If Emerson’s definition of a weed, as a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered, be correct, we can hardly place the dandelion in that category, for its young sprouts have been valued as a pot-herb, its fresh leaves enjoyed as a salad, and its dried roots used as a substitute for coffee in various countries and ages. It is said that the Apache Indians so greatly relish it as food, that they scour the country for many days in order to procure enough to appease their appetites, and that the quantity consumed by one individual exceeds belief. The feathery-tufted seeds which form the downy balls beloved as “clocks” by country children, are delicately and beautifully adapted to dissemination by the wind, which ingenious arrangement partly accounts for the plant’s wide range. The common name is a corruption of the French dent de lion. There is a difference of opinion as to which part of the plant is supposed to resemble a lion’s tooth. Some fancy the jagged leaves gave rise to the name, while others claim that it refers to the yellow flowers, which they liken to the golden teeth of the heraldic lion. In nearly every European country the plant bears a name of similar signification.
Poverty-grass.
Hudsonia tomentosa. Rock-rose Family.
“Bushy, heath-like little shrubs, seldom a foot high.” (Gray.) Leaves.—Small, oval or narrowly oblong, pressed close to the stem. Flowers.—Bright yellow, small, numerous, crowded along the upper part of the branches. Calyx.—Of five sepals, the two outer much smaller. Corolla.—Of five petals. Stamens.—Nine to thirty. Pistil.—One, with a long and slender style.
In early summer many of the sand-hills along the New England coast are bright with the yellow flowers of this hoary little shrub. It is also found as far south as Maryland and near the Great Lakes. Each blossom endures for a single day only. The plant’s popular name is due to its economical habit of utilizing sandy unproductive soil where little else will flourish.
Bush-honeysuckle.
Diervilla trifida. Honeysuckle Family.
An upright shrub from one to four feet high. Leaves.—Opposite, oblong, taper-pointed. Flowers.—Yellow, sometimes much tinged with red, clustered usually in threes, in the axils of the upper leaves and at the summit of the stem. Calyx.—With slender awl-shaped lobes. Corolla.—Funnel-form, five-lobed, the lower lobe larger than the others and of a deeper yellow, with a small nectar-bearing gland at its base. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One.
PLATE XLIV
BUSH-HONEYSUCKLE.—D. trifida.
This pretty little shrub is found along our rocky hills and mountains. The blossoms appear in early summer, and form a good example of nectar-bearing flowers. The lower lobe of the corolla is crested and more deeply colored than the others, thus advising the bee of secreted treasure. The hairy filaments of the stamens are so placed as to protect the nectar from injury by rain. When the blossom has been despoiled and at the same time fertilized, for the nectar-seeking bee has probably deposited some pollen upon its pistil, the color of the corolla changes from a pale to a deep yellow, thus giving warning to the insect world that further attentions would be useless to both parties.