This plant is a near relative of the redwood-sorrel, and its flowers are similar in size and veining, and also in their habit of closing at night. It is much admired and has long been in cultivation.
PIMPERNEL. POOR-MAN'S WEATHER-GLASS.
Anagallis arvensis, L. Primrose Family.
Stems.—Prostrate; spreading. Leaves.—Usually opposite; sessile; ovate. Flowers.—Solitary on axillary peduncles; orange-vermilion (rarely blue or white); six lines or so across. Calyx and rotate corolla five-parted. Petals.—Rounded; purple at base. Stamens.—Five; opposite the petals. Filaments purple, bearded. Capsule.—Globose; the top falling off as a lid. Hab.—Common everywhere. Introduced from Europe.
The little orange-vermilion flower of the pimpernel is a plain little blossom to the unassisted eye, but it becomes truly regal when seen under a glass, where its rich purple center displays itself in glistening splendor. It is a forcible example of the infinite care bestowed upon all of Nature's children, even to the humblest weeds.
[MEADOW-FOAM—Flœrkia Douglasii.]
![[MEADOW-FOAM—Flœrkia Douglasii.]](#3624944100741987669_f043.png.id-5959627982886270219.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
This little plant has come to us from Europe, and it makes itself perfectly at home among us in many widely-differing situations. From the fact that it furls its petals upon cloudy days, or at the approach of rain, it is called in England "poor-man's weather-glass."
The plant is an acrid poison and was extensively used in medicine by the ancients. It seems to act particularly upon the nervous system, and was used as a remedy for convulsions, the plague, gout, and hydrophobia.