Ol' Touch-Me-Not

Also known as Lady's Earring. Common name Jewelweed. It grows in damp places and often near poison ivy--for which it is something of an antidote. The crushed stems make a soothing jelly to put on the rash.

My neighbor Louise, who had grown up on this farm, called it ol' touch-me-not and showed me how the ripe seed capsules would explode when touched, flinging their seeds far and wide. (In September, our boys used to spend a lot of time on their walk up from the school bus, touching the ripe touch-me-nots.)

That 'ol' was Louise's common preface to all sorts of names--'Ol Polly (the cow,) ol' yaller flahr (forsythia,) 'Ol Sylvie (the cow dog.)

Then there was another cow dog, Ol' Rover. Or was it Ol' Drover? 

When I asked Louise if his name was Rover or Drover, she shrugged. "I don't know; we just allus called him Oldrover."

 Orange is the most common jewelweed, but there is a yellow version called Pale Jewelweed.  Or Ol' Yaller Touch-Me-Not.