"The summer is nearly over when the Joe-Pie weed (purple boneset) begins to tinge with 'crushed raspberry' the lowlands through which we pass. 'Joe Pie' is supposed to have been the name of an Indian who cured typhus fever in New England by means of this plant." (Dana.)
July Twenty-fourth
The ostrich fern is so named because the dark green fertile fronds which appear about this time, and form the centre of the vase-shaped leaf-cluster, resemble ostrich plumes. Mr. Clute says: "It is at its best in wet, sandy soil of a half-shaded island or river shore. Its development is rapid, often lengthening six inches in a day."
Notes
July Twenty-fifth
A cuckoo pleading for her nest of young would soften a heart of stone. With wings and tail spread, she flutters almost into one's face, uttering pathetic and heartrending cries that beseech you not to touch her treasures. In pinfeathers the young of this bird, as well as those of the chimney swift, resemble baby European hedgehogs.
July Twenty-sixth
Trees and flowers must sleep as well as animals. The dandelion closes its petals late in the afternoon, and as night approaches the water lily folds up tightly. Although summer in the North is shorter than the summer in the South, the days are several hours longer, so vegetation is growing here while their trees and flowers are sleeping. This provision of Nature gives the northern Indian vegetables and flowers in a country which we often call "a land of snow and ice."