July 29, 1962 - Wild Flowers Seen While Bird-watchingWild flowers seen while bird- watching
Sketch by Melita Hofmann of Orient,
Focus on Nature
by
Focus on Nature
Our guest this week is the well -
known artist - writer Melita Hof-
mann of New York and Orient.
Recently Miss Hofmann design-
ed, wrote and illustrated the
popular `Book of Big Birds ", of
interest to adults as well as
children. This has a special ap-
peal for Long Islanders for many
of the backgrounds are from
sketches made at Orient, South-
old, East Hampton and Montauk.
By MELITA HOFMANN
Now, -in mid - summer, what fun
it is, while out on a bird- watch-
ing jaunt, to observe the ever
changing pattern of colorful wild
flowers along our highways, in
the meadows and marshes, and
in our woodlands. The ponds and
lakes. are fragrant with white
Water Lilies and Yellow Pond
Lilies (Spatter- Dock). There, too,
the Blue Pickerel -Weed, well
worth examining through a mag-
nifing glass, blooms until thwar-
ted by the cold nights of autumn.
A trip in a boat through the
shallow ponds or along the banks
of a lake while "birding" can be
rewarding and refreshing in the
summertime and one is likely to
come across .a Heron or one of
the other interesting shore birds,
or possibly an Oriole or even a
Scarlet Tanager, or hear the mu-
sic of the many little Warblers. -
In open woods and along shad-
ed roadsides, lilies have been ap-
pearing in profusion amid the
dainty whiteness of Queen Anne's
Lace, while above the Swallows
swiftly dart through the air catch-
ing insects on the wing. The
stately Wood Lily looks upward
with open trumpets of gleaming
red orange above a tall stem of
several whorls of leaves.
The Nodding Yellow Lily (or
Canada Lily) of the fields, adds
its charm as it dangles golden
bell -Iike flowers, sometimes Four
of them, atop a five -foot stem
adorned with ribbon -like pointed
leaves. The Turk's Cap Lily, too,
is one to admire for its brilliance
of vermillion color with exotic
speckled marxings. This small
' lily's petals turn completely back-
ward to expose a star center of
chartreuse green from which ex-
tend six long stamens. And a
'lily, early introduced to he east-
= ern states from Europe, which
had been cultivated, but is now
escaped to meadows and road-
sides or found in old gardens,
gards, and cemeteries,
is the Day Lily, with tawny-
. orange flowers and the Yellow
Day Lily with yellow flowers,
each open for a day. A dainty,
shorter lily, adding a touch of
blue to the landscape, is the little
Bluebell Lily with many little
bells, all of one piece, ascending
a graceful stem.
Already showing among the lil-
ies in the meadows is a bluish -
lavender glow, becoming more
abundant, as the Blue Vervain
comes more and more into
bloom. These plants, four to five
feet thigh, have a group of slen-
der spikes atop a strong stem of
decorative foliage. The flowers
are abundant, blue - violet, and
blossom forth in coronets about
these slender spikes. You will
notice, too, the large green leaves
of the Rose Mallow plants begin-
ning to form in lowland parts
and in thickets of cat -tails and
Rushes along streams, often in
the mud, following a long curving
line. These plants which grow to
a height of several feet have huge
rose colored flowers of varying
shades from pink to burgundy.
Their centers are intricate and
of unusual beauty.
Searching . the meadows, per-
haps for a gay meadowlark, you
may be attracted to the wild sun-
flowers by the busy Chicadees
and Warblers who love them.
These tall plants ?rave numerous
flowering heads of ten or twelWe
golden rays. Here, too, we en-
counter the Wand Loosestrife
which sends forth its showy spike
of pinkish - purple flowers, and the
Steeple Bush, standing erect,
pointing its steeple- shaped flower
upward. Soon, here and almost
anywhere in moist ground over
most of temperate America, be-
gin to appear the wine - colored
Eupatorium, or Joe -Pye Weed.
Too lovely, to be called a weed
any more than is the brilliant
Butterfly' Weed, its color gives a
softness and blush to the early
August landscape. Its plume -like
pinkish - purple heads are compos-
ed of many tiny flowerets on a
tall sturdy stem. A plant similar
in growth, but much more in-
tensely purple in color, is the
tall Iron Weed with flowerets
that resemble small inverted tas-
sels. It appears at about the
same time as the Joe-Pye Weed
and lingers on often into October.
1n and out of these purples; the
Black -eyed Susans give a bright
dotted accent of golden raysr)
about a- dark , chocolate -b ow,t f
center. And, hovering over an-
other purplish flower, the Pas-
ture Thistle, we see a flash 'of
animated .yellow, a Goldfinch,
while beside it nod the daisy -like
Golden Astei' and the , Golden
Groundsel.
Amidst the tall grasses and
sedges, where we may hope to
encounter a bevy of quail or
young pheasant, the Corn Cock-
les, with magenta -pink flowers on
downy stems of pale green, min-
by Pou
gle with the Golden -star Grass
with its attractive six pointed
star - shaped flowers, and the
Deptford Pink of the great pink
family which has crimson flow-
ers with fringed petals. The
many grasses, themselves, should
not go unnoticed for they are var-
ied in color and intricacy of de-
sign, and so graceful as they
wave and ripple in the breeze.
Covering waste and barren
places are the lovely Wild Rose
and the twining Wild Morning
Glory, while on rocky ground and
by the seaside blooms the won-
drous Rosa Rugosa, sturdy, fra-
grant, and lovely, whose golden -
centered white or magenta blos-
soms attract the bumblebees and
butterflies. When mature these
blossoms transforms into bright
red "apples" called Rose Hips.
In open woods and along shaded
roadsides • are colonies of Whorl -
edo Loosestrife. Their yellow flow-
ers like five - pointed stars appear
at the tips of slender stems which
extend outward from the axils of
leaves in whorls of five to six.
Tall Mulleins, from two to sev-
en feet high, stand as sentinels
along the way, in old fields, on
dry. banks, and along roadsides.
The 'lovely Moth Mullein rises
stiffly from a rosette of large
oval leaves. Its pale creamy flo-
wers, sometimes yellow, have a
rpoth -like appearance due to the
-purplish fuzz along its stamens.
The Common Mullein has thick
flannel -like leaves of soft green
rising µp its stem, with yellow
flowers. Sometimes a Red Winged
Blackbird poises atop this saffron
spike and we gasp with pleasure
at the colorful picture. •
The Blazing -Star, a Liatris
known as Rough -spike Gayfeath-
er, is a striking, attention - loving
wild flower which will appear in
August in huge clumps along
gravelly slopes as we take sea-
side pleasure trips or go in quest'
of shore and seaside birds. -Shoot-
ing up like long rockets, with
feathery green foliage, this plant
has numerous gay pinkish - violet
flowerets atop each and in the
axils of small leaves. A study of
these. flowerets brings a delight-
ful surprise at the intricate splen-
dor of this rightly named amazing-
Star. Equally spectacular, but
certainly more difficult to come
upon, is the brilliant. Cardinal
Red Lobelia. Similar to the Great
Blue Lobelia which it closely re-
sembles except in color, it tikes
moist thickets and banks of
streams where it can keep its
feet ih water. If one is fortunate
enough to chance upon this rare
wild flower it can be easily re-
cognized. It comes into bloom in
July in sunny places as well as