The flowers of this plant are small, but they are grouped to form brilliant rose-colored spikes an inch or two long. The plants are 2-5 ft. high and are found in wet ground and dried-up ponds and hence are often pests in grain fields during wet years. They are found at 3000-5000 ft. and bloom all summer. The Heart’s Ease is valuable as a honey plant and its seeds occur as a common impurity in clover seed. Golden Buckwheat Eriogonum Jamesii Plate 8, fig. 5 The tiny whitish to yellow flowers of the Golden Buckwheat are clustered in round heads at the tips of stiff gray-green stems. The latter have a bunch of leaves at the base and hence form dense mats in gravelly soil on plains and in the foothills at 4000-9000 ft. The flower clusters are conspicuous throughout the summer. Crimson Wings Rumex venosus Plate 8, fig. 8 The name Crimson Wings is applied to this dock on account of the brilliant rose-colored calyx. The latter becomes enormously enlarged as the flower goes to seed and thus forms a device for the carriage of the seed by the wind. The low plants grow in sandy soil at 4000-8000 ft. and bloom in spring and early summer. This species has no value except possibly as an ornamental, but other species of the genus are cultivated for salad, and several of the wild species furnish excellent “greens.” PINK FAMILY Alpine Pink, Moss Campion Silene acaulis Plate 8, fig. 6 The pink or purplish flowers of the Alpine Pink grow densely clustered in mats on exposed mountain tops, often near the snow. They are polar as well as alpine plants and are found in these regions throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In the mountains they occur at 9000-14000 ft. and bloom throughout the summer. Cow Pink Saponaria vaccaria Plate 8, fig. 7 The botanical name of the Cow Pink refers to the soap-like sap of some species, which sometimes leads to their use as a substitute for soap. The flowers are white, pink or pale red and bloom all summer. The plant is a troublesome weed in grain fields and grows in waste places at 5000-8000 ft. The seeds are poisonous. PRIMROSE FAMILY Bird’s-eye Primrose Primula farinosa Plate 16, fig. 1 The lilac flowers of the Bird’s-eye Primrose grow in clusters at the tips of unbranched stems. The plants are 4-8 in. high and bloom in the spring. They are found along brook-banks and in wet meadows at 7000-9000 ft. Both the botanical and common names of the Primrose refer to the almost universal habit of blooming in early spring. Yellow Primrose Steironema ciliatum Plate 16, fig. 2