110 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



in the eagle's talons, we read the thought, plurality; in the 

 talons which clutch them in a bundle, we read strength, and in 

 the motto near the outer edge of the seal, unity. 



From the foregoing analysis of our standard and seal, it 

 requires no great powers of discernment to see that in the 

 coming floral emblem, in order that it may rank as a compeer 

 with existing insignia, it must give expression to that trinity of 

 truths which so clearly express our estimate of the union, unity, 

 strength , plurality. 



These then being the thoughts which our floral emblem should 

 convey, the question arises as to the capability of a single flower 

 expressing them. In proving that none have as yet been found, 

 it will only be necessary to hastily examine the qualifications of 

 such flowers as are figuring prominently before the people for 

 this honor. 



The simple Golden Rod and the many hued Aster claim the 

 characteristics necessary to show plurality, but these claims will 

 not stand intelligent criticism, if Webster's definition is to be 

 adhered to as a guide, inasmuch as they lack the ability to impress 

 the beholder with the truth they wish to convey. Though the 

 Botanist and student may see in the bloom of the Golden Rod a 

 collection of individual blossoms, and in the Aster, petals differ- 

 ing in order, yet to the great bulk of our countrymen whose un- 

 scientific minds are unused to Botanical analysis, these blossoms 

 will be but a single flower expressing nothing save the senti- 

 mental fancy of a thoughtless people. 



Of the other aspirants for this honor, the Trailing Arbutus, that 

 vagrant of the rocks that fights for life with the chilly winds of 

 a New England spring; the stately Sunflower, that follows its 

 god from east to west ; the ox-eyed Daisy, the Violet, that borrows 

 its color from the skies that it constantly seeks ; that pet of the 

 flower-garden, the Pansy; of these nothing can be said individ- 

 ually in favor of their candidacy, possessing no properties which 

 would fit them for its occupancy, they would soon disappear from 

 the race were it not for the unthinking sentimentality of those 

 people who press them forward. The summer past evinced the 

 fact that little hope may be held for the ultimate supremacy of 

 any single flower. 



At the fairs, recently held throughout the country, polls were 

 opened and votes recorded of the favorite flowers as cast, with 

 sixty candidates in the field. The battling of ballots was neces- 

 sarily heavy but not decisive, the results being in line with the 

 argument advanced in the first part of this paper, — that state 

 pride will actuate the mind of the voter, man being prone to 

 favor that with which he is most familiar; which in this case 

 would be the flower of his garden, his glen, or native prairie. 



Thus we are led to believe that no plant will be found in the 



