The tall wand-like purplish racemes of the tall larkspur, D. exaltatum, are found in July in the rich soil of Pennsylvania, and much farther south and west as well.
Wild Lupine.
Lupinus perennis. Pulse Family (p. [16]).
Stem.—Erect, one to two feet high. Leaves.—Divided into seven to eleven leaflets. Flowers.—Blue, papilionaceous, showy, in a long raceme. Pod.—Broad, hairy.
In June and July the long bright clusters of the wild lupine are very noticeable in many of our sandy fields. Its pea-like blossoms serve to easily identify it. Under date of June 8th, Thoreau writes: “The lupine is now in its glory.... It paints a whole hill-side with its blue, making such a field (if not meadow) as Proserpine might have wandered in. Its leaf was made to be covered with dewdrops. I am quite excited by this prospect of blue flowers in clumps, with narrow intervals, such a profusion of the heavenly, the Elysian color, as if these were the Elysian fields.... That is the value of the lupine. The earth is blued with it.”
Harebell.
Campanula rotundifolia. Campanula Family.
Stem.—Slender, branching, from five to twelve inches high. Root-leaves.—Heart-shaped or ovate, early withering. Stem-leaves.—Numerous, long and narrow. Flowers.—Bright blue, nodding from hair-like stalks. Calyx.—Five-cleft, the lobes awl-shaped. Corolla.—Bell-shaped, five-lobed. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One, with three stigmas.
This slender, pretty plant, hung with its tremulous flowers, springs from the rocky cliffs which buttress the river as well as from those which crown the mountain. I have seen the west shore of the Hudson bright with its delicate bloom in June, and the summits of the Catskills tinged with its azure in September. The drooping posture of these flowers protect their pollen from rain or dew. They have come to us from Europe, and are identical, I believe, with the celebrated Scotch bluebells.
Blue-eyed Grass.
Sisyrinchium angustifolium. Iris Family.
Four to twelve inches high. Leaves.—Narrow and grass-like. Flowers.—Blue or purple, with a yellow centre. Perianth.—Six-parted, the divisions bristle-pointed. Stamens.—Three, united. Pistil.—One, with three thread-like stigmas.
For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat,