Wild Flowers Every Child Should Know | by Frederic William Stack

Arranged according to color with reliable descriptions of the more common species of the United States and Canada

Title	Wild Flowers Every Child Should Know
Author	Frederic William Stack
Publisher	Doubleday, Page & Company
Year	1909
Copyright	1909, Frederic William Stack
Amazon	Wild flowers every child should know

By Frederic William Stack, formerly field collector for museums of scientific section of Vassar Brothers Institute, and of natural history at Vassar College

Illustrated by Fifty-nine Photographs Direct from Nature Four in Color

To You, My Boy Whose Interest In Wild Flowers Prompted The Purpose Of This Volume And Whose Delightful Companionship Made The Work A Pleasure To You "Sunny Jim" This Book Is Most Affectionately Dedicated

Preface: Wild Flower study is a pursuit fraught with pleasure and with: Health that mocks the doctor's rules. It does not require a preparatory course nor any special instruction to become acquainted with ...

Section I. Red Flowers. Jack-In-The-Pulpit. Indian Turnip. Arisaema Triphyllum. Arum Family: HERE is a floral jack-in-the-box that has been a delight to every child east of the Mississippi Valley since Columbus popularized American tours. And its bright red berries and large, solid bulb tickl...

Skunk Cabbage. Symplocarpus Foetidus. Arum Family: Time and again it has been found convenient for aesthetic purposes to disregard the comely Skunk Cabbage in reckoning on the first or earliest of our spring wild flowers to blossom. But the Hepatica a...

Red, Wood, Flame Or Philadelphia Lily. Lilium Philadelphicum. Lily Family: The beautiful upright, flaring cups of the Wood Lily, appearing like the flaming torches of classical Rome, enlighten our upland meadows, dry woods and thicket borders during June and July. It ranks a...

Large Coral-Root. Corallorrhiza Maculata. Orchid Family: This late-blooming Coral-root is more pretentious than the following species, and its brownish-purple blossoms are fragrant and more Orchid-like. The stouter flower stalk is stained with purple, and g...

Early Coral-Root. Corallorrhiza Trifida. Orchid Family: This leafless Orchid is remarkable for its lack of chlorophyll, or green colouring matter, and for its curious mass of pinkish brown coral-like roots which absorb nourishment from other roots and refu...

Wild Ginger, Asarabacca. Canada Snakeroot. Asarum Canadense. Birthwort Family: How like the babes in the wood are the curious-looking flowers of the Wild Ginger, as they lie closely snuggled to the bosom of Mother Earth, obscurely sheltered by their own velvety-green leaves! T...

Wild Columbine. Aquilegia Canadensis. Crowfoot Family: There is probably nothing else in the world so exhilarating as a breath of pure, woodsy, spring atmosphere on a balmy day during the blithesome month of May, when everything out-of-doors is stretching...

Pitcher-Plant. Huntsman's Cup. Indian Cup. Sarracenia Purpurea. Pitcher-Plant Family: In many respects the Pitcher-plant is one of the most interesting and curiosity-exciting of our wild flowers. Perhaps you have heard that some plants eat insects, and here you are face to face with ...

Groundnut. Apios Tuberosa. Pea Family: All wise, happy-go-lucky country youngsters know where and when to root out the edible pear-shaped tubers of this beautiful climbing vine, which is familiarly known to them as the Wild Bean. During th...

Pinesap. False Beech-Drops. Bird's Nest. Monotropa Hypopitys. Heath Family: This slightly fragrant species resembles somewhat the Indian Pipe, to which it is closely related, and it is found in dry or rich woods from June to October. The thick, fleshy and slender flower stalk...

Red, Or Scarlet Pimpernel. Poor Man's Or Shepherd's Weather-Glass. Red Chickweed. Shepherd's Clock. Burnet Rose. Anagallis Arvensis. Primrose Family: The neat little terra-cotta or brick-coloured flowers of this common, low-spreading plant have a popular reputation for forecasting rain by closing their petals in advance. The Pimpernel is found in s...

Oswego Tea. American Bee Balm. Mountain Mint. Fragrant Balm. Indian's Plume. Monarda Didyma. Mint Family: Next to the magnificent Cardinal Flower, the Bee Balm possesses the most intense red colouring of any of our native wild flowers. It does not flaunt its large, showy, tousled head in the bright sunshi...

Scarlet Painted-Cup. Indian Paint Brush. Castilleja Coccinea. Figwort Family: A singular species known as a parasite, because its roots absorb nourishment from those of other plants upon which they fasten themselves. It is an annual or biennial plant growing a foot or two high ...

Wood Betony. Lousewort. Beefsteak Plant. High Heal-All. Pedicularis Canadensis. Figwort Family: Looking directly downward upon the tousled, whirligigged, floral spike of the Wood Betony, one is immediately impressed with its rip-saw symmetry. And, if it is plucked and twirled 'twixt the forefing...

Beech-Drops. Cancer-Root. Epifagus Virginiana. Broom-Rape Family: If you are not acquainted with these curious, leafless parasites, you will very likely walk over many of them without suspecting they are really anything but small, dead twigs. They are invariably fou...

Cardinal Flower. Red Lobelia. Lobelia Cardinalis. Lobelia Family: The Cardinal Flower is one of the most striking and attractive of our showy flowers. It possesses the most gorgeous, glowing red colouring imaginable, and because of its unsurpassing vividness and bri...

Section II. Pink Flowers. Moccasin Flower. Pink, Or Stemless Lady's Slipper. Cypripedium Acaule. Orchid Family: CYPRIPEDIUM is the Greek name for Venus's slipper, and it has been given to this remarkable family, which forms the most showy and loveliest group of our native Orchids. How cleverly they represent Na...

Showy Orchis. Orchis Spectabilis. Orchid Family: Apparently the Orchids have established themselves in a somewhat exclusive and aristocratic circle requiring an especial dispensation to become intimately acquainted with them. This popular notion, ho...

Rose Pogonia. Snake-Mouth. Pogonia Ophioglossoides. Orchid Family: This, one of the prettiest of our more delicate little Orchids, is often found in company with the beautiful, deeper-hued Calopogon or Grass-pink, which blossoms at the same time in bogs, wet meadows,...

Grass-Pink. Calopogon. Calopbgon Pulchellus. Orchid Family: Contrary to most Orchids, this very beautiful, slender stemmed species has its lip, or most prominent petal, erected high over the flower instead of hanging from the lower side, as is usually the case...

Arethusa. Arethusa Bulbosa. Orchid Family: Winsome indeed are the large, solitary, rose-purple blossoms of this locally common Orchid, which blooms during May and June, in bogs and swamps where most people are not likely to wander. It is named...

Pink Knotweed. Smartweed. Persicaria. Polygonum Pennsylvanicum. Buckwheat Family: This exceedingly common and familiar annual is usually found in moist, open, waste soils, everywhere from the Gulf States to Minnesota, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. The branching, jointed stalk is smooth...

Corn Cockle. Corn Rose. Corn Campion. Crown-Of-The-Field. A Grostemma Gitbago. Pink Family: The large, attractive magenta or purple red flowers of this terror of the wheatfields are pretty well known throughout the length and breadth of the land. It is an immigrant from Europe, and as Theodo...

Wild Pink. Catchfly. Silene Pennsylvanica. Pink Family: What the Wild Pink lacks in height, it more than makes up in a wealth of lively colour which gleams from the crevices of rocky banks in dry, open woods during May. It is a low, tufted perennial, growi...

Soapwort. Bouncing Bet. Hedge Pink. Bruisewort. Fuller's Herb. Old Maid's Pink. Sheepweed. Saponaria Officinalis. Pink Family: Just why this naturalized European adventurer, which long ago escaped from the Colonial gardens, should be called Bouncing Bet, is not at all clear. Perhaps its wandering nature, cropping up here and ...

Deptford Pink. Dianthus Armeria. Pink Family: A pretty, unobtrusive immigrant from Europe is the Deptford Pink, resembling the familiar Sweet William of our gardens, and to which it is a near relative. When one considers that this Pink belongs to...

Pink Corydalis. Corydalis Sempervirens. Fumitory Family: Although the tall, branching growth of the Pink Corydalis does not compare satisfactorily with that of the low, clustered, and single-stemmed grouping of the Dutchman's Breeches, the peculiarly flatte...

Hardhack. Steeple Bush. Spiraea Tomentosa. Rose Family: This lovely rose-coloured perennial is similar to the Meadow Sweet, and often found near it, but the Hard-hack has smaller flowers arranged in slender, long-pointed, floral steeples, and woolly stalks...

Purple Flowering Raspberry. Virginia Raspberry. Rubus Odoratus. Rose Family: The five large, deep pink, rose-like petals and the ring of light yellow stamens of this attractive flower give it a truly Wild Rose-like appearance. While it is really a member of the same family, it...

Wild Roses: Of all the flowers exalted by mankind, none has been more frequently associated with his history and literature than the Rose. Its praises have been sung in many tongues, and its popularity harks back...

Smooth, Or Meadow Rose. Rosa Blanda. Rose Family: A low-growing, large flowered, and, usually, thorn-less species which grows from two to four feet high in moist, rocky places. From five to seven bluntly tipped and sharply toothed, oblong leaflets fo...

Canker Rose. Dog Rose. Wild Brier. Rosa Canina. Rose Family: During June and July, the Dog Rose spreads its beautiful, and usually solitary, pink or white flowers along our roadsides and waste banks. It grows about ten feet in length, and has short, stout, hook...

Sweetbrier. Eglantine. Rosa Rubiginosa. Rose Family: You can positively identify the Sweetbrier by the delightful, aromatic fragrance of its leaves. It is a slender growing species, very common everywhere in dry, rocky pastures and waste places during J...

Swamp Rose. Rosa Carolina. Rose Family: This very bushy species grows from one to eight feet high, and is sparingly armed with distant, stout, usually hooked or curved thorns. Five to nine finely toothed leaflets, varying in shape from oval...

Low, Or Pasture Rose. Rosa Bumilis. Rose Family: This is the commonest and most abundant of all the wild Roses. It grows branching and bushy, from six inches to six feet in height, and has very slender, straight, light brown thorns at the base of th...

Red, Purple, Or Meadow Clover. Trifolium Pratense. Pea Family: The Red Clover is the state flower of Vermont, and is one of the commonest, largest-flowered, and best-known of the Clovers. Some years ago this redheaded beauty created a sensation among botanists an...

Alsike. Alsatian, Or Swedish Clover. Trifolium Hybridum. Pea Family: The Alsatian Clover resembles the White Clover, except that the stalk is erect or ascending, and it does not root at the joints. The flower heads are delightfully tinted with a charming pink or rose c...

White, Or True Wood Sorrel. Alleluia. Sour Trefoil. Shamrock. Oxalis Acetosella. Wood Sorrel Family: Oxalis is derived from a Greek word, meaning sour, and refers to the acid juice of the plant. In the cool, shady recesses of our mountainous regions this dainty plant is fairly rampant. Our Northern f...

Violet Wood Sorrel. Oxalis Violacea. Wood Sorrel Family: This delightful species is found much further southward than the White Wood Sorrel. It has a brownish, scaly, bulbous root. The dainty flowers are rose purple in colour, and several, a dozen or less, ...

Wild Geranium. Spotted Crane's-Bill. Alum Root. Geranium Maculatum. Geranium Family: The large, showy, rose purple flowers of the Wild Geranium enliven the monotony of low and shaded parts of moist, open woods and thickets, from April to July. They are odourless, and their colour vari...

Herb Robert. Red Robin. Red Shanks. Geranium Robertianum. Geranium Family: This plant received much notoriety during the time of Robert's Plague, when it was believed to have effected many cures. It has been called the holy herb of Robert. Just where it received the name o...

Fringed Milkwort. Flowering Wintergreen. Gay Wings. Polygala Paucifolia. Milkwort Family: The peculiar construction of this very dainty and charming flower at once suggests that of an Orchid. The single slender stalk rises from four to seven inches from slender, prostrate stems and rootsto...

Field, Or Purple Milkwort. Polygala Sanguinea. Milkwort Family: Such a tiny, delicate, crimson-headed sprite of a flower may be easily overlooked in the grass. The erect, wiry stems grow from six to fifteen inches in height. It is very leafy, branches at the top, ...

Low, Dwarf Or Running Mallow. Cheese Flower. Malva Rotundifolia. Mallow Family: Common everywhere about dooryards from May to November. The flowers resemble in miniature the Hollyhocks of our gardens to which they are related. Children greatly relish the edible seeds or cheeses,...

Swamp Rose-Mallow. Mallow Rose. Hibiscus Moscheutos. Mallow Family: The gorgeous pink, flaring, bell-shaped flowers of the so-called Marsh Mallow may be seen near the edges of brakish marshes during midsummer along the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to Florida an...

Meadow Beauty. Deergrass. Rbexia Virginica. Melastoma Family: There is a pleasing individual air about this delicate beauty that is always sure to win our admiration as it sways its captivating golden-spangled, bright purple flowers among the tall grasses of our...

Great, Or Spiked Willow-Herb. Fireweed. Epilobium Angustifolium. Evening Primrose Family: In low grounds, especially in recent clearings and newly burned over lands, the tall, showy, swaying, magenta spikes of the Fireweed attract our attention during June, July and August, from coast to c...

Purple-Leaved Willow-Herb. Epilobium Coloratum. Evening Primrose Family: A very common, erect, and much-branched species with a finely haired stalk, growing from one to three feet high, in low grounds from Maine to Ontario, Wisconsin, Nebraska, South Carolina and Missouri,...

Pipsissewa. Prince's Pine. Chimaphila Umbellata. Wintergreen Family: Pipsissewa was employed by the Indians in relieving affections of the skin and for rheumatism. It was also a very popular remedy among the early settlers of this country. The foliage, when crushed, ex...

Spotted Wintergreen. Chimaphila Maculata. Wintergreen Family: This species is very similar to the Prince's Pine or Pipsissewa, but can readily be distinguished by the white mottling of its tapering leaves. It does not grow quite so high either, and the leaves ar...

Wild Honeysuckle. Pinxter Flower. Pink, Purple Or Wild Azalea. Rhododendron Nudiflorum. Heath Family: The lively flower clusters of the beautiful Wild Honeysuckle reflect the glory of spring with a vividness that is well-nigh unrivalled. The brilliancy of its fringy blossoms illuminates our open woodl...

American, Or Great Rhododendron Great Laurel. Rose Tree, Or Bay. Rhododendron Maximum. Heath Family: This plant has been considered to be the handsomest and most beautiful of our native ornamental shrubs. It is now highly esteemed and extensively used for decorating home grounds and parks. In the All...

American, Or Mountain Laurel. Calico Bush. Clamoun. Spoon-Wood. Ivy-Bush. Kalmia. Kalmia Latifolia. Heath Family: This beautiful evergreen shrub is a close rival of the magnificent Rhododendron, and has been adopted as the state flower of Connecticut. It grows usually from three to eight feet high and upward, and...

Sheep Laurel. Lambkill. Wicky. Calf-Kill. Sheep-Poison. Kalmia Angustifolia. Heath Family: Thoreau regarded this species as being handsomer than the Mountain Laurel, but his point of view in this respect has not met with popular approval. The Lambkill has the reputation of being the most ...

Trailing Arbutus. Mayflower. Ground Laurel. Epigaea Repens. Heath Family: The rarest charm hovers about the Trailing Arbutus which is, perhaps, more intensified throughout the New England States than elsewhere, because of Whit-tier's popular poetic legend regarding this spe...

Shooting Star. American Cowslip. Pride Of Ohio. Dodecatheon Meadia. Primrose Family: The pert, nodding flowers of this handsome perennial decorate the moist cliffs and ridges in open woodlands, and also the prairies, during April and May, from Pennsylvania to Georgia, and west to Mani...

Bitter Bloom. Rose Pink. Square-Stemmed Sabbatia. Sabatia Angularis. Gentian Family: The fragrant, bright, rosy flowers of the Sabbatia glimmer through the thickets and in the meadows where they grow abundantly, during July and August. The rather stout, much-branched stalk is sharply ...

Spreading Dogbane. Honey-Bloom. Bitter-Root. Apocynum Androsaemifolium. Dogbane Family: The Dogbane is closely related to the Milkweed and has a sticky, milky juice. It is a leafy and widely branching perennial, and grows from one to four feet high from a horizontal rootstock. The smooth...

The Milkweeds. Silverweed. Swallow-Wort. Asclepiadaceae. Milkweed Family: Our common Milkweeds have a certain strain of beauty and elegance peculiar to themselves. They may be readily distinguished by several conspicuous characteristics which are not likely to be confused w...

Purple Milkweed. Asclepias Purpurascens. Milkweed Family: A handsome species with large, deep crimson or purple flowers found in dry fields, roadsides and thickets from New Hampshire to Ontario, Minnesota, Virginia, and Kansas during June, July, and August. ...

Swamp Milkweed. Asclepias Incarnata. Milkweed Family: This species is found commonly in and about swamps from July to September and ranges through New Brunswick to Tennessee, Kansas, and Louisiana. The usually smooth stalk is slender and branched. It is ...

Common Milkweed. Silkweed. Asclepias Syriaca. Milkweed Family: This is undoubtedly the most familiar of the Milkweeds. It is found everywhere in fields and along wood and roadsides during June, July, and August, from New Brunswick and Saskatchewan to North Caroli...

Poke, Or Tall Milkweed. Asclepias Phytolaccoides. Milkweed Family: This really beautiful plant is one of the most delicately arrayed of its kind. It is not easily confused with any of the other Milkweeds that are likely to be found in common with it, because its love...

Four-Leaved Milkweed. Asclepias Quadrifolia. Milkweed Family: This more dainty and ladylike member of its clan can be distinguished immediately by its leaves, four of which are arranged in opposite pairs, forming a whorl about midway on the slender and rather na...

Great Bindweed. Wild Morning Glory. Convolvulus Sepium. Morning Glory Family: This large Wild Morning Glory is common everywhere along roadsides and in fields and thickets, where it twines and trails extensively over the ground or low shrubbery, from June to August. The main st...

Ground Pink. Moss Pink. Phlox Subulata. Phlox Family: The thick, evergreen tufts of the Moss Pink, which spread over dry, sandy, or rocky ground and hillsides, forming dense moss-like patches, are fairly smothered with the dark-eyed, pink, purple, or whi...

Motherwort. Cowthwort. Leonurus Cardiaca. Mint Family: The tall, leafy, and often branched spires of this familiar, old-fashioned, domestic herb of past generations, is commonly found about old dwellings and along roadsides, where it grows from two to fiv...

Wild Bergamot. Monarda Fistulosa. Mint Family: This species, which bears several floral heads, is quite similar to the Oswego Tea. The flowers are cream-coloured, pink or purplish, however, and the plant is found on dry hillsides and in thickets. ...

Snake Head. Turtle Head. Cod Head. Shell-Flower. Bitter-Herb Balmony. Chelone Glabra. Figwort Family: This dweller of wet situations takes most of its common names from the fancied resemblance of its flowers to the various subjects which it seems to have suggested. It is a rather common and familiar p...

Slender Gerardia. Gerardia Tenuifolia. Figwort Family: During September large patches of the irregular bell-shaped flowers of this little Gerardia are found in the grassy growths of dry, open woods and thickets. It is a smooth, slender-stemmed and widely ...

Twin-Flower. Ground Vine. Linnaea Borealis. Honeysuckle Family: A very dainty and delicate little trailing vine, that was an especial favourite of Linnaeus, and which was dedicated to him with his sanction. The slender, slightly hairy, and reddish stalk grows from...

Joe Pye Weed. Trumpet Weed. Gravel Root. Tall, Or Purple Boneset. Kidney Root. Queen Of The Meadow. Eupatorium Purpureum. Thistle Family: During August and September, the tall, swaying heads of Joe Pye are conspicuous in low, wet meadows, and along open streams and swamps where it grows rankly and vigorously. It was named from Joe Pye, ...

Burdock. Cockle Bur. Beggar's Button. Cuckoo Button. Arctium Minus. Thistle Family: Children delight to gather the shaggy green burs of the Beggar's Button and form them into birds' nests, baskets, dolls, and a various assortment of similar playthings. They well know, too, the bitter...

Section III. Yellow And Orange Flowers. Golden Club. Orontium Aquaticum. Arum Family: THE Golden Club is common in shallow water in ponds and swamps, mostly near the coast, during April and May. It is closely allied to the Skunk Cabbage and Jack-in-the-Pulpit, but resembles neither. Th...

Sweet Flag. Calamus. Acorus Calamus. Arum Family: An exceedingly common rush-like herb, with very long, horizontal, branched rootstocks, and rather stiff, sword-shaped, light green leaves, growing in thick patches along streams and in swamps, and flo...

Perfoliate Bellwort. Straw Bell. Uvularia Perfoliata. Lily Family: The inconspicuous, straw-coloured, bell-shaped flowers of the graceful Bellwort, blossom during May and June in rich, moist woods and thickets. The slender, pale green stalk grows from six to twenty i...

Sessile-Leaved Bellwort. Wild Oat. Oakesia Sessilifolia. Lily Family: A pretty and somewhat more common species than the foregoing, flowering at the same time, and having its stemless, pale green, rough-edged, long pointed-oval leaves set in pairs upon the angular stalk...

Turk's Cap Lily. Lilium Superbum. Lily Family: The Turk's Cap is one of the loveliest and most graceful of our handsomest native wild flowers. It is sometimes confused with the Meadow Lily, but is a later-blooming, and much taller-growing species,...

Meadow Lily. Field, Wild Or Yellow Lily. Lilium Canadense. Lily Family: The large handsome bells of the popular Meadow Lily fairly tinkle with the joyous outdoor spirit which ever glorifies the month of June. The smooth, slender, or stout, leafy stalk grows from one to fi...

Yellow Adder's Tongue. Trout Lily Dog's Tooth Violet. Fawn Lily. Erythronium Americanum. Lily Family: Where the brook wanders through a partially shaded, open and moist bit of woodland or thicket, there, in the springtime, you will find its bank and the immediate vicinity literally carpeted with the p...

Yellow Clintonia. Clintonia Borealis. Lily Family: A handsome Lily of the Valley plant, growing especially common in our more northern woods, where it seeks the cool moisture of the shady evergreens. It was dedicated to DeWitt Clinton, a former govern...

Indian Cucumber Root. Medeola Virginiana. Lily Family: The dark purple berries of this common woodland plant are far more noticeable during August than are the singular, nodding yellow flowers that precede them. The long, horizontal, club-shaped rootstock...

Carrion Flower. Smilax Berbacea. Smilax Family: The Carrion Flower emits a remarkably putrid odour, so offensive and disagreeable that Thoreau says: It smells exactly like a dead rat in the wall. Happily, however, this objectionable feature lasts...

Yellow Star Grass. Hypoxis Birsuta. Iris Family: From May to October our grassy fields and dry, open woods are frequently spangled with the little yellow starry blossoms of this species. The flower stalks and slender, grass-like leaves, rise from a ...

Small Yellow Lady's Slipper. Cypripedium Parviflorum. Orchid Family: Cinderella's wonderful glass slipper never possessed the charm and comfort suggested by the dainty golden mocassins of this exquisite Orchid. It is a lively, smaller-flowered beauty, resembling the fo...

Large Yellow Lady's Slipper. Cypripedium Pubescens. Orchid Family: This large, striking, purple-striped, yellow-flowered Orchid is an early bloomer, and is found immediately after its lovely pink sister, the Moccasin Flower. It is not at all uncommon, yet enough so t...

Tubercled Orchis. Small Pale Green Orchis. Habenaria Flava. Orchid Family: This common, tiny-flowered and leafy-stemmed Orchid is usually found growing in the same bog with the Ragged Orchis and blooming during June and July. The rather stout stalk grows one or two feet high...

Yellow Fringed Orchis. Habenaria Ciliaris. Orchid Family: One of the tallest, stoutest, and most frequently found of our most attractive Orchids, blooming during July and August, in wet meadows and along the borders of moist, open woods. The beautiful orange...

Ragged Orchis. Habenaria Lacera. Orchid Family: The greenish yellow flowers of the Ragged Orchis are all tattered and torn, like the man in the nursery rhyme That kissed the maiden all forlorn, That milked the cow with the crumpled horn. It is...

Field, Or Sheep Sorrel. Sour Grass. Rumex Acetosella. Buckwheat Family: In, the springtime the children delight to chew the acid foliage of this familiar and so-called Sour Grass. My mouth actually waters now, as I recall the sen-sation produced by the tartness of these g...

Large Yellow Pond Lily. Cow Lily. Spatter-Dock. Nymphaea Advena. Water Lily Family: The Yellow Pond Lily grows rankest in shallow water along the margins of slow-moving streams and stagnant ponds, where great patches of the large coarse, bright green leaves grow above the surface of ...

American Lotus. Nelumbo. Water Chinquapin, Or Wankapin. Nelumbo Iutea. Water Lily Family: This beautiful aquatic is found in scattered localities from Ontario to Florida, and westward, during July and August. The large, showy fragrant flower is from four to ten inches broad, pale yellow in...

The Buttercups. Ranunculaceae. Crowfoot Family: Show me a man who, when a boy, did not hold a Buttercup under his own or another's chin that he might, by the reflection of its brilliant yellow cup, determine to what degree his subject liked butter...

Small-Flowered, Or Kidney-Leaved Crowfoot. Ranunculus Abortivus. Crowfoot Family: Commonly found along shady hillsides and woodland streams during April, May, and June, from Labrador and Nova Scotia to Manitoba, and south to Florida, Arkansas, and Colorado, this biennial species gr...

Hooked Crowfoot. Ranunculus Recurvatus. Crowfoot Family: This is an annual species with very acrid and blistering juice. It grows throughout the same general range as the small-leaved species, and is about the same height. It is found from June to August. I...

Early, Or Tufted Buttercup. Ranunculus Fascicularis. Crowfoot Family: A common, early, fine, silky-haired woodland species, growing from six to twelve inches high, and bearing deep yellow, narrow-petalled flowers, measuring nearly an inch broad. The flower often has six...

Swamp, Or Marsh Buttercup. Ranunculus Septentrtonalis. Crowfoot Family: This is the second Buttercup to blossom in the spring, and follows closely upon the Bulbous. It is tall and branching, sometimes reclining and taking root at the joints. It grows from one to three fee...

Hispid Buttercup. Ranunculus Bispidus. Crowfoot Family: The earliest flowering Buttercup in the vicinity of New York. Its young leaves are very hairy. The stems are sometimes spreading, and together with their bright yellow flowers, this species is general...

Creeping Buttercup. Ranunculus Re Pens. Crowfoot Family: This species spreads by runners and forms large patches along roadsides and in low fields, from Nova Scotia to Virginia, and westward, during May, June, and July. The plants are generally hairy. The t...

Bristly Buttercup. Ranunculus Pennsylvanicus. Crowfoot Family: This unlovely Buttercup grows commonly from one to two feet high in wet, open places, from Nova Scotia to Georgia, and west to the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia, during June, July and August. T...

Bulbous Buttercup. King, Or Gold Cup. Ranunculus Bulbosus. Crowfoot Family: This Buttercup occurs commonly from May to July, throughout some of the Northeastern States, in fields and along roadsides. It is easily identified by its bulbous root, which, from its energy-storing ...

Common Meadow, Or Tall Buttercup. Tall Crowfoot. Blister Flowers Butter Flowers. Ranunculus Acris. Crowfoot Family: This familiar species is found commonly throughout the Northern States and Canada, from May to September. It is a perennial, naturalized from Europe. The finely ribbed and branching stalk grows two or...

Marsh Marigold. Cowslip. Meadow Gowan. Caltha Palustris. Crowfoot Family: There is good reason to believe that our common Marsh Marigold is of the same sort as that which was immortalized by the Christians during the Middle Ages, who dedicated this flower to Mary, the Mothe...

Common Barberry. Pepperidge Bush. Berberis Vulgaris. Barberry Family: The Barberry becomes conspicuous during September and October, when its beautiful pendant clusters of brilliant scarlet berries begin to brighten hilly pastures and wayside thickets. Gardeners take ad...

American Barberry. Berberis Canadensis. Barberry Family: This is a smaller and less common species, growing in the woods on the mountains of Virginia to Georgia, along the Alleghanies, and in Missouri. It is not found in Canada, as its specific name might c...

Greater Celandine. Swallow-Wort Tetter-Wort. Chelidonium Majus. Poppy Family: The Celandine is a loose branching herb, sprawled commonly along roadsides and waste places, in fields, and about old buildings. It has been naturalized from Europe, and is often confused with the Bla...

Golden Corydalis. Corydalis Aurea. Fumitory Family: This bright yellow-flowered Corydalis blossoms earlier than the Pink species, and is found along rocky woodland banks and in recent clearings from Quebec to Mackenzie, and south to Oregon, Arizona, Te...

White Mustard. Brassica Alba. Mustard Family: The light brown seeds of the White Mustard are extensively used like those of the Black Mustard, but they are not so pungent, and are often mixed with them, on account of their milder nature. The plan...

Charlock. Wild Mustard. Field Kale. Brassica Arvensis. Mustard Family: This common and annoying plant was introduced into this country from Europe, and is becoming widely distributed as a weed in grain fields and waste margins about cultivated lands, where progressive fa...

Black Mustard. Brassica Nigra. Mustard Family: There is a strong likelihood that the tiny seed of this very plant is identical with the Mustard seed of the Saviour's parable, in which He likened it unto the Kingdom of Heaven. The Mustard was exten...

Yellow Rocket. Bitter, Winter, Yellow Or Rocket Cress. Barbarea Vulgaris. Mustard Family: The Yellow Rocket is one of the first of the yellow flowered Mustards to blossom in the spring. It is found in waste places in fields and along roadsides and meadows, where there is sufficient moistur...

Silvery, Or Hoary Cinquefoil. Potentilla Argentea. Rose Family: The charm of this little Cinquefoil lies in the silvery lining of dark green, and often tufted foliage. Its slender, leafy, branching and reddish stalk grows from a few inches to a foot in height, and...

Shrubby Cinquefoil. Prairie Weed. Potentilla Fruticosa. Rose Family: This very leafy, much branched Cinquefoil grows from six inches to four feet high, and, on account of its rapid and persistent growth, it has roused the ire of farmers, particularly in the New England...

Five-Finger. Wild Strawberry. Potenttlla Canadensis. Rose Family: This common Cinquefoil is very frequently mistaken for a yellow-flowered Wild Strawberry, owing to a fancied resemblance of its leaves and flowers. It is well to remember, however, that the Cinquefoil...

Tall Hairy Agrimony. Agrimonia Gryposepala. Rose Family: How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view. Agrimony ? Yes, that's one of the herbs our grandmothers gathered every fall, and which held a p...

Wild, Or American Senna. Cassia Marilandica. Pea Family: Senna was first used as medicine by the Arabians, and the leaves of this species are regularly gathered in this country, and used as a substitute for the imported. The nearly smooth, light green, slig...

Partridge Pea. Wild Sensitive Plant. Cassia Nictitans. Pea Family: The singular foliage of this common annual herb is sensitive to the touch, and if roughly handled, or threshed with the foot, the numerous leaflets close together after the fashion of a fan, or remote...

Wild Indigo. Yellow, Or Indian Broom. Horsefly-Weed. Baptisia Tinctoria. Pea Family: The very small, Clover-like leaves and bright yellow, butterfly-shaped flowers of this attractive, branching plant are easily distinguished wherever it abounds as the Wild Indigo. A blue colouring mat...

Yellow, Or Hop Clover. Trifolium Agrarium. Pea Family: A pretty and very interesting yellow-flowered annual Clover, coming to us originally from Europe. The smooth, or slightly hairy erect or ascending stalk is very slender and leafy, and grows from six t...

Yellow Melilot. Yellow Sweet Clover. Melilotus Officinalis. Pea Family: About all that has been said of the White Sweet Clover applies in a general way to this species. The principal difference, of course, is the yellow flowers. If anything, this member of the family is r...

Black Medic. Blackseed. Hop Clover. Black Trefoil. Medicago Lupulina. Pea Family: A small, downy annual having a remote resemblance to the Yellow Clover. Its slender, twisted stalk is so weak, that it is often prone to spread rather helplessly along the ground, in a somewhat scrawl...

Yellow Woodsorrel. Lady's Sorrel. Oxalis Stricta. Wood Sorrel Family: Children delight to eat the leaves of this very common Sorrel, which is found from one end of the United States to the other. They often call it Sour Grass, because its agreeable sour taste has a flav...

Jewel-Weed. Balsam. Snapweed. Spotted Touch-Me-Not. Silver-Leaf. Impatiens Biflora. Touch-Me-Not Family: How in the world did they ever happen to call this pretty twinkling cup of a flower Jewel-weed? Well, just take a quiet snoop through any old family photo-album, that used to serve as the chief implem...

St. John's-Wort Hypericum Perforatum. St. John's-Wort Family: The common St. John's-wort comes to us from Europe credited with many virtues, but you could never induce a practical farmer to see anything in it but an obnoxious yellow peril-a vampire weed, self-co...

Long-Branched Frostweed. Frostwort. Canadian Rock Rose. Helianthemum Canadense. Rock Rose Family: The study of wild flowers would become a very dull and monotonous subject indeed, if it were not for the continual panorama of interesting changes that it presents when comparing the characters and ha...

Round-Leaved, Or Early Yellow Violet. Viola Rotundifolia. Violet Family: Much less conspicuous, and consequently not so widely known as the larger Downy Yellow species, the Round-leaved Violet is generally the first of the Violets to appear in blossom. Snuggled beneath the...

Downy Yellow Violet. Viola Pubescens. Violet Family: Scattered about in dry, airy, particularly hilly or stony woodland, where the sun's rays play at hide and seek with its flitting shadows, during April and May, the cheerful, bright, golden yellow blos...

Smooth Yellow Violet. Viola Scabriuscula. Violet Family: This species might be confused with the Downy Yellow Violet at first sight. In fact, it was formerly considered a mere variety of the latter. Its distinguishing features, however, are at once sufficie...

Evening Primrose. Night Willow-Herb. Oenothera Biennis. Evening Primrose Family: The Evening Primrose is commonly found in dry, open fields, and along roadways everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, from June to October. The large, bright yellow flowers open in the evening, and a...

Common Sundrops. Oenothera Fruticosa. Evening Primrose Family: A common day-flowering perennial, similar to the Evening Primrose, growing from one to three feet high, and usually branched. The sparingly toothed oblong or lance-shaped leaves are either clasping or...

Early, Or Golden Meadow Parsnip. Golden Alexanders. Zizia Aurea. Parsley Family: The flat-topped, yellow-flowered clusters of the Early Meadow Parsnip sway just above the grassy crests in fields and meadows, along roadside and swamp land from April to June. It is one of the earlie...

Wild Parsnip. Madnep. Tank. Pastinaca Sativa. Parsley Family: The generic name of this common Parsnip is derived from the latin pastus, meaning food, and alludes to the edible qualities of the fleshy roots, which, according to Pliny, were cultivated along the Rh...

Four-Leaved, Or Whorled Loosestrife. Crosswort. Lysimachia Quadrifolia. Primrose Family: Fairies' Fountain would have been a more deserving and appropriate name for this pretty floral cascade. During a shower this allusion becomes more real than fancied, as the attractive leaves are arran...

Bulb-Bearing Loosestrife. Lysimachia Terrestris. Primrose Family: The long, slender yellow wands of this Loosestrife brighten our swamps and moist thickets from July to September. The smooth, hollow leafy stalk is usually branched near the top, and grows less than t...

Butterfly-Weed. Pleurisy-Root. Wind-Root. Orange-Root. Asclepias Tuberosa. Milkweed Family: A vivid, penetrating flash of brightest glowing orange suddenly greets us as we cross the grassy fields during July, and we stop immediately to express our admiration for this most stunning and handso...

Citronella. Stone-Root. Horse-Balm. Collinsonia Canadensis. Mint Family: This strong-scented, aromatic, perennial grows in rich, moist woods, and bears lemon-scented, light yellow flowers, which blossom from July to October. The familiar oil of Citronella, used so extensiv...

Great Mullein. Velvet, Or Mullein Dock. Flannel-Leaf. Aaron's Rod. Verbascum Thapsus. Figwort Family: The Great Mullein erects its tall, stiff shafts here and there, like so many floral lighthouses, guarding our dry fields and rocky hillsides, or guiding various insect aeroplanists by the irregular gl...

Moth Mullein. Verbascum Blattaria. Figwort Family: The Moth Mullein flashes its yellow or white search-lights this way and that, over the grassy seas of neglected pastures and fields, and along waysides, from June to November. They are singularly attr...

Butter-And-Eggs. Yellow Toad-Flax. Bride-Weed. Flaxweed. Eggs-And-Bacon. Linaria Vulgaris. Figwort Family: The beautiful yellow and orange flower spikes of this extremely common and homely named perennial are too well known and too little appreciated to warrant an extended description. Its colour scheme is...

Fern-Leaved, False Foxglove. Gerardia Pedicularia. Figwort Family: A beautiful species, with handsome, fern-like leaves, found in dry woods and thickets mostly along the Atlantic Coast States, during August and September. It is an annual or biennial plant, and is rat...

Downy False Foxglove. Gerardia Flava. Figwort Family: This species is partly parasitic, absorbing part of its nourishment from the roots of other plants with which its own roots come in contact. The lovely large, yellow, deeply tubed flowers are very sho...

Narrow-Leaved Cow-Wheat. Melampyrum Lineare. Figwort Family: An inconspicuous, low-growing annual found from May to August, in dry open woods and thickets. The branching, hairy and leafy stalk rises from six inches to a foot or so in height. The toothless, shor...

Yellow Bedstraw. Lady's Bedstraw. Cheese-Rennet. Bedflower. Fleawort. Galium Verum. Madder Family: The name Bedstraw alludes to the legend in which one of these plants was found among the hay on which Mary, the Mother of Jesus, rested. This yellow-flowered species has been introduced from Europe, a...

Golden Aster. Chrysopsis Mariana. Thistle Family: The beautiful golden heads of this Aster-like species are generally common during August and September, along the Atlantic Coast. The stout stalk branches at the top for the flowers. It is covered wit...

The Golden-Rods. Solidago. Thistle Family: Heralding the advent of the final, and most gorgeous floral pageant of the year, the monotoned Golden-rods literally romp over everything that is rompable from valley to peak. They form a most conspic...

Blue-Stemmed, Wreathed, Or Woodland Golden-Rod. Solidago Caesia. Thistle Family: This very slender, curving, leafy and smooth-stemmed species is characterized by the bluish or purple bloom of its stalk, which grows from one to three feet high. The thin-textured, oblong or lance-sh...

Zig-Zag, Or Broad-Leaved Golden-Rod. Solidago Latifolia. Thistle Family: This species is readily distinguished by its usually single, zig-zagged or angular, green stem, and also by its broad oval, yellowish green leaves. The latter have short stems and a very strongly and ...

White Golden-Rod. Silver-Rod. Solidago Bicolor. Thistle Family: It requires more than a passing glance to recognize this hoary albino as a Golden-rod, when one meets with it for the first time. The flowers are cream-coloured or almost white, and the stalk and foli...

Bog Golden-Rod. Solidago Uliginosa. Thistle Family: Think of this pretty flash of yellow spending its life among the bogs and in dismal swamps, even in Newfoundland! One imagines it to be the nun of the family, sacrificing a conventional life to bright...

Showy, Or Noble Golden-Rod. Solidago Speciosa. Thistle Family: This is one of the most striking and fascinating of its genus. The large, round, usually single stalk raises its magnificent golden plume anywhere from three to seven feet in height. Neither is there ...

Seaside, Or Salt Marsh Golden-Rod. Solidago Sempervirens. Thistle Family: This tall and lovely maritime species skirts the Atlantic Coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida and Mexico. It is also found in Bermuda. From August to December it flourishes wherever sandy s...

Early, Plume Or Sharp-Toothed Golden-Rod. Yellow-Top. Solidago Juncea. Thistle Family: This species is one of the earliest and latest, as well as one of the handsomest and commonest of its genus. Its smooth, round, rather stout, rigid and light green stalk rises to an average of two fee...

Sweet, Or Anise-Scented Golden-Rod. Blue Mountain Tea. Solidago Odora. Thistle Family: The bruised foliage of this species diffuses a pleasant and lasting anise-like fragrance which instantly reveals its identity. It yields a volatile oil, and at one time the dried leaves and flowers we...

Elm-Leaved Golden-Rod. Solidago Ulmifblia. Thistle Family: This common, slender and smooth-stemmed Golden-rod is characterized by the strong resemblance of its leaves to those of the Elm tree. They are thintextured, and the margins are coarsely and sharply to...

Wrinkle-Leaved, Or Tall Hairy Golden-Rod. Bitterweed. Solidago Rugosa. Thistle Family: A very hairy and rough species, growing from one to seven feet high, and usually found in fields and along fences and roadsides from July to November. The straight, stout, long-haired stalk is crowded...

Gray, Or Field Golden-Rod. Dyer's Weed. Solidago Nemoralis. Thistle Family: This common species raises its slender, ashy-gray stalk from six inches to two feet high. It is single, very leafy, and covered with minute whitish hairs. It has been considered one of the most brilli...

Canada Golden-Rod. Yellow-Weed. Solidago Canadensis. Thistle Family: Here is a feather duster of glowing gold, and a close rival of the elegant Showy or Noble Golden-rod. It is probably the largest, showiest, and most common of them all - if not, indeed, the handsomest...

Bushy, Or Fragrant Golden-Rod. Solidago Graminifolia. Thistle Family: This species differs so much from the true Golden-rods, Solidago, with which it is classed, that many botanists regard it as the leading type of a separate and new genus, Euthamia, a Greek word referr...

Elecampane. Horseheal. Yellow Starwort. Inula Helenium. Thistle Family: Hippocrates, the Greek physician, known as the Father of Medicine, over two thousand years ago, considered this plant important as a brain and stomach stimulant, and it has been used ever since for ...

Black-Eyed-Susan. Yellow Daisy. Nigger-Head. Golden Jerusalem. Cornflower. Rudbeckia Birta. Thistle Family: The lively orange and black heads of these thrifty, conspicuous flowers seem to accelerate the grandeur of our fields and meadows from May to September, where they flaunt their Princeton colours with ...

Common Sunflower. Larabell. Helianthus Annuus. Thistle Family: The Sunflowers are native to this country, and this species is extensively cultivated in Russia, India, Turkey, Egypt, Germany, Italy, France and China, as well as here, for the production of fixed oi...

Tall, Or Giant Sunflower. Helianthus Giganteus. Thistle Family: A tall perennial species, with a rough, hairy, purple-stained stalk rising from three to twelve feet high from fleshy, creeping, edible roots, and are either single or branching at the top. The firm-t...

Jerusalem Artichoke. Earth Apple. Canada Potato. Helianthus Tuberosus. Thistle Family: Long before Columbus set foot on our shores, the native Indians cultivated this species for its thick, tuberous roots, which they used for food. It is still frequently raised for similar purposes. The...

Beggar-Ticks. Stick-Tight. Stick-Weed. Rayless Marigold. Pitch-Forks. Common Bur Marigold. Bidens Frondosa. Thistle Family: Bidens means two teeth, and refers to the two sharp prongs of the flat, brown seed of this species, which attaches itself to everything in the line of clothing or wool that happens to brush against it...

Sneezeweed. Swamp Sunflower. Yellow Star. Ox-Eye. Helenium Autumnale. Thistle Family: During September the bright yellow blossoms of the Sneezeweed illuminate the low meadows and swamps from one end of the country to the other. The stout, branching stalk rises from two to six feet in h...

Tansy. Bitter Buttons. Hindheel. Ginger-Plant. Tanacetum Vulgare. Thistle Family: Tansy was one of the good old standbys of our grandmothers' time, and was relied upon to cure anything and everything in the way of bodily ills that happened to disturb any member of the household, ...

Coltsfoot. Coughwort. Tussilago Farfara. Thistle Family: This is the same Coltsfoot that our grandmothers used to gather and dry and hang in the garret along with their Boneset, Catnip, Goldthread, and a various assortment of garden herbs. Coltsfoot was con...

Golden Ragwort. Life-Root. Swamp Squaw-Weed. False Valerian. Sanecio Aureus. Thistle Family: The attractive, rich, golden-yellow flowers of this Daisy-like perennial appear in May and June in moist meadows and thickets, and in swamps. It is strikingly clean cut and beautiful. The slender, usu...

Dwarf Dandelion. Krigia Virginica. Chicory Family: A small annual, bearing tiny, deep yellow or light orange-coloured flowers on long, slender, naked stems, that rise from one to fifteen inches in height. The flowers resemble in miniature, those of th...

Dandelion. Blowball. Lion's-Tooth Cankerwort. Irish Daisy. Taraxacum Officinale. Chicory Family: The Dandelion, like the Daisy, scarcely needs to be described. It is known from one end of our great country to the other, and, notwithstanding its exceeding abundance, the first bright, solitary flow...

Common Sow Thistle. Hare's Lettuce. Milk Thistle. Sonchus Oleraceus. Chicory Family: A tall and usually single-stalked annual, naturalized from Europe, and growing from one to ten feet high, from a fibrous root. The smooth, hollow, grooved stalk is leafy below, and contains a milky ju...

Spring, Or Sharp-Fringed Sow Thistle. Sonchus Asper. Chicory Family: An annual species, similar to the Common Sow Thistle. The lower leaves are pointed paddle-shaped, and taper into a narrow stem. The upper leaves are gracefully arched and slightly folded, with irregul...

Wild, Or Tall Lettuce. Wild Opium. Trumpet Weed. Fireweed. Trumpet Milkweed. Lactuca Canadensis. Chicory Family: The common, and noticeably tall, leafy stalk of the Wild Lettuce raises its unattractive, pale yellow flowers anywhere from three to ten feet high, in moist, open places, usually along our roadsides, ...

Hairy, Or Red Wood Lettuce. Lactuca Hirsuta. Chicory Family: This is a smaller, less leafy, and usually hairy species, growing generally in dry soils from one to six feet high. The hollow stalk is usually stained with red. The rays of the flowers are reddish ye...

Orange, Or Tawny Hawkweed. Golden Mouse-Ear Hawkweed. Grim The Collier. Devil's Paint Brush. Hieracium Aurantiacum. Chicory Family: The orange-coloured flowers and grimy stem will always keep this attractive Hawkweed from becoming confused with any of the yellow-flowered species. It has become naturalized here, and came from Europ...

Rattlesnake-Weed. Poor Robin's Plan- Tain. Vein-Leaf. Hawkweed. Hawkbit. Hieracium Venosum. Chicory Family: There is no mistaking the Common Rattlesnake-weed when you find the small rosette of purple-veined leaves. That they have an uncanny, snaky something or another about them cannot be denied, and it is ...

Hairy Hawkweed. Hieracium Gronovii: This slender, wand-like Hawkweed grows from one to three feet in height. The stem is stiff, hairy, and sometimes nearly leafless. The long oval basal leaves are either entire or toothed, and are usual...

Section IV. White And Greenish Flowers. Broad-Leaved Arrowhead. Sagittaria Latifolia. Water-Plantain Family: THE Arrowhead is a very decorative and common, mud-loving, white-flowered aquatic perennial, blooming from July to September, in shallow water along the margins of slow streams, ponds, and marshes. Th...

American White Hellebore. Indian Poke. Itch-Weed. Viratrum Viride. Lily Family: In rich, moist woods, swamps, and wet meadows, and usually associated with the Skunk Cabbage and Marsh Marigold, the rank-growing foliage of the Hellebore flourishes with a tropical vigorousness. The ...

Star Of Bethlehem. Ten O'Clock. Ornithogalum Umbellatum. Lily Family: An extremely dainty plant with exquisite white, starry flowers which decorate our moist fields and meadows during May and June from New England to Virginia, and become very abundant in favourable loca...

Wild Spikenard. False Solomon's Seal. Solomon's Zigzag. Smilacina Racemosa. Lily Family: On account of the similarity of its foliage, this species is frequently confused with the True Solomon's Seal, with which it is often found growing. It is easily distinguished, however, by the termina...

False Lily Of The Valley. Two-Leaved. Solomon's Seal. Maianthemum Canadense. Lily Family: A common and familiar little zigzag-stemmed, woodland plant, bearing usually two leaves or often only one, and found generally about the base of stumps and trees in moist woods and thickets, where it ...

Hairy, True Or Twin-Flowered Solomon's Seal. Polygonatum Biflorum. Lily Family: A common and graceful species growing in woods and thickets in company with the Wild Spikenard, and frequently confused with it. The upper part of the slender, leafy, unbranched stalk is often angular...

Large Flowered Wake-Robin. Trillium Grandiflorum. Lily Family: The Trilliums rank among the foremost of our native woodland wild flowers, and they possess an individuality that compares favourably with the exclusive traits of the Arbutus, the Gentians, the Lobeli...

Nodding Wake-Robin. Trillium Cernuum. Lily Family: The fragrant white or pink flower of this common Trillium droops on its short, curving stem until it nods, usually below the whorl of very broad leaves, where it is quite hidden from view. The stalk i...

Painted Trillium, Or Wake-Robin. Trillium Undulatum. Lily Family: The beautiful Painted Trillium is one of the commonest and most striking of its clan. It loves to dwell beside cool, trickling brooklets, and in shady dells in rich, damp woods where it blossoms durin...

Star-Grass. Colic-Root. Aletris Farinosa. Lily Family: A bitter, fibrous-rooted, yellow-flowered perennial, which is sought annually in some localities by herb gatherers, on account of its reputed value as a remedy for colic, rheumatism and as a general t...

Showy Lady's Slipper. Cypripedium Hirsutum. Orchid Family: This magnificent, fragrant Orchid has been considered the most beautiful of the Cypripediums and some enthusiasts have even thought that it should be crowned the queen of American wild flowers. It is ...

Large Round-Leaved Orchis. Habenaria Orbiculata. Orchid Family: A pair of exceedingly large, shining, circular leaves with a silvery underside and lying flat upon the ground, are pretty certain means of identifying this peculiar Orchid. It frequents deep, rich woo...

White Fringed Orchis. Habenaria Blephariglottis. Orchid Family: This refined and elegant beauty raises her stately white head above the surrounding grasses, and, after the manner of the powdered Colonial dames of old, fascinates us with her incomparable grace and ...

Nodding Ladies' Tresses. Spiranthes Cernua. Orchid Family: Throughout the glorious autumn, when the summer verdure gradually assumes the most beautiful variations of yellow, scarlet, and brown, and after most of our wild flowers have ceased their floral activ...

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain. Epipactis Pubescens. Orchid Family: The familiar rosettes of white-veined, blue-green foliage of this common Orchid are spread close to the ground, in dry and usually evergreen woods, where they occur in distinct patches, and are really...

Poke . Scoke. Pigeon-Berry. Garget. Ink-Berry. Phytolacca Decandra. Pokeweed Family: This tall, smooth, strong-smelling, stout and branching herb grows from four to twelve feet high from a large, poisonous, perennial root. It is a most familiar plant during autumn, when its round, pur...

Long-Leaved Stitchwort. Stellaria Longifolia. Pink Family: A taller, freely branching, rough-angled species, having small, narrow, grass-like leaves and numerous slightly larger flowers than the following. The lance-shaped sepals do not extend beyond the peta...

Common Chickweed. Stellaria Media. Pink Family: Chickweed? Why, that's good for birds! Almost everyone will tell you that, the wide world over. Almost everyone who owns a pet canary has fed it sprigs of the buds and flowers of the Chickweed. It is ...

Field Chickweed. Cerastium Arvense. Pink Family: A densely tufted perennial, more or less erect in growth, and often covered with minute hairs. It is sparingly branched and grows from four to ten inches high. The starry white flowers are much larger...

Starry Campion. Silene Stellata. Pink Family: You can tell at once by their swollen joints that the Campions are related to the Pink family. The prominent calyx is another tell-tale feature. The erect, leafy, light green stem is roughened with fi...

Bladder Campion. Behen. Cow-Bell. Spattering, Or Frothy Poppy. Silene Latifolia. Pink Family: This pretty, delicate native of Europe and Asia was introduced into the vicinity of Boston, and has become very common in fields and roadsides from New Brunswick and Ontario southward to New Jersey, I...

Spring Beauty. Claytonia. Claytonia Virginica. Purslane Family: Ever since the beginning of things there has been a wide range of temperament exhibited among the beauties of creation, and it is no less pronounced among flowers than it is peculiar to those who begi...

Sweet-Scented White Water Lily. Pond Lily. Water Nymph. Castalia Odorata. Water Lily Family: There is scarcely another flower that loses so much of its spectacular charm and magnificent splendour as the beautiful Water Lily when it is removed from its natural element. The flowers certainly pr...

Early Meadow Rue. Thalictrum Dioicum. Crowfoot Family: This is a smaller species of the Meadow Rue, and it grows from one to two feet high in open woods and along rocky hillsides, during April and May, from Labrador to Alabama, and westward to Missouri. I...

Tall Meadow Rue. Thalictrum Polygamum. Crowfoot Family: During midsummer when swampy, open woods and low, wet meadows are overrun with the rank luxuriant growth of vegetation peculiar to such localities, the Tall Meadow Rue will be found in all its glory, ...

Rue Anemone. Anemonella Thalictroides. Crowfoot Family: When one is just forming an acquaintance with the Wood and the Rue Anemones, it frequently happens that the names of the two flowers become confused in the mind, and one finds it bothersome to determi...

Wood Anemone. Wind Flower. Anemone Quinquefolia. Crowfoot Family: The Anemone has been an especially favoured flower in poetics from various sources of considerable antiquity. Its legendary and traditional significance has furnished an abundance of material for the ...

Virgin's Bower. Traveller's Joy. Old Man's Beard. Clematis Virginiana. Crowfoot Family: If, perchance, we should be called upon to suggest a new name for this beautiful climbing vine, it is doubtful if one more appropriate or descriptive than the Wild Festoon, or perhaps the Wood Garland...

Goldthread. Canker-Root. Coptis Trifolia. Crowfoot Family: There is no general rule that will enable everyday folks to recognize each wild flower by its common name at first sight. It will be found quite as necessary to depend upon the imagination and reasoni...

Black Snakeroot. Black Cohosh. Cimicifuga Racemosa. Crowfoot Family: The attractive, feathery spikes of the Black Snake-root emit a rank, offensive odour, and country people used to say that they were good for driving away bugs and flies from their rooms. For centuries...

Cohosh. White Baneberry. Herb-Christopher. Rattlesnake Herb. Actaea Alba. Crowfoot Family: Slip through the thicket that skirts the country roadway and into the damp, shaded ravine or hillside where the Jack-in-the-Pulpit is capering during May, and the chances are, as you make your way thr...

May Apple. Mandrake. Wild Lemon. Hog Apple. Podophyllum Peltatum. Barberry Family: The May Apple does not await the passing of. April showers before preparing to attend May's annual floral festival. But with an air of seeming indifference and independence, as though borne of impatie...

Bloodroot. Indian Paint. Red Puccoon. Sanguinaria Canadensis. Poppy Family: The Bloodroot is one of the very earliest spring flowers. Long before the trees and shrubs take on their vernal foliage, the flower stalks press through the leafmould with the buds snugly enfolded in ...

Dutchman's Breeches. Soldiers' Caps. Dicentra Cucullaria. Fumitory Family: Perhaps, in the olden days when the elfs made merry in the woodland dells, they were dressed in tiny, white, corduroy panties. Perhaps, one night during the springtime, they were caught in an April sh...

Peppergrass. Lepidium Virginicum. Mustard Family: Peppergrass is common everywhere along roadsides and in fields from the West Indies and the Gulf States northward to Minnesota and Quebec. It is known by every schoolboy in the land, who has nibbled i...

Shepherd's Purse. Capsella Bursa-Pastoris. Mustard Family: The Shepherd's Purse takes its name from the little, flat, triangular seed-pods, which are the plant's most conspicuous production. It is found the world over, from one end of the year to the other. I...

Two-Leaved Toothwort. Crinkleroot. Dentaria Diphylla. Mustard Family: Country people will tell you that the roots of the Crinkleroot make a mighty tasty sandwich, and if you happen to walk through the woods with them during May, they will dig up a few pieces and let you...

Round-Leaved Sundew. Dew-Plant. Rosa-Solis. Youth-Wort. Drosera Rotundifolia. Sundew Family: It is exceedingly interesting to ponder over the unlimited resources of Nature, which enable her to rise to any emergency. The Audubon Society will tell you that a horrible famine might result if it w...

Early Saxifrage. Saxifraga Virginiensis. Saxifrage Family: Early in March the pretty little white flowers of the Saxifrage blossom in numerous spreading groups, which are loosely clustered on the tops of long, thick, often sticky, hairy stems. This plant grow...

False Mitrewort. Foam-Flower. Coolwort. Tiarella Cordifolia. Saxifrage Family: The form of the pistil of the False Mitrewort is responsible for its Latin name, meaning a little tiara or turban. The slender, hairy flowering stalk rises from six to twelve inches high from the root...

Two-Leaved-Bishop's Cap. Mitrewort. Mitella Diphylla. Saxifrage Family: The form of the young seed-pot of this plant suggested its Latin name, from mitra, a cap. The slender, hairy flowering stalk is quite naked excepting for a pair of nearly stemless opposite leaves half...

Carolina Grass Of Parnassus. Parnassia Caroliniana. Saxifrage Family: A pretty five-petaled perennial, growing from eight to twenty-four inches high, in swamps and low meadows, from New Brunswick and Manitoba, south to Virginia, Illinois and Iowa. The spreading, broad, ...

Willow-Leaved, Or American Meadowsweet. Queen Of The Meadow. Quaker Lady. Spiraea Salicifolia. Rose Family: The large, fleecy pyramids of delicate, pink-tinted white flowers of this pretty maid-of-the-mist enlighten the rank growths peculiar to low, moist situations, from June to August. Its smooth, tough, ...

The Blackberries. Rosaceae. Rose Family: The starry white flowers of the Blackberries are very conspicuous and exceedingly common during May and June, when they smother the tangled, bristly bramble patches with their fluffy, snowy whiteness....

Wild, Virginia Or Scarlet Strawberry. Fragaria Virginiana. Rose Family: John Greenleaf Whittier twanged a sympathetic chord that will vibrate for generations to come, when he exalted the Barefoot Boy, With thy red lips; redder still Kissed by strawberries on the hill. ...

White Avens. Geum Canadense. Rose Family: The slender, branching, angular stem of the common White Avens grows about eighteen inches high in moist, shady places and blossoms from June to August. The large, tufted, long-stemmed, basal leaves h...

Black Raspberry. Black Cap. Rubus Occidentalis. Rose Family: The smooth, curving, cane-like stalk of this species often roots again at the tip, and it grows some ten or twelve feet in length. It is sparingly covered with small, hooked prickers. The leaf is thre...

High Bush Blackberry. Rubus Allegbeniensis. Rose Family: A very common, scrubby, branching bramble with long, grooved, erect or curving stalks growing from three to ten feet in length, and armed with stout, slightly recurving thorns. The stiff, prickly purp...

Running Blackberry. Rubus Hispidus. Rose Family: This slender-stemmed and weak-bristled, branching Blackberry creeps gracefully along its way from four to ten feet. The few prickers are scantily scattered. The compound leaves are three-parted, and t...

Low Running Blackberry. Dewberry. Rubus Villosus. Rose Family: A trailing, woody-stemmed vine, loping along the ground for several feet and often armed with scattered prickers. Its ascending branches are sparingly prickled. The large leaf has from three to seven ...

Rabbit-Root, Old-Field, Stone Or Pussy Clover. Hare's-Foot. Trifolium Arvense. Pea Family: The funny, fuzzy heads of the Pussy Plant are often carelessly passed and unnoticed with the mistaken idea that they are merely the faded and bleached remains of some perished blossom. And if you are ...

White, Dutch Or Honeysuckle Clover. Trifolium Repens. Pea Family: This is the commest of the white Clovers and is found everywhere in great abundance. It is extensively used for lawns and has been cultivated in some parts of the country where it is highly prized as ...

White Melilot. White Sweet Clover. Honey-Lotus. Tree Clover. Melilotus Alba. Pea Family: Great armfuls of the White Sweet Clover are gathered annually because of the delightful fragrance of its leaves, which becomes more pronounced as they dry out and emit their pleasing odour in our room...

Poison Ivy. Poison Oak. Mercury. Rhus Toxicodendron. Sumac Family: Nearly everyone is familiar with the unpleasant effects produced by contact with this treacherous and exceedingly poisonous vine, which has undoubtedly caused more harm to mankind than all other plant...

New Jersey Tea. Red-Root. Wild Snowball. Ceanbthus Americanus. Buckthorn Family: Every patriotic citizen of the United States should know this historic plant, because a brewing of its leaves was used as a substitute for tea by the American troops during the Revolution. It was empl...

Virginia Creeper. American Ivy. Psedera Quinquefolia. Grape Family: The name Woodbine is very frequently misapplied to this high climbing or trailing vine with its numerous tendrils. It is commonly confused with the Poison Ivy, but can be easily distinguished by its f...

Sweet White Violet. Viola Blanda. Violet Family: The dearest violet of all, observes Neltje Blanchan. Surely a more charming and appropriate comment on the Sweet White Violet would be difficult to imagine, for the very modesty and nature of this d...

Canada Violet. Viola Canadensis. Violet Family: This pretty, fragrant violet distinguishes itself by blooming twice during the season, first in May and again in August. It is also the tallest of its family, growing sometimes two feet in height. It ...

Enchanter's Nightshade. Circaea Lutetiana. Evening Primrose Family: A rather inconspicuous flowering perennial, receiving its Latin name from Circe, the daughter of Sol and Perse, a mythical enchantress who first charmed her victims and then transformed them into vari...

American Spikenard. Indian Root. Spignet. Aralia Racemosa. Ginseng Family: The Spikenard is very apt to attract one's attention in the autumn with its ripening clusters of dark purple or reddish brown berries. The large, thick, aromatic roots of this species have an odour an...

Wild, Or Virginian Sarsaparilla. Small Spikenard. Rabbit-Foot. Aralia Nudicaulis. Ginseng Family: Because the long, creeping, aromatic roots of this plant are very fragrant, they are extensively gathered and sold as a substitute for the genuine article, and so this species has received its common ...

Ginseng. Panax Quinquefolium. Ginseng Family: The Chinese have regarded the root of the Ginseng with the highest of fanatical esteem from time immemorial, and believe it to possess almost miraculous powers in preserving health, endowing youth, an...

Sanicle. Black Snakeroot. Sanicula Marilandica. Carrot Family: From the Rocky Mountains eastward to Newfoundland and Georgia, this common and well-known herb raises its stout, smooth, hollow, usually simple and swaying stalk from one and a half to four feet in he...

Sweet Cicely. Osmorhiza Longistylis. Carrot Family: This species is a perennial herb having large, thick, clustered, edible roots that are regularly sought by country children because of their pleasant, anise-flavoured odour and taste. Greatest caution...

Water Hemlock. Musquash Root. Spotted Cowbane. Beaver Poison. Cicuta Maculata. Carrot Family: This is one of the most poisonous plants native to the United States, and particular attention should be given to establish its identity that it may not be confused with the Sweet Cicely, or Wild Carr...

Cow Parsnip. Master-Wort. Heracleum Lanatum. Carrot Family: Linnaeus made no mistake when he dedicated this tall, strikingly bold, and giant-like perennial to Hercules who, according to Pliny, used it in medicine. The immense hollow stalk, which is grooved, wo...

Wild Carrot. Bird's Nest. Queen Anne's Lace. Daucus Carota. Carrot Family: Tirades of abuse and condemnation have been heaped upon the Wild Carrot by farmers whose fields and pastures have been overrun by this prolific immigrant from Europe and Asia. It is doubtful, however,...

Low, Or Dwarf Cornel. Bunchberry. Cornus Canadensis. Dogwood Family: Whatever the Bunchberry lacks in height, it makes up for in spread of foliage during the summer, and brightness of fruit during the autumn. The single slender stalk is four-sided and grooved, and rise...

One-Flowered Wintergreen. Moneses Uniflora. Wintergreen Family: This quaint little solitary-flowered denizen of our northern woods is often mistaken for a Pyrola. The slender stalk is acutely recurved, somewhat like a question mark, and, indeed, when one sees for ...

One-Sided Winterqreen. Pyrola Secunda. Wintergreen Family: This strange little Pyrola is easily identified by its drooping, one-sided floral spike of greenish white five-lobed, bell-shaped flowers which have exceedingly prominent pistils. Usually several slen...

Shin-Leaf. Pyrola Elliptic A. Wintergreen Family: This, one of the smallest of the Pyrolas, is also one of the commonest. Its flower stalk grows from five to ten inches high, and bears from seven to fifteen very fragrant, greenish white, nodding flow...

Round-Leaved, Pear-Leaved, Or. False Wintergreen. Indian, Or Canker Lettuce. Pyrola Americana. Wintergreen Family: This is the tallest of the Pyrolas, which at a distance resemble somewhat the flowers of the Lily of the Valley. The flower stalk rises from six to twenty inches from a perennial, creeping root. The s...

Indian-Pipe. Ice-Plant. Ghost-Flower. Corpse-Plant. Monotropa Uniflora. Indian-Pipe Family: Gathered together in stiff, colourless groups of from three to a dozen or more, these strange, uncanny, waxy white flowers hold their silent, Quaker-like meetings with bowed heads, as if awaiting the ...

White Azalea. Swamp Pink. Swamp Honeysuckle. Clammy Azalea. Rhododendron Viscosum. Heath Family: This species closely resembles the Pink Azalea and grows from four to eight feet high. It is found only in swamps and low, wet places during June and July. The smaller flowers are deliciously fragrant...

Spring, Or Creeping Wintergreen. Checkerberry. Partridge-Berry. Mountain Tea. Ground-Tea, Or Dew-Berry. Gaultheria Procumbens. Heath Family: To find the Wintergreen is to find ourselves tramping noiselessly over thick, green, mossy rugs, or slipping and sliding over mattings of bleached pine needles in the mountains. It has lured us away f...

Creeping Snowberry. Moxie Plum. Chiogenes Hispidula. Huckleberry Family: In cool, damp woods where the exquisite Twin-flower and familiar Clintonia love to dwell, this daintiest of our low, trailing plants decorates the mossy hummocks of smouldering stumps with its beautif...

Star Flower. Chickweed Winter-Green. Star Anemone. Trientalis Americana. Primrose Family: This delicate little white, starry flower is found during May and June in damp, open woods and thickets, from Virginia, Illinois, and Minnesota far into Canada. It grows from three to nine inches high...

Indian Hemp. Amy-Root. Apocynum Cannabinum. Dogbane Family: This species is very similar to the Spreading Dogbane. The five-pointed, tubular flowers, however, are very small and greenish white and are borne erect in terminal clusters. The plant is somewhat les...

Whorled Milkweed. Asclepias Verticillata. Milkweed Family: This dainty, low growing Milkweed is characterized by the extremely small, narrow leaves which are arranged in whorls along the milky, swaying stalk. The latter is very leafy, slender, and hairy and ...

Common Dodder. Love-Vine. Strangle-Weed. Cuscuta Gronovii. Dodder Family: This is the commonest of our Dodders, and is found in twisted and tangled masses about herbs and low shrubs, during July and August, from Canada to the Gulf States. It is a variable species and is kno...

Black, Or Common Nightshade. Solanum Nigrum. Potato Family: A low, native, annual species growing one or two feet high in rich, shaded grounds from July to October. It is usually smooth, much-branched, and spreading. The thin, pointed-oval leaf is wavy-toothed...

Jamestown, Or Jimson-Weed. Devil's Trumpet. Stramonium. Datura Stramonium. Potato Family: The well-known, rank-odoured, showy-flowered Jimson-weed's chief occupation seems to be in hiding the unsightly scars created by ruthless man, in the shape of refuse piles, public dumps, and neglected...

Culver's Root. Culver's Physic. Black-Root. Veronica Virginica. Figwort Family: Bold and stately, this tall and rather stiff white-flowered perennial herb rears its wand-like spires from two to seven feet high in rich, moist woods, thickets, and meadows, from June to September. T...

Cleavers. Goose Grass. Cleaverwort. Galium Aparine. Madder Family: This particular Bedstraw has literally more popular names than one could shake a stick at. No less than seventy have been recorded to its credit! The generic name, Galium, was mentioned by Dioscorides...

Stiff Marsh Bedstraw. Wild Madder. Galium Tinctorium. Madder Family: This stiff, erect perennial species grows from six to fifteen inches high. The branching stem is nearly smooth, and the lance-shaped, dull green leaves are mostly in whorls of four. The white flowers ...

Sweet-Scented, Or Fragrant Bedstraw. Galium Triflorum. Madder Family: This is a perennial species, having its shining, broad lance-shaped, bristle-pointed leaves grouped in whorls of three, and its greenish flowers usually in clusters of three. The foliage becomes sweet...

Partridge-Berry. Twin-Berry. Mitchella Repens. Madder Family: One of our smallest, prettiest, and most common creeping herbs, having three conspicuous characteristics that make an otherwise insignificant vine of more than passing interest. First of all are the e...

Boneset. Indian Sage. Ague-Weed. Thoroughwort. Wild Sage. Crosswort. Eupatorium Perfoliatum. Thistle Family: The very thought of Boneset will send a shudder through most everyone who has been brought up in the good, old-fashioned way. Wet feet and snuffles, headache and cough, fever and ague, Boneset tea a...

White Snakeroot. White Sanicle. Deer-Wort Boneset. Indian Sanicle. Eupatorium Urticaefolium. Thistle Family: A usually smooth and much-branched species growing from one to four feet high, with opposite, slender-stemmed leaves. It is a much more graceful and handsome plant than the common Boneset, and is not ...

White Wood Aster. Aster Divaricatus. Thistle Family: A dainty, pleasing species of extremely varying habit, favouring the shaded portions of well-drained woodlands and thickets, but often found along dusty roadsides. The slightly zigzagged, brittle, gre...

White Heath, Or Frost-Weed Aster. Frost-Weed. Michaelmas Daisy. Farewell Summer. White Rosemary. Dog-Fen-Nel. Mare's Tail. Scrub-Brush. Aster Ericoides. Thistle Family: A common, small-flowered, and usually bushy Aster with its nearly smooth stalk rising from one to three feet, and covered with very small, bract-like leaflets. It is so closely studded with the pretti...

Dense-Flowered, Or White Wreath Aster. Fall Flower. Aster Multiflorus. Thistle Family: This tiny-flowered Aster is common in dry, open places from August to November, and grows from one to seven feet high, with ascending and spreading branches. It is so thickly covered with the finest w...

Whorled, Or Mountain Aster. Aster Acuminatus. Thistle Family: A low-growing woodland Aster with very large, sharply pointed leaves so closely alternated toward the top of the stalk beneath the flowers as to appear as though they were whorled. The flowers often h...

Daisy Fleabane. Sweet Scabious. Erigeron Annuus. Thistle Family: The common Daisy Fleabane follows immediately upon the heels of Robin's Plantain in June. It is one of the smallest of the Daisy-like flowers, having a light, greenish yellow centre with a finely frin...

Pearly, Large--Flowered Or Life Everlasting. Silver-Leaf. Moonshine. Cotton-Weed. None-So-Pretty. Anaphalis Margaritacea. Thistle Family: This is the prettiest of our Everlastings. It is much used for making memorial wreaths, and for decorating vases or catch-alls on the mantelpieces in country houses. The little flowers have been liken...

Plaintain-Leaf, Spring, Early, Or Mouse-Ear Everlasting. White Plantain. Pussy-Toes. Ladies' Tobacco. Antennaria Plantaginifolia. Thistle Family: Broad, white patches of this very common Everlasting carpet dry fields and hillside pastures almost everywhere during the early spring. It seems to come out of the ground with the frost and is the ear...

Sweet, Or White Balsam. Sweet, Or Fragrant Life Everlasting. Poverty. Balsam-Weed. Indian Posey. Gnaphalium Polycephalum. Thistle Family: A fragrant annual species with oval, or compressed oblong heads that do not expand until the seed is matured. The leafy stalk grows from one to three feet high. The lance-shaped, wavy leaves are acute...

Yarrow. Milfoil. Sanguinary. Nosebleed. Old Man's Pepper. Soldier's Woundwort. Achillea Millefolium. Thistle Family: The Soldier's Woundwort was dedicated to the mighty Achilles, who, it is said, made use of this plant at the siege of Troy to heal the wounds of his soldiers. Mrs. Dana says that it still forms part o...

May-Weed. Fetid Camomile. Dog-Fennel. Anthemis Cotula. Thistle Family: The pretty flowers of the May-weed bear a strong resemblance to the Daisy and are very often mistaken for it. They are much smaller, however, and the strong unpleasant odour of the May-weed's foliage ...

Daisy. Ox-Eye Daisy. White-Weed. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum. Thistle Family: The fields, meadows, and roadsides of our more northern and eastern states and Canada are brightened from May to November with the beautiful, wheel-like, golden and white flowers of the Daisy. In June...

Rattlesnake-Root. White Lettuce. Lion's Foot. White Cankerweed. Prenanthes Alba. Chicory Family: The smooth, large, round, leafy, and commonly purple-stained stalk of the graceful White Lettuce grows from two to five feet high along woodland borders and thickets, during August and September, from...

Section V. Blue And Purple Flowers. Virginia Day-Flower. Commelina Virginica. Spiderwort Family: THE attractive little petals of the Day-flower unfold but once and endure only for a few hours. That is reason enough for its common name, but there is quite another story woven about its generic titl...

Pickerel-Weed. Pontederia Cordata. Pickerel-Weed Family: The ragged, bright blue floral spikes of the Pickerel-weed blossom from June to October, in shallow water along the borders of ponds and streams where, so the disciples of Izaak Walton declare, the Pi...

Purple Trillium. Birthroot. Ill- Scented Wake-Robin. Trillium Erectum. Lily Family: The Trilliums are easily distinguished by the arrangement of their three drooping, toothless leaves in a whorl, at the top of a smooth, stout, and usually purple-stained stalk. The blossom has three f...

Larger Blue Flag. Blue Iris. Fleur-De-Lis. Iris Versicolor. Iris Family: The Iris, famous in the history of France, is named after the Greek god of the rainbow, which its various colours aptly suggest. It was considered peculiarly sacred in olden days, and seems to enjoy a...

Pointed Blue-Eyed Grass. Sisyrinchium Angustifolium. Iris Family: The pretty little blue, starry flowers of this familiar species peep up here and there through the grass of our moist fields and meadows from May to August, like so many golden-centred floral scarf pi...

Smaller Purple Fringed Orchis. Habenaria Psycodes. Orchid Family: This very pretty and rather slender-stemmed plant is generally smaller than the Large Purple Fringed Orchis and grows from one to three feet high, in wet woods, swamps and meadows, where it unfolds it...

Large Purple Fringed Orchis. Habenaria Fimbriata. Orchid Family: This magnificent Orchid grows from one to five feet high, in rich, wet woods and meadows, from June to August. It is the largest and handsomest of its genus, and is a prize that is well worth the wet ...

Sand Spurry. Purple Sandwort. Spergularia Rubra. Pink Family: A little bit of a plant, growing from two to six inches high, either single or often forming dense little mats in waste places and along roadsides where the soil is dry and sandy, from Nova Scotia to ...

Hepatica. Liverleaf. Kidney-Leaf. Noble Liverwort. Hepatica Triloba. Crowfoot Family: The well-developed flower beds of the Liverworts can hardly await the final thaw and the first warm rain to start them as pace-makers in Nature's annual spring race for first honours. They are probabl...

Purple Virgin's Bower. Purple Clematis. Clematis Verticillaris. Crowfoot Family: The Purple Clematis is much less common than the white-flowered Virginia Virgin's Bower, and grows sparingly in rocky places in the more hilly country, from Hudson Bay to Manitoba, and southward to Vi...

Orpine. Live-For-Ever. Live-Long. Aaron's Rod. Midsummer-Men. Sedum Purpureum. Orpine Family: This plant is probably better known to children as the Pudding-bag, than by any other name. The thick, fleshy leaves are bruised in the mouth with the tongue until the skin separates bag-like, and t...

Wild Lupine. Old Maid's Bonnets. Wild Pea. Lupinus Perennis. Pea Family: Lupinus is derived from lupus, a wolf, and was applied to this plant because the roots, which are deeply and firmly buried, were believed to rapidly exhaust the fertility of the soil. There might have...

Purple Medic. Alfalfa. Lucerne. Chilian, Or Brazilian Clover. Medicago Sativa. Pea Family: This purple-flowered Clover is extensively raised in the Western and Southern States where hundreds of thousands of tons are annually harvested for fodder. It makes the best grade of hay, and has been...

Tickweed. Tick-Trefoil. Desmodium Nudiflorum. Pea Family: Every one of us who has tramped through the fields and woods during the fall has had occasion to share Job's patience, while we picked, scraped and brushed the affectionate, triangular stickers of the...

Tufted, Cow, Or Blue Vetch. Tine-Grass. Tare. Vtcia Cracca. Pea Family: The bluish purple flowers of this weak, angular-stemmed, climbing or trailing perennial vine are profusely massed along the borders of thickets and in dry soils during June, July and August, from Newf...

Wild, Or Hog Peanut. Amphicarpa Monoica. Pea Family: This ill-named, slender, sparingly branched climbing vine grows from one to eight feet in length. It is common everywhere in moist thickets and rich, damp woodlands during August and September. Three ...

The Violets. Violaceae. Violet Family: Violets are probably the best and most popularly known of all the wild flowers. The Latin name Viola, is derived from the classic Greek, Ion. Jupiter, we are told, fell in love with Io, the daughter o...

Bird's-Foot Violet. Viola Pedata. Violet Family: There is no mistaking the identity of the Bird's-foot Violet. It appears later than the Meadow Violet, and its finely cut, dark green, thick-textured foliage, and large, beardless-petalled flowers are...

Meadow Violet. Common Blue Violet. Hooded Blue Violet. Viola Cucullata. Violet Family: This is the most common and best known of our Violets, and is found everywhere within its range, preferring generally low grounds in woods, meadows and marshes from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, and south...

Early Blue Violet. Viola Palmata. Violet Family: Although not so abundant as the widely distributed Meadow Violet, with which everybody is so familiar, the Early Blue Violet is very common. Its flowers are smaller, and the plant is more or less hair...

American Dog Violet. Viola Conspersa. Violet Family: It is whispered that this violet was formerly held in contempt by our English cousins because of its lack of fragrance. They referred to it as the Dog Violet, so that it might be distinguished from ot...

Sea Lavender. Marsh Rosemary. Canker-Root. Sea Thrift. Ink-Root. Limonium Carolinianum. Leadwort Family: The misty, spray-like bloom of the Sea Lavender fits in nicely with the azure stars of the Chicory in an endeavour to harmonize the colour scheme of the sea and sky with that of the sandy shores. It g...

Fringed Gentian. Gentiana Crinita. Gentian Family: This lovely Gentian has been considered one of the choicest of American wild flowers. There is never any certainty of finding it from year to year, because it does not establish itself permanently in ...

Closed, Or Bottle Gentian. Gentiana Andrewsii. Gentian Family: The singular flowers of the Closed Gentian have a curious attraction because they never open. They are shaped like the thick part of a miniature Indian club and have the appearance of a large, healthy...

Forget-Me-Not. Mouse-Ear. Scorpion Grass. Snake-Grass. Love-Me. Myosotis Scorpioides. Borage Family: The exquisite little baby-blue flowers of the Forget-me-not have a certain sentiment attached to them through various legends of love and affection that endears them to all. In the language of flowers...

Virginia Cowslip. Tree Lungwort. Blue Bells. Mertensia Virginica. Borage Family: The beautiful, showy, blue-purple bells of the Virginia Cowslip delight the eyes of those who are fortunate enough to stroll along the brooks of some low meadow during the spring when this plant is in...

Viper's Bugloss. Blueweed. Snake Flower. Blue Thistle. Echium Vulgare. Borage Family: In some sections of the country, this plant has been regarded as a troublesome weed, and one that is not easily discouraged by frequent attempts to eradicate it from cultivated fields, which it has ov...

Blue Vervain. Wild Hyssop. Verbena Hastata. Vervain Family: During July and August we find the Blue Vervain with every one of its slender, upright branches terminating in numerous long, beady, rocket-like, flowering spikes, each so lengthened and regulated as ...

Blue Curls. Bastard Pennyroyal. Trichostema Dichotomum. Mint Family: This rather stiff, slender-stemmed, sticky haired, strong-scented, and much-branched annual grows from six inches to two feet high in dry, sandy fields. The toothless, short-stemmed, and nearly smooth...

Mad-Dog. Skullcap. Madweed. Hoodwort. Scutellaria Lateriflora. Mint Family: A well-known, perennial herb, formerly esteemed as a remedy in dog-bites. It was also used as a family medicine for nervous disorders of every description. This species grows commonly in moist, shady ...

Catnip. Catmint. Nep. Nepeta Cataria. Mint Family: Country folks who have drifted to the great cities will never forget how Aunt Kate or Aunt Sue used to soothe our troubled and aching stomachs with Catnip tea. We relished its flavour for it tasted so...

Ground-Ivy. Gill-Over-The-Ground. Field Balm. Haymaids. Cat's Foot. Creeping Charlie. Nepeta Hederacea. Mint Family: This gallivanting perennial came to us from Europe, and delights to trapse over moist, shady dells, thickets, and turnpikes, where it blossoms gaily during the spring months. It is an old and familiar...

Self-Heal. Heal-All. Blue Curls. Thim-Ble-Flower. All-Heal. Carpenter's-Herb. Heart-Of-The-Earth. Brunella. Prunella Vulgaris. Mint Family: One of the commonest and most widely ranged of all plants. Along dusty roadsides, cowpaths, and in fields, woods and waste places everywhere, this familiar, low-growing perennial flourishes with littl...

American, Or Mock Pennyroyal. Tick-Weed. Squaw-Mint. Hedeoma Pulegioides. Mint Family: There is small chance of overlooking this little member of the Mint family because of its size. Whatever it lacks in this respect, it more than makes up for in the familiar fragrance exhaled by its fo...

Spearmint. Sage Of Bethlehem. Garden Mint. Mentha Spicata. Mint Family: We have inherited nearly all of our Mints from Europe. Their strongest family traits consist of square stems, and opposite, simple, and odorous leaves. They are perennial herbs, with usually small-clu...

Peppermint. Lamb, Or Brandy-Mint. Mentha Piperita. Mint Family: Peppermint is one of the most popularly known flavourings for candies. The plant is extensively cultivated for the strong aromatic oil which it produces, and in this respect it ranks as one of the mos...

American Wild Mint. Mentha Arvensis. Mint Family: A native variable species with an odour like Pennyroyal, growing commonly along the brooks and in moist soils, from six inches to two and a half feet in height, with the whorled flowers seated in the ...

Nightshade. Blue Bindweed. Felon-Wort. Bittersweet. Poison-Flower. Poison, Or Snake Berry. Solarium Dulcamara. Potato Family: This pretty Nightshade has been classed among the principal poisonous plants of our country, but it is far from being the treacherous and violent sort with which it has often been associated in folk-l...

Blue, Or Wild Toad Flax. Linaria Canadensis. Figwort Family: Here is an extremely dainty and slender white throated blue-flowered relative of the notoriously common Butter-and-Eggs, and it is found in dry, sandy soils from May to September. The slim, delicate, ...

Hairy Beard-Tongue. Pentstemon Hirsutus. Figwort Family: The beautiful showy purple or violet trumpets of this rather common Beard-tongue are found from May to July in dry, open woods and rocky fields and thickets. The stalk rises from one to three feet hig...

Monkey Flower. Mimulus Ringens. Figwort Family: With erected ears and extended jowls, this gaping, grinning ape of the damp, grassy jungle greets us cutely with its impudent, animated poise, from June to September. If its lower lip is pulled downwa...

American Brooklime. Veronica Americana. Figwort Family: Exceedingly fragile, this nobbiest one of our Speedwells drops its tiny, white-centred, light blue flowers the instant we attempt to pick them. They have frequently been mistaken for those of the Forg...

Common Speedwell. Upland Speedwell. Fluellin. Paul's Betony. Veronica Officinalis. Figwort Family: Dear little Speedwell! How much good-fellowship its name implies! Before the steam engine became a convenient means of transportation, many a weary and foot-sore traveler has been cheered and encourag...

Thyme-Leaved Speedwell. Veronica Serpyllifolia. Figwort Family: This small and nearly smooth perennial species has weak, slender stems which are much branched at their creeping base. It grows from two to ten inches in height and often lies close to the ground. The...

Bluets. Innocence. Quaker Ladies. Quaker Bonnets. Venus's Pride. Houstonia Caerulea. Madder Family: When one has viewed the myriads of Quaker Ladies that blossom so vigorously from April to July, it is not difficult to realize that the spirit that moved them never prompted their dignified namesakes ...

Venus's Looking-Glass. Clasping Bellflower. Specularia Perfoliata. Bellflower Family: For a possessor of such a fanciful semi-classic name as Venus's Looking-glass one would naturally expect to find a more elaborate and dazzling representative than this rather lowly and demure flower. ...

Hairbell. Harebell. Lady's Thimble. Blue Bells Of Scotland. Campanula Rotundifolia. Bellflower Family: There is always an airy, cheery loveliness about this bonny blue Highland lassie, that wins our constant affection and admiration. Blue Bells of Scotland! How it tingles the blood to come upon them an...

Great, Or Blue Lobelia. Lobelia Siphilitica. Lobelia Family: The bright blue flowers of this handsome Lobelia are found commonly in low, moist or wet soil, generally along streams from July to October. The usually single stalk is rather stout, very leafy, spari...

Pale Spiked Lobelia. Lobelia Spicata. Lobelia Family: The very slender, erect, wand-like spikes of this pale-flowered Lobelia are found here and there in grassy meadows when the soil is dry and sandy, from June to August. The perennial or biennial, britt...

Brook Lobelia. Lobelia Kalmii. Lobelia Family: This is a small, slender species, growing only from six to twenty inches high, in wet meadows and on wet banks, where it increases from perennial offshoots and blossoms from July to September. The smo...

Indian Tobacco. Wild Tobacco. Gag-Root. Asthma Weed. Bladder-Pod Lobelia. Lobelia Inflata. Lobelia Family: This very common annual grows from one to three feet high along roadsides and in neglected fields, and blossoms from July to November. All parts of this Lobelia are medicinal, and Shakers and herb dea...

Ironweed. Flat Top. Vernonia Noveboracensis. Thistle Family: The deep purple, Thistle-like flowers of the Ironweed enliven our roadsides and low meadows with their intense colouring from July to September. The tall, branching stalk is smooth or rough, and grows...

Large Button Snakeroot. Gay Feather Blue Blazing Star. Liatris Squarrosa. Thistle Family: The showy, bluish purple flowering spikes of this tall, beautiful perennial, blossom with the Golden-rods and Asters, during August and September. The hairy stem grows from one to six feet high, and u...

The Asters: The Asters or Starworts come tripping along toward the last of August, with the Golden-rods, and continue throughout September and most of October in such profusion that they appear to completely smot...

Large-Leaved Aster. Aster Macrophyllus. Thistle Family: This rather coarse and extremely variable species has a stout, simple, purple-stained, angular stalk, which grows two or three feet high from a long root-stock. The basal leaves are very large. They a...

Low Showy Aster. Seaside Purple Aster. Aster Spectabilis. Thistle Family: A very pretty member of the family, found in dry, sandy soil, along the coast, from Massachusetts to Delaware, during August, September and October. The stiff, coarse stem grows only one or two feet h...

New England Aster. Aster Novae-Angliae. Thistle Family: Here, perhaps, is the most popular and the most captivating of the taller Asters. The very name of this familiar and delightfully handsome plant rings true with the Puritanic comeliness which it grace...

Late Purple Aster. Purple Daisy. Aster Patens. Thistle Family: One of our most attractive, early flowering and common blue Asters, frequenting dry, open places from August to October, and ranging from Maine and Minnesota to Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The slen...

Wavy-Leaf, Or Various-Leaved Aster. Small Fleabane. Aster Undulatus. Thistle Family: A stiff, slender and very rough stalk is possessed by this species, and it grows from one to three and a half feet high, with a spreading top. The leaves are noticeably thick-textured, rough-surfaced ...

Common Blue Wood Aster. Aster Cordifolius. Thistle Family: This is a very handsome, spreading, bushy and small-flowered Aster, growing from one to five feet high, in partly shaded woods, roadsides, thickets and on dry banks from early August until the frost a...

Smooth Aster. Aster Laevis. Thistle Family: A variable but most elegant Aster everywhere common in dry soil along roadsides and in open woods, during August, September and October. The rather stout stem rises from two to four feet in height, an...

New York Aster. Aster Novi-Belgii. Thistle Family: One of the very commonest of the late-flowering Asters of the Atlantic States, and also an extremely variable species. The slender stalk is usually much branched, generally smooth, and grows from one ...

Red-Stalk. Purple-Stem, Or Early Purple Aster. Swanweed. Cocash. Meadow Scabish. Aster Puniceus. Thistle Family: A variable, tall, stout, rough-hairy and generally purple-stemmed species, commonly found in low, moist thickets and swampy places from July to November. It rises from three to eight feet, and branche...

Robin's Plantain. Poor Robin's Plantain. Rose Petty. Robert's Plantain. Blue Spring Daisy. Erigeron Pulchellus. Thistle Family: The Blue Spring Daisy would seem to be a sort of favourite name for this earliest of the Aster or Daisylike flowers. It is found in the grass in damp fields and on hillsides or banks along woodland bo...

The Thistles: Many a happy-go-lucky barefoot lad has knit his brows and bulged his cheek with his tongue, or whistled while he danced on one foot and held the other, after treading on a prickly tuft of Thistle leav...

Common, Bur Or Spear Thistle. Ctrsium Lanceolatum. Thistle Family: A large, biennial species, with its round, branching stalk growing from three to five feet high. It is very leafy, and is covered with a fine whitish wool. The long, dark green, lance-shaped leaves ha...

Pasture Thistle. Fragrant Thistle. Ctrsium Pitmilum. Thistle Family: This is the largest-flowered Thistle we have. Compared with the Common Thistle, it grows less tall, is more fragrant, is not so leafy, the more numerous spires are shorter, and its range is more restr...

Canada Thistle. Creeping, Cursed, Way, Corn, Or Hard Thistle. Cirsium Arvense. Thistle Family: The Canada Thistle has been severely condemned by farmers in this country because of its rapid spread and the extreme difficulty with which its creeping roots are eradicated from the soil. It grows in...

Chicory. Succory. Blue Sailors. Cichorium Intybus. Chicory Family: In grassy fields that slope to the sea, you may be sure to find the beautiful, pale blue flowered Chicory at its best. It fairly continues the colour scheme of sky and water, and on bright, sunshiny m...

Glossary Of Botanical Terms: Acute. - Sharp-pointed. Alternate. - Not opposite or paired, but arranged singly at different heights on either side of the stems. Annual. - Of one year's duration. Anther. - That part of the stamen ...

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Wild Flowers Every Child Should Know | by Frederic William Stack

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