Nt^W YOKE 

 ttOTANlCAL 



The American Botanist 



VOL. XXVIII MAY, 1922. No. 2 



Under a budding hedge I hid 

 While April rain Went by. 

 But little drops came slipping through, 



Fresh from a laughing sky: 

 A -many little scurring drops 



Laughing the songs the]) sing. 

 Soon found me where I sought to hide 

 And pelted me With spring. 



— Shaemas O'Sheel 



OLD GARDEN FLOWERS— III 



The Datikas 



SPKCIMEXS of Datura are rarely seen in the more pre- 

 tentious gardens of the present day hut in old-fashion- 

 ed coninumities somewhat remcjte from urhan influences, the 

 "angel's trumpets" as they are commonly called are not un- 

 familiar sights. There are several reasons for the neglect of 

 this most heautiful and highly decorative group of plants. 

 The most significant is probably the fact that included in the 

 group is the despised jimson weed {Datura stramonium) of 

 waste groimds and rubbish heaps and its unsavory cousin the 

 purple thorn-apple (/). tatula) also a friendless outcast. It 

 is difficult for the grower to realize that he is not cultivating 

 jimson weeds. Another species. Datura metel, may be occa- 

 sionally cultivated — it finds favor at times in Southern Europe 

 for its fragrant though small flowers — but it barely crosses 

 the line that separates the weeds from the flowers in the gar- 

 dener's lexicon. 



