PIMPERNEL. POOR-MAN'S WEATHER-GLASS.
Anagallis arvensis, L. Primrose Family.
Stems.—Prostrate; spreading. Leaves.—Usually opposite; sessile; ovate. Flowers.—Solitary on axillary peduncles; orange-vermilion (rarely blue or white); six lines or so across. Calyx and rotate corolla five-parted. Petals.—Rounded; purple at base. Stamens.—Five; opposite the petals. Filaments purple, bearded. Capsule.—Globose; the top falling off as a lid. Hab.—Common everywhere. Introduced from Europe.
The little orange-vermilion flower of the pimpernel is a plain little blossom to the unassisted eye, but it becomes truly regal when seen under a glass, where its rich purple center displays itself in glistening splendor. It is a forcible example of the infinite care bestowed upon all of Nature's children, even to the humblest weeds.
[MEADOW-FOAM—Flœrkia Douglasii.]
![[MEADOW-FOAM—Flœrkia Douglasii.]](#3624944100741987669_f043.png.id-5959627982886270219.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
This little plant has come to us from Europe, and it makes itself perfectly at home among us in many widely-differing situations. From the fact that it furls its petals upon cloudy days, or at the approach of rain, it is called in England "poor-man's weather-glass."
The plant is an acrid poison and was extensively used in medicine by the ancients. It seems to act particularly upon the nervous system, and was used as a remedy for convulsions, the plague, gout, and hydrophobia.
Encelia Californica, Nutt. Composite Family.
Bushy; two to four feet high; strong-scented. Leaves.—Mostly alternate; short-petioled; ovate-lanceolate; an inch or two long. Flower-heads.—Solitary; long-peduncled; large. Disk.—Eight lines across; of black-purple, tubular flowers, with deep-yellow styles. Rays.—Sterile; over an inch long; five lines wide; four-toothed. Involucre.—Open-campanulate of several series of coriaceous, imbricated scales. Hab.—Santa Barbara to San Diego.
This shrubby Composita is quite abundant in the south, and when covered with its large yellow flowers with purple-brown centers is very showy. We have seen mesas covered with the bushes, which have much the same spreading habit as the white marguerite of the garden. It thrives particularly well near the coast, but is also at home upon some of the hills of interior valleys as well. It is quite strong-scented, but the flowers are very handsome, rivaling in decorativeness many of the cherished plants of our gardens.