Stem. - Slender, loosely branched. Leaves. - Opposite, oblong to lance-shaped, the upper narrowly linear. Flowers. - Large, deep pure pink to almost white. Calyx. - Usually five-parted, the lobes long and slender. Corolla. - Usually five-parted, conspicuously marked with red and yellow in the centre. Stamens. - Usually five. Pistil. - One, with two-cleft style.
The advancing year has few fairer sights to show us than a salt meadow flushed with these radiant blossoms. They are so abundant, so deep-hued, so delicate ! One feels tempted to lie down among the pale grasses and rosy stars in the sunshine of the August morning and drink his fill of their beauty. How often nature tries to the utmost our capacity of appreciation and leaves us still insatiate ! At such times it is almost a relief to turn from the mere contemplation of beauty to the study of its structure; it rests our overstrained faculties.
Plate LXXIII. Sea Pink. - S. stellaris
The vivid coloring and conspicuous marking of these flowers indicate that they aim to attract certain members of the insect world. As in the fireweed the pistil of the freshly opened blossom is curved sideways, with its lobes so closed and twisted as to be inaccessible on their stigmatic surfaces to the pollen which the already mature stamens are discharging. When the effete anthers give evidence that they are hors de combat by their withered appearance, the style erects itself and spreads its stigmas.
S. angularis is a species which may be found in rich soil inland. Its somewhat heart-shaped, clasping, five-nerved leaves and angled stem serve to identify it.
Plate LXXIV. Sabbatia chloroides
S. chloroides is a larger and peculiarly beautiful species which borders brackish ponds along the coast. Its corolla is about two inches broad and eight to twelve-parted.