94 THE PLANT WORLD 



will pass before the first blossoms of the hepatica and the snowy trillium 

 open. During the first daj^s of April the ringing notes of the song spar- 

 row and the musical call of the phoebe are heard, and swarms of black- 

 birds of different species carry the message of spring's advent from their 

 southern winter home northward. The host of the most beautiful spring 

 migrants and summer sojourners, the wood warblers, those lovety sylvan 

 ornaments, so strikingly in harmony with the gala days of spring, the 

 brilliant scarlet tanager, and Baltimore oriole do not appear before the first 

 or second weeks of May — and even May is a very fickle and undecided 

 month in the northern parts of our country. 



How different is all this in Florida, the land of sunshine and flowers ! 

 The seasons come and go without drawing sharp lines. The sweet, violet- 

 like fragrance of the Carolina jessamine, pervading the air since New 

 Year's Day, is no longer enjoyed. The delicious perfume of the orange 

 blossoms wafted by the gentle breezes to quite a distance, belongs to the 

 past. Only a few powerfully scented flowers of the banana shrub {.Mich- 

 elia fuscata) , the last of the season, can be detected among the dense 

 evergreen foliage. Although we are scarcely without flowers a day in 

 the year, even here the beginning of spring shows some marked changes. 



The winter rains are now mostly over and the dry season begins. At 

 this time of the year the gardens and woodlands show such a wealth of 

 many-hued flowers that only October and November seem to outrival 

 the spring flora in beauty and vigor. The allamandas, the antigonon, 

 the Chinese hibiscus, the Tecoma stans, the glowing Bignonia venusta, 

 and the dazzling salvias are all in their glory in the autumn months. 

 The variety, dainty forms and colors, loveliness, fragrance, and the tender 

 sweetness and fresh beauty, however, here as elsewhere, belong to early 

 spring. 



How full of beauty and anticipation is the first day of the vernal 

 season ! The gardens and the apparently desolate pine woods are adorned 

 with flowers in such a profuse abundance as to attract immediate atten- 

 tion. The air resounds with the strains of many birds. Last night the 

 chuck-will's-widow, the whippoorwill of this southland, for the first time 

 this year uttered its loud and charmingly melodious and characteristic 

 whistles among the palms, bamboos, magnolias, waxmyrtles, and other 

 evergreen trees and shrubs near my cottage. Not far away a second 

 and a third one answered. The marvelous song of the mockingbird can 

 now be heard all day long and frequently during the night. Cardinal 

 robins are ver\' numerous in the garden all the year round. They look 

 gorgeously beautiful among the dense evergreen foliage of the magnolias 

 and among the equally dense Himalayan cypresses. Their cheerful song, 

 heard from all sides, fills the heart with rapture. In the early morning 

 hours I am greeted by the clear, voluble song of the thrasher near my bed- 



