Stem.—Square, one to two feet high. Leaves.—Opposite, oblong or lance-shaped. Flowers.—Pale violet-purple, rarely white, growing singly from the axils of the leaves. Calyx.—Five-angled, five-toothed, the upper tooth largest. Corolla.—Tubular, two-lipped, the upper lip erect or spreading, two-lobed, the lower spreading and three-lobed, the throat closed. Stamens.—Four. Pistil.—One, with a two-lobed stigma.
From late July onward the monkey-flowers tinge the wet fields and border the streams and ponds; not growing in the water like the pickerel-weed, but seeking a hummock in the swamp, or a safe foothold on the brook’s edge, where they can absorb the moisture requisite to their vigorous growth.
The name is a diminutive of mimus—a buffoon, and refers to the somewhat grinning blossom. The plant is a common one throughout the eastern part of the country.
Common Motherwort.
Leonurus cardiaca. Mint Family (p. [16]).
Stem.—Tall and upright. Leaves.—Opposite, the lower rounded and lobed, the floral wedge-shaped at base and three-cleft. Flowers.—Pale purple, in close whorls in the axils of the leaves. Calyx.—“With five nearly equal teeth, which are awl-shaped, and when old rather spiny, pointed, and spreading.” (Gray.) Corolla.—Two-lipped, the upper lip somewhat arched and bearded, the lower three-lobed and spreading. Stamens.—Four, in pairs. Pistil.—One, with a two-lobed style.
The tall erect stems, opposite leaves, and regular whorls of closely clustered pale purple flowers help us to easily identify the motherwort, if identification be needed, for it seems as though such old-fashioned, time-honored plants as catnip, tansy, and motherwort, which cling so persistently to the skirts of the old homestead in whose domestic economy they once played so important a part, should be familiar to us all.
PLATE XCI
MONKEY-FLOWER.—M. ringens.
Corn Cockle.
Lychnis Githago. Pink Family.
About two feet high. Leaves.—Opposite, long and narrow, pale green, with silky hairs. Flowers.—Rose-purple, large, long-stalked. Calyx-lobes.—Five, long and slender, exceeding the petals. Corolla.—Of five broad petals. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One, with five styles.