THE scarlet painted cup belongs to a large and interesting group of plants known as the figwort family (ScrophulariaceÆ). The common name of the family is derived from the reputed value of some of the species in the cure of ficus or figwort, a disease caused by the growth of a stalked excrescence on the eyelids, tongue, or other parts of the body that are covered with a mucous membrane. The technical name is derived from scrofula, as some of the species are considered efficacious in the treatment of that disease. This family includes about one hundred and sixty-five genera and over twenty-five hundred species. They are common all over the world, reaching from the equator into the regions of constant frosts. It is claimed by some authorities that fully one thirty-fifth of all the flowering plants of North America are classed in this family.

Besides the painted cup there are classed in this group the mullen, the common toad-flax, the foxglove (Digitalis), the gerardias, and the calceolarias.

The foxglove, though causing death when the extract is taken in excess, is one of the most highly valued medicinal plants known. Nearly all the species of the family are herbs, without fragrance. Some of the species are known to be partially parasitic. True parasites are usually white or very light colored and contain no green coloring matter, which is essential when the plant is self-supporting. The parasitic forms of this family, however, do contain green coloring matter and are thus not entirely dependent on their host for the preparation of their food supply. The gerardias (false foxgloves) are frequently found attached to the roots of oaks, large shrubs, and even on the roots of grasses. It has also been shown that there is a cannibalistic tendency in some of the species of gerardia. They will not only fasten their sucker-like roots on those of other species, but also upon those of other individuals of the same species, and even upon the root branches of their own plants. This double parasitism is not rare.

The scarlet painted cup of our illustration (Castilleja coccinea, L.) is a native of the eastern half of the United States and the southern portion of Canada. It prefers the soil of meadows and moist woods and has been found growing abundantly at an elevation of from three to four thousand feet.

The generic name was given this plant by LinnÆus in honor of a Spanish botanist. The specific name is from the Latin, meaning scarlet. Nearly all of the forty species are natives of North and South America.

The flowers are dull yellow in color and are obscured by the rather large floral leaves or bracts, which are bright scarlet—rarely bright yellow—in color. These conspicuous leaves are broader toward the apex and usually about three-cleft. By the novice they are usually mistaken for the flower, which is hardly noticeable. The stem seldom exceeds a foot in height and bears a number of leaves that are deeply cut in narrow segments. The bright color of this plant has given it many local common names more or less descriptive. Prominent among these is the Indian paint brush.

A pretty myth tells us that the painted cup was originally yellow, but that Venus, when lamenting the death of Apollo, pressed a cluster of the blossoms to her parched lips and drank the dew from the flowers, the outer leaves of which have ever since retained the color of her lips.