BLUE-EYED-MARY 



Collinsia verna Nuttall 



Blue-eyed-mary is one of the daintiest of spring flowers. In the 

 Middle West it sometimes grows in such profusion that the meadows 

 are blue with its brightly colored blossoms. The plant is fragile in 

 appearance. Its flowers, although without odor, are visited by many 

 bees. A member of the Figwort Family, this plant is thus related to 

 the snapdragons, pentstemons, and monkeyflowers. It can be culti- 

 vated easily in rich, gravelly soil, and is a very desirable addition to the 

 wild garden. Since it is a winter annual, the seeds should be sown in 

 summer or early fall, but once established, it reseeds itself abundantly. 



The specimen sketched was grown by Dr. Edgar T. Wherry in his 

 garden in Washington from seeds procured from Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Blue-eyed-mary ranges from Western Pennsylvania to Kentucky 

 and Kansas, and northward to western New York, Ontario, and 

 Wisconsin. 



plate 246 



