In the sandy fields of late summer this little plant attracts notice by its many purple flowers. Its corolla soon falls and exposes to view the four little nutlets of the ovary lying within the enlarged calyx like tiny eggs in their nest. Its aromatic odor is very perceptible, and the little glands with which it is covered may be seen with the aid of a magnifier. The generic name, Trichostema, signifies hairy stamens and alludes to the curved hair-like filaments.
Sea Lavender. Marsh Rosemary.
Statice Caroliniana. Leadwort Family.
Stems.—Leafless, branching. Leaves.—From the root, somewhat oblong, thick. Flowers.—Lavender-color or pale purple, tiny, scattered or loosely spiked along one side of the branches. Calyx.—Dry, funnel-form. Corolla.—Small, with five petals. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One, with five, rarely three, styles.
In August many of the salt marshes are blue with the tiny flowers of the sea lavender. The spray-like appearance of the little plant would seem to account for its name of rosemary, which is derived from the Latin for sea-spray, but Dr. Prior states that this name was given it on account of “its usually growing on the sea-coast, and its odor.”
Blossoming with the lavender we often find the great rose mallows and the dainty sea pinks. The marsh St. John’s-wort as well is frequently a neighbor, and, a little later in the season, the salt marsh fleabane.
Blazing Star.
Liatris scariosa. Composite Family (p. [13]).
Stem.—Simple, stout, hoary, two to five feet high. Leaves.—Alternate, narrowly lance-shaped. Flower-heads.—Racemed along the upper part of the stem, composed entirely of tubular flowers of a beautiful shade of rose-purple.
These showy and beautiful flowers lend still another tint to the many-hued salt marshes and glowing inland meadows of the falling year. Gray assigns them to dry localities from New England to Minnesota and southward, while my own experience of them is limited to the New England coast, where their stout leafy stems and bright-hued blossoms are noticeable among the golden-rods and asters of September. The hasty observer sometimes confuses the plant with the iron-weed, but the two flowers are very different in color and in their manner of growth.
Common Dittany.
Cunila Mariana. Mint Family (p. [16]).
About one foot high. Stem.—Much branched, reddish. Leaves.—Opposite, aromatic, dotted, smooth, ovate, rounded or heart-shaped at base, set close to the stem. Flowers.—Small, purple, lilac or white, clustered. Calyx.—Five-toothed. Corolla.—Small, two-lipped, the upper lip erect, usually notched, the lower three-cleft. Stamens.—Two, erect, protruding. Pistil.—One, with a two-lobed style.