MEADOW-FOAM.
Flœrkia Douglasii, Baillon. Geranium Family.
Smooth, succulent herbs. Stems.—A foot or so long. Leaves.—Much dissected. Flowers.—Axillary; solitary. Sepals.—Narrow; acute. Petals.—Nine lines long or so; yellow, sometimes tipped with white, white, or rose-tinged. Stamens.—Ten, in two sets; a gland at the base of those opposite the sepals. Ovary.—Of five carpels, becoming distinct. Style five-cleft at the apex. Syn.—Limnanthes Douglasii, R. Br. Hab.—Oregon to Southern California.
When the spring is well advanced, our wet meadows are all a-cream with the meadow-foam, whose dense masses blend exquisitely with the rich red of the common sorrel, which is in blossom at the same time.
This plant is a near relative of the redwood-sorrel, and its flowers are similar in size and veining, and also in their habit of closing at night. It is much admired and has long been in cultivation.