when in water, small 

 and reddish when out. The lobes of the calyx remain, crowning 

 the fruit, which is a 4-sided capsule full of small seeds. Flowers, 

 closely sessile, somewhat fleshy, small, without beauty, green, and 

 stiff. Stems, smooth, 4 to 15 inches long. July and August. 



Common along wet shores or in swamps or moist ditches. 



Great Willow Herb. Fireweed 



Epilbbium angustifblium. — Family, Evening Primrose. Color, 

 magenta. Calyx-tube, deeply 4-lobed. Petals, 4. Stamens, 8, 

 maturing before the pistil. Pistil, 1, with a 4-lobed, spreading 

 IS 271 



