THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 143 



leaves, bulb.^, roul.s, }(>uiij; jhhIs." I los^^s seem not to be affect- 

 eil by the poison of this plant. ( )n the other hand they appear 

 to relish it. which has gi\en it among other common names 

 that of hog's i)otato. Other names locally applied to the 

 plant are lobelia, poison grass, poison sego, alkali grass, water 

 lily, wild onion, and soap root. 



FLOWERING PLANTS IN MASSES 



By R. M. Crocket 



T T is most interesting to note, as one journeys through the 

 ■*■ country, how la\i>lily flowering plants that are either small 

 or not particularly striking in the indi\'idual are massed so as 

 to present a bold effect. In a pasture between Hartford and 

 Manchester, Connecticut, there ai)pears with the first breath 

 of spring, a wonderftd display of pcarl\ whiteness that might 

 seem to be snow or hoar frost to the tired commuter as he 

 w^hizzes by on the trolley. Closer examination, however, dis- 

 closes the fact that the effect is produced by the unassuming 

 pussy-toes {Antcnnaria dioica) with its fuzzy little edelweiss 

 like flower-heads three or four inches abo\-c its tufts of woolly 

 leaves. 



Following this initial display, in the same pasture, with 

 hardly an intcr\al between comes a vision of the daintiest love- 

 liness in lilac-lavender shades. Our friends the bluets 

 (Houstonia coenilea) are blooming. Day ofter day they per- 

 sistently present fresh faces to the sky and en tuasse maintain 

 an apparently unchanging sheet of blue. A careless cow may 

 obliterate with its hr)of a score of the delicate things yet, im- 

 til the grass around them has grown tall enough to obscure 

 their beauty, the picture at a distance is perfect. 



After the bluets are hidden by the grass and other plants, 



