94 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



(T. and G.), and five other species. The amelanchier is often called 

 " shad-bush " in the Eastern States, when the famous river-fish of 

 spring have their period for ascending the streams, which time cor- 

 responds somewhat with the blossoming of the amelanchier. "June- 

 berry " and " service-berry " are other names for this small tree, which, 

 when in full bloom, is very attractive. The wild strawberry (Fragaria 

 Vzrginiana, Ehrh.), a member of the same family (Rosacea?) with the 

 " June-berry," is recorded for the same day. The best of all straw- 

 berries, even in this age of a thousand cultivated varieties, were those 

 gathered in youth upon the grassy hill-side. The flavor of the wild 

 strawberry is nearly lost in many of the larger and more showy fruits 

 of her highly pampered offspring. The toothwort, or dentaria (Dentaria 

 laciniata, Muhl), and Draba Carol iniana (Walt.), or " whitlow-grass," 

 come almost side by side in the manual as members of the Cruciferm 

 or mustard family. In the first we have an old friend of childhood 

 days. Many an eager youth has burrowed his fingers deeply into the 

 rich leaf-mold and earth, in search of the little potato-like root-stocks 

 filled with a peppery and toothsome substance. The mustard-like 

 flavor gets too strong as the root-stocks grow old, so that the luxury 

 of gathering them in early spring is appreciated. Unlike its nearly 

 related toothwort, the draba is a lover of sandy, waste places, where 

 it, in its smallness and feeble growth, can have its own way. It does 

 not enter into the sharp competition with other plants for the pos- 

 session of the rich soil. Its strength and durability reside in its being 

 content with poor fare. 



The last but far from the least of the five flowering plants for April 

 20th was nothing less than the smooth lungwort (Mertensia Virginica, 

 DC). The bell-shaped flowers are of the choicest blue, a color that is 

 both rare and beautiful in plants. It is no wonder that it has been 

 transported from the moist banks of streams to adorn the flower-border 

 in early spring, under the name of " blue-bells" or "Virginia cowslip," 

 or, better still, "Mertensia," the generic name, taken from a German 

 botanist, Mertens. The West has several of the mertensias, the most 

 striking of which, to travelers in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra 

 Nevadas, is the Mertensia Siberica (Don.). It covers the borders of 

 mountain-streams with a rank herbage three to five feet in height, 

 bearing a profusion of bright, light-blue flowers. This giant of the 

 dashing mountain-streams has its dwarf form (var. Drummondii, 

 Gray) upon the far-away Arctic sea-shore. 



April 21st finds the prickly-ash (Zanthoxylion Americanum, Mill), 

 the small flowered buttercup (Ranunculus ctbortivus, L.), and the 

 round-leaved gooseberry (Ribes rotundifolia, Michx.), in bloom. The 

 prickly-ash, sometimes called "toothache-tree," is perhaps the near- 

 est of kin of the orange, lemon, lime, and shaddock that grows in this 

 flora. The aromatic bark and pungent leaves are a poor reflection of 

 the very agreeable aroma that accompanies the fruit of the tropical 



