The small oval leaf is widest at the base, entire, weak and loose in texture, and dull green, the under side speckled with faint purple dots. The leaves occur in pairs at regular intervals.
The pretty little flower is very variable in color; its 5-parted and round-pointed corolla is purple, blue or white sometimes, but most commonly is orange-red with a violet ring in the center, while the collar which unites the 5 white stamens (they have yellow tips) is red-violet—a curious color combination. The calyx is 5-parted, shallow, and green. The flowers, on thread-like stems, occur in pairs, springing from the angles of the leaves along the stalk.
The lowest buds open first; the blossoms last but a day,—they do not often spread in overcast weather, nor open until the sun is shining full, and they close by four o’clock in the afternoon. This habit causes the folk-name, which is more surely applicable to the plant when it grows by the sea, for though it is found inland in a flourishing condition, it is never acclimated thoroughly enough to adjust its reckoning with the weather, and is continually making false forecasts in its calculations.
COMMON PIMPERNEL: Anagallis arvensis.
DOGBANE FAMILY.
APOCYNACEÆ.
| Spreading Dogbane. | Apocynum androsæmifolium. |
Found along the borders of wayside thickets in June and July.
The branching, woody-fibred stalk grows from 2 to 3 feet in height; it has a sticky, milky juice, and is smooth; dull-red on the upper side, greenish on the under.
The entire, smooth leaves are slightly pointed at the ends; dull green; they are set on extremely short stems in pairs.