PINK AND RED GROUP 



stigma. Pod, long, at length bursting and liberating seeds fur- 

 nished with downy white tufts. The flowers are large, in long 

 racemes, terminating the stem. The lower ones mature seed 

 while the uppermost are still in bud, giving an untidy appearance 

 to the whole spike. Leaves, long, narrow, willowy, scattered, 

 pinnately veined. July and August. 



A tall, handsome plant, growing in low meadows and in 

 burned-over districts. So the pine woods, which are subject 

 to frequent fires, give rise to this pink flower in great abun- 

 dance. It illustrates one of nature's devices for covering 

 ugliness with beauty. 



Long-leaved Willow Herb 



E. densum. — Color, pink, or sometimes white (see p. 98). 

 Calyx-tube, 5-lobed. Petals, 4, notched. Stamens, 8. Stigma, 

 club-shaped. Leaves, narrow, 1 or 2 inches long, opposite or 

 alternate, with smaller ones clustered in the axils, their edges 

 turned back. Flowers, in the upper axils, on slender pedicels, 

 small. Stem, much branched near the top, whitish with soft 

 down, from a perennial root. July to September. 



In swamps or open, low fields north of New Jersey and 

 Delaware. A plant slightly hairy, with pods on long stalks 

 and seeds crowned with fine hairs by which they are blown 

 about. 



Downy or Soft Willow Herb 



E. moUe. — Somewhat taller than the last, more downy, cov- 

 ered with whitish, incurved hairs. Leaves, slightly broader, 

 short-petioled or sessile. Flowers, small, in the upper axils. 

 The tufts of hairs belonging to the seeds are very soft and silky. 

 July to September. 



In all the plants of this genus, the calyx-tube is much 

 prolonged beyond the ovary, and must not be mistaken for 

 the real flower-stalk. Bogs, Maine to Minnesota, south to 

 Virginia. 



Purple-leaved Willow Herb 



E, colorktum. — Color, pink, or rarely white. Flowers, numer- 

 ous on the upper branches. Leaves, with toothed margins, petioled 

 or sessile, lance-shaped, acute at apex, tapering at base. Stem 

 and leaves purplish. Plant, covered with whitish hairs in lines 

 or streaks, 1 to 3 feet high. Seeds furnished with a tuft of brown 

 hairs. July to September. 



Low, moist grounds, Maine to Wisconsin and southward, 

 Found 2,000 feet high in Virginia. 



273 



