Violet Wood Sorrel.
Oxalis violacea. Geranium Family.
Scape.—Five to nine inches high, several-flowered. Leaves.—Divided into three clover-like leaflets. Flowers.—Violet-colored, clustered on the scape. Calyx.—Of five sepals. Corolla.—Of five petals. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One, with five styles.
This little plant is found in somewhat open or rocky woods, its lovely delicate flower-clusters appearing in May or June. This species is more common southward, while the pink-veined wood sorrel (Pl. XVII.) abounds in the cool woods of the North.
Pitcher-Plant. Side-saddle Flower. Huntsman’s Cup.
Sarracenia purpurea. Pitcher-plant Family.
Scape.—Naked, one-flowered, about one foot high. Leaves.—Pitcher-shaped, broadly winged, hooded. Flower.—Red-purple, large, nodding. Calyx.—Of five colored sepals, with three bractlets at the base. Corolla.—Of five fiddle-shaped petals which are arched over the greenish-yellow style. Stamens.—Numerous. Pistil.—One, with a short style which expands at the summit into a petal-like umbrella-shaped body, with five small hooked stigmas.
PLATE LXXXVI
ROBIN’S PLANTAIN.—E. bellidifolius.
The large nodding flower of the pitcher-plant may be found during June in the peat-bogs of New England as well as farther south and west. It is less familiar to most people than the curious pitcher-like leaves, which are usually partially filled with water and drowned insects; part of their inner surface being covered with a sugary exudation, below which, for a space, they are highly polished, while on the lower portion grow the stiff bristles which point downward. Insects attracted by the sugary secretion find themselves prisoners, as they can seldom fight their way through the opposing bristles, neither can they usually escape by such a perpendicular flight as would be necessary from the form of the cavity. The decomposed bodies of these unfortunates are supposed to contribute to the nourishment of the plant, as it is hardly probable that this elaborate contrivance answers no special purpose.
Wild Geranium. Wild Cranesbill.
Geranium maculatum. Geranium Family.
Stem.—Erect, hairy. Leaves.—About five-parted, the divisions lobed and cut. Flowers.—Pale pink-purple, rather large. Calyx.—Of five sepals. Corolla.—Of five petals. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—With five styles, which split apart at maturity so elastically as to discharge the seeds to some distance.