[7]The belief that a decoction of this plant is of use in small-pox has been found by experiment to be quite chimerical.—J. B.
[7]
The belief that a decoction of this plant is of use in small-pox has been found by experiment to be quite chimerical.—J. B.
PLATEX.
PLATEX.
Nat. Ord. Scrophulariaceæ.—(Gray.)
PAINTED CUP, SCARLET CUP.Castilleia coccinea.
Scarlet tuftsAre glowing in the green like flakes of fire;The wanderers of the prairie know them well,And call that brilliant flower the Painted Cup.Bryant.
Scarlet tuftsAre glowing in the green like flakes of fire;The wanderers of the prairie know them well,And call that brilliant flower the Painted Cup.Bryant.
Scarlet tufts
Are glowing in the green like flakes of fire;
The wanderers of the prairie know them well,
And call that brilliant flower the Painted Cup.
Bryant.
THIS splendidly-coloured plant is the glory and ornament of the plain-lands of Canada. The whole plant is a glow of scarlet, varying from pale flame-colour to the most vivid vermillion, rivalling in brilliancy of hues the scarlet geranium of the greenhouse.
The Painted Cup owes its gay appearance not to its flowers, which are not very conspicuous at a distance, but to the deeply-cut leafy tracts that enclose them and clothe the stalks, forming at the ends of the flower branches clustered rosettes. (See our artist’s plate.)
The flower is a flattened tube, bordered with bright red, and edged with golden yellow. Stamens, four; pistil, one, projecting beyond the tube of the calyx; the capsule is many seeded. The radical or root leaves are of a dull, hoary green, tinged with reddish purple, as also is the stem, which is rough, hairy, and angled. The bracts or leafy appendages, which appear on the lower part of the stalk, are but slightly tinged with scarlet, but the colour deepens and brightens towards the middle and summit of the branched stem.
The Scarlet Cup appears in May, along with the smaller white and red trilliums; but these early plants are small; the stem simple, rarely branched, and the colour of a deeper red. As the summer advances, our gallant soldier-like plant puts on all its bravery of attire. All through the glowing harvest months, the open grassy plains and the borders of the cultivated fields are enriched by its glorious colours. In favourable soils the plant rises, enclosed in a tubular slightly twice-cleft calyx, of a pale green colour, attains a height of from 2ft. 4in., throwing out many side branches, terminated by the clustered, brilliantly-tinted bracts; some heads being as large as a medium-sized rose. They have been gathered in the corners of the stubble fields on the cultivated plains, as late as October. A not uncommon slender variety occurs, of a pale buff, and also of a bright lemon color. The American botanists speak ofCastilleia coccinea, as being addicted to a low, wettish soil, but it is not so with our Canadian plant; if you would find it in its greatest perfection, you must seek it on the high, dry, rolling plains of Rice-lake, Brantford, to the north of Toronto, Stoney lake, the neighbourhood of Peterboro, and similar localities; it is neither to be found in swamps nor in the shade of the uncleared forest.
For soil, the Scarlet Cup seems to prefer light loam, and evidently courts the sunshine rather than the shade. If it could be prevailed upon to flourish in our garden borders, it would be a great acquisition, from its long flowering time and its brilliant colouring.
These lovely plants, like many others that adorn our Canadian woods and wilds, yearly disappear from our midst, and soon we shall seek them, but not find them.
We might say with the poet:
“’Twas pity nature brought ye forth,Merely to show your worth,And lose ye quite!But ye have lovely leaves, where weMay read how soon things haveTheir end, though ne’er so brave;And after they have shewn their pride,Like you awhile they glideInto the grave.”Herrick.
“’Twas pity nature brought ye forth,Merely to show your worth,And lose ye quite!But ye have lovely leaves, where weMay read how soon things haveTheir end, though ne’er so brave;And after they have shewn their pride,Like you awhile they glideInto the grave.”Herrick.
“’Twas pity nature brought ye forth,Merely to show your worth,And lose ye quite!But ye have lovely leaves, where weMay read how soon things haveTheir end, though ne’er so brave;And after they have shewn their pride,Like you awhile they glideInto the grave.”Herrick.
“’Twas pity nature brought ye forth,Merely to show your worth,And lose ye quite!But ye have lovely leaves, where weMay read how soon things haveTheir end, though ne’er so brave;And after they have shewn their pride,Like you awhile they glideInto the grave.”Herrick.
“’Twas pity nature brought ye forth,Merely to show your worth,And lose ye quite!But ye have lovely leaves, where weMay read how soon things haveTheir end, though ne’er so brave;And after they have shewn their pride,Like you awhile they glideInto the grave.”Herrick.
“’Twas pity nature brought ye forth,
Merely to show your worth,
And lose ye quite!
But ye have lovely leaves, where we
May read how soon things have
Their end, though ne’er so brave;
And after they have shewn their pride,
Like you awhile they glide
Into the grave.”
Herrick.
Nat. Ord. Orchidaceæ.
SHOWY ORCHIS.Orchis spectabilis.
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene,The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”Gray.
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene,The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”Gray.
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”
Gray.
DEEP hidden in the damp recesses of the leafy woods, many a rare and precious flower of the Orchis family blooms, flourishes, and decays, unseen by human eye, unsought by human hand, until some curious, flower-loving botanist plunges amid the rank, tangled vegetation, and brings beauties to the light.
One of these beautiful Orchids, theOrchis spectabilisorShowy Orchis, is here presented in our group.
This pretty plant is not, indeed, of very rare occurrence; its locality is rich maple and beechen woods all through Canada. The colour of the flower is white, shaded, and spotted with pink or purplish lilac; the corolla is what is termed ringent or throated, the upper petals and sepals arching over the hollow lower-lipped petal. The scape is smooth and fleshy, terminating in a loosely-flowered and many-bracted spike; the bracts are dark-green, sharp-pointed, and leafy; the root a bundle of round white fibres; the leaves, two in number, are large, blunt, oblong, shining, smooth, and oily, from three to five inches long, one larger than the other. The flowering time of the species is May and June.
Our forest glades and boggy swamps hide many a rare and precious flower known but to few; among some of the most beautiful of this interesting group of plants, we might direct attention to the elegant and rareCalypso borealis,Pogonia triphoria, andPogonia pendula. The beautiful Grass Pink,Calopogon pulchellus, with many others of the Orchidaceæ tribe, may be regarded as flower gems to be prized alike for their exquisite forms and colouring as for their scarcity.
These lovely Orchids, transplanted to the greenhouse or conservatory, would be regarded as objects of great interest, but are rarely seen and little valued by the careless passer-by, if he chances upon them in their forest haunts.
INDIAN TURNIP.(Arum family.)Arum triphyllum
“Or peers the Arum from its spotted veil.”Bryant.
“Or peers the Arum from its spotted veil.”Bryant.
“Or peers the Arum from its spotted veil.”
Bryant.
THERE are two species of Arums common to Canada, the larger of which is known as Green-dragon (Arum Dracontium); the other, which forms the central figure in the plate, is the most common to our soil, and is known by the familiar name ofIndian Turnip(Arum triphyllumorA. purpureum).
These moisture-loving plants are chiefly to be found in rich black, swampy mould, beneath the shade of trees and rank herbage, near creeks and damp places, in or about the forest.
The sheath that envelops and protects the spadix, or central portion of the plant, is an incurved membraneous hood of a pale green colour, beautifully striped with dark purple or brownish-purple.
The flowers are inconspicuous, hidden by the sheath; they are of two kinds, the sterile and fertile, the former placed above, the latter consisting of four or more stamens and 2 4-celled anthers, the fertile or fruit-bearing flowers of a one-celled ovary. The fruit, when ripe, is bright scarlet, clustered round the lower part of the round fleshy scape. As the berries ripen, the hood or sheath withers and shrivels away to admit the ripening rays of heat and light to the fruit.
The root of the Indian Turnip consists of a round, wrinkled, fleshy corm, somewhat larger than that of the garden crocus; from this rises the simple scape or stem of the plant, which is sheathed with the base of the leaves. These are on long naked stalks, divided into three ovate pointed leaflets, waved at the edges.
The juices of the Indian Turnip are hot, acrid, and of a poisonous quality, but can be rendered useful and harmless by the action of heat; the roots roasted in the fire are no longer poisonous. The Indian herbalists use the Indian Turnip in medicine as a remedy in violent colic, long experience having taught them in what manner to employ this dangerous root.
The Arum belongs to a natural order, most plants of which contain an acrid poison, yet under proper care can be made valuable articles of food. Among these we may mention the roots ofColocosia mucronatum,violaceum, and others, which, under the more familiar names ofEddoesandYams, are in common use in tropical countries.
The juice ofArum triphyllum, our Indian Turnip, has been used, boiled in milk, as a remedy for consumption.
Portland sago is prepared from the larger species,Arum maculatum, Spotted Arum. The corm, or root, yields a fine, white, starchy powder, similar to Arrow-root, and is prepared much in the same way as potato starch. The pulp, after being ground or pounded, is thrown into clean water and stirred; the water, after settling, is poured off, and the white sediment is again submitted to the same process until it becomes quite pure, and is then dried. A pound of this starch may be made from a peck of the roots. The roots should be dried in sand before using. Thus purified and divested of its poisonous qualities, the powder so procured becomes a pleasant and valuable article of food, and is sold under the name of Portland Sago, or Portland Arrow-root.
When deprived of the poisonous acrid juices that pervade them, all our known species may be rendered valuable both as food and medicine; but they should not be employed without care and experience. The writer remembers, not many years ago, several children being poisoned by the leaves ofArum triphyllumbeing gathered and eaten as greens, in one of the early-settled back townships of Western Canada. The same deplorable accident happened by ignorant persons gathering the leaves of the Mandrake or May Apple (Podophyllum pellatum).
There seems in the vegetable world, as well as in the moral, two opposite principles, the good and the evil. The gracious God has given to man the power, by the cultivation of his intellect, to elicit the good and useful, separating it from the vile and injurious, thus turning that into a blessing which would otherwise be a curse.
“The Arum family possess many valuable medicinal qualities,” says Dr. Charles Lee, in his valuable work on the medicinal plants of North America, “but would nevertheless become dangerous poisons in the hands of ignorant persons.”
The useful Cassava, (Zanipha Manipor), of the West Indies and tropical America, is another remarkable instance of art overcoming nature, and obtaining a positive good from that which in its natural state is evil. The Cassava, from the flour of which the bread made by the natives is manufactured, being the starchy parts of a poisonous plant of the Euphorbia family, the milky juice of which is highly acrid and poisonous. The pleasant and useful article sold in the shops under the name of tapioca is also made from the Cassava root.
Nat. Ord. Compositæ.
CONE FLOWER.Rudbeckia fulgida.
THE Cone Flower is one of the handsomest of our rayed flowers. The gorgeous flaming orange dress, with the deep purple disk of almost metallic lustre, is one of the ornaments of all our wild open prairie-like plains during the hot months of July, August and September. We find the Cone Flower on the sunny spots among the wild herbage of grassy thickets, associated with the wild Sunflowers, Asters and other plants of the widely diffused Composite Order.
During the harvest months, when the more delicate spring flowers are ripening their seed, our heat-loving Rudbeckias, Chrysanthemums, Sunflowers, Coreopsises, Ox-eyes, and Asters, are lifting their starry heads to greet the light and heat of the sun’s ardent rays, adorning the dry wastes, gravelly and sandy hills, and wide grassy plains, with their gay blossoms;
“Bright flowers that linger as they fall.Whose last are dearest.”
“Bright flowers that linger as they fall.Whose last are dearest.”
“Bright flowers that linger as they fall.Whose last are dearest.”
“Bright flowers that linger as they fall.Whose last are dearest.”
“Bright flowers that linger as they fall.
Whose last are dearest.”
Many of these compound flowers possess medicinal qualities. Some, as the thistle, dandelion, wild lettuce, and others, are narcotic, being supplied with an abundance of bitter milky juice. The Sunflower, Coreopsis, Cone-Flower, Tagweed, and Tansy, contain resinous properties.
The beautiful Aster family, if not remarkable for any peculiarly useful qualities, contains many highly ornamental plants. Numerous species of these charming flowers belong to our Canadian flora; lingering with us
“When fairer flowers are all decayed,”
“When fairer flowers are all decayed,”
“When fairer flowers are all decayed,”
“When fairer flowers are all decayed,”
“When fairer flowers are all decayed,”
brightening the waste places and banks of lakes and lonely streams with starry flowers of every hue and shade—white, pearly blue, and deep purple; while the Solidagoes (golden rod), are celebrated for the valuable dyes that are yielded by their deep golden blossoms. But to return to the subject of our artist’s plate, the Cone Flower:
The plant is from one to three feet in height, the stem simple, or branching, each branchlet terminating in a single head. The rays are of a deep orange colour, varying to yellow; the leaves broadly lanceolate, sometimes once or twice lobed, partly clasping the rough, hairy stem, hoary and of a dull green, few and scattered. The scales of the chaffy disk are of a dark, shining purple, forming a somewhat depressed cone. This species, with a slenderer-stemmed variety, with rays of a golden yellow, are to be met with largely diffused over the Province.
Many splendid species of the Cone Flower are to be found in the wide-spread prairies of the Western States, where their brilliant starry flowers are mingled with many a gay blossom known only to the wild Indian hunter, and the herb-seeking medicine men of the native tribes, who know their medicinal and healing qualities, if they are insensible to their outward beauties.
Transcriber’s Notes:
Captitalization of genus and species names is inconsistant and has been left as in the original. Hyphenation of some plant names and use of apostrophes in some names is inconsistent and have been left as in the original. Modern spelling of common and Latin names differs in some cases but spelling of names has been left as in the original. Obvious type-setting errors and punctuation have been corrected without note. Other corrections have been noted below.
Plates for this book were used for previous publications by the same authors, one beingCanadian Wild Flowers. The plates were used in a different order in this book and as a result some numbers printed on the plates did not match the Table of Contents. Therefore, some plate numbers in the text have been changed to match the Table of Contents. Those changes are noted below.
page 7, day at Waltham Abby. ==> day at WalthamAbbey.plate,PLATE X.==>PLATEI.page 14, pointed involcure are ==> pointedinvolucreareplate,PLATE III.==>PLATEII.page 31, supports the stigmata. ==> supports thestigma.plate,PLATE IV.==>PLATEIII.plate,PLATE II.==>PLATEIV.page 42, few that are were ornamental ==> few that aremoreornamentalplate,PLATE VI.==>PLATEV.plate,PLATE V.==>PLATEVI.plate,PLATE I.==>PLATEX.
page 7, day at Waltham Abby. ==> day at WalthamAbbey.
plate,PLATE X.==>PLATEI.
page 14, pointed involcure are ==> pointedinvolucreare
plate,PLATE III.==>PLATEII.
page 31, supports the stigmata. ==> supports thestigma.
plate,PLATE IV.==>PLATEIII.
plate,PLATE II.==>PLATEIV.
page 42, few that are were ornamental ==> few that aremoreornamental
plate,PLATE VI.==>PLATEV.
plate,PLATE V.==>PLATEVI.
plate,PLATE I.==>PLATEX.
[End of North American Wild Flowers, by Agnes FitzGibbon and Catherine Parr Traill]