THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 39 



Those who, during the past severe winter, have let 

 their thoughts dwell longingly on the warmth and sun- 

 shine of California, Florida and the West Indies, may be 

 advised that the dwellers in these apparently favored 

 regions are not to be thought of with unalloyed envy. 

 They miss the disagreeable weather of winter it is true, 

 but they also miss that most delightful of seasons— the 

 beginning of a Northern spring. And winter itself is not 

 all disagreeable weather. Spring in warm elimates is but 

 a deepening of the universal green with an almost imper- 

 ceptible increase in the number of flow^ers. The floral year 

 has neither beginning nor end. Anticipation, however, is 

 generallj^ held to be better than realization and this 

 accounts for much of the pleasure gained from the return 

 of spring in the North. Long before a flower is in bloom 

 we may ramble through leafless thicket and plashy pas- 

 ture and find a myriad indications of the return of a mild- 

 er season. The Northern spring is not a mere continua- 

 tion of a blooming season, but the real beginning of a new 

 year. The advent of winter puts an end to all plant 

 growth and aids in making spring the brighter by con- 

 trast. By close attention we may discover almost the ex- 

 act instant when the turning point is reached and there- 

 after follow every development until the floral riches of 



April and May are lost in the leafiness of June, 



* * 

 » 



Ifyou are accustomed to think that you know the flow- 

 ers you may test the extent of your knowledge in this way; 

 Select the spring flower that you know best and without 

 again examining it, answer the following questions : Is 

 it an annual, biennial or perennial ? Does it store up food 

 against the blooming season ? How ? How is it protect- 

 ed against the cold ? Since the seed fall on the surface of 

 the earth, how do the underground parts get so deep in 

 the soil? When are the flower buds formed? How pro- 

 tected ? Is the flower pollinated by wind or insects ? 

 Does it secrete nectar ? Where ? What insects visit it ? 

 For what purpose do they visit it ? What part do the 



