10 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



autumnale, or autumn crocus, fog crocus, Michaelmas 

 crocus and meadow saffron is also called naked ladies, no 

 doubt from the flowers appearing without any foliage. 



There are many other quaint and curious names I 

 could mention, but the foregoing should be sufficient, for 

 the present at any rate, to show that a lot of interesting 

 and amusing information concerning the beauties of 

 Nature in our gardens may be derived from a study of 

 plants and their various names.— Journal of Horticulture. 



THE STUDY OF BOTANY. 



BY TINNIE WHEELER. 

 'pO the true lover of wild flowers, the stud\' of 1)otany 

 J- means far more than a mere knowledge of the techni- 

 cal terms used in text books. Such students 



"Love not the flower they pluck, and know it not, 



And all their botany is Latin names." 

 It means a personal acquaintance with the flowers, visit- 

 ing them in their own homes, studying their growth, their 

 life, their environments — it means getting into a closer 

 touch with the beautiful, which leads us to look from 

 Nature up to Nature's God, who created the smallest 

 flower that springs unnoticed from the ground. 



Such knowledge as this makes us feel at home in the 

 world. Even a speaking acquaintance, as it were, with 

 the flowers enables us to recognize them as old friends 

 wherever we meet them. The study of botan}^ furnishes 

 one of the purest sources of enjoyment which the world 

 affords. To me no pleasure is comparalile with a delight- 

 ful ramble through woods and fields with botany- and 

 microscope in hand, in keen anticipation of finding new 

 specimens and the delicious thrill of pk'asure experienced 

 on beholding them for the first time. 



By the student in school, botany is too often consid- 

 ered a dry, uninteresting study simply because analysis is 

 confined to wilted or dried specimens which recall no 

 pleasant rambles through fragrant woodland paths or 

 sunny meadows to find them in their natural habitats. 



