THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 21 



The tree form is the result of trimming, as the myrtle 

 naturally forms a clump. It begins to bloom when but a little 

 switch of a plant and multiplies rapidly, the side shoots coming 

 up from the root all around. Left to nature, these clumps are 

 beautiful when in bloom. The central tall shoots and the taper- 

 ing side shoots, down almost to the ground, are pink and bright, 

 a perfect pyramid of flowers for four months of the year. 



It is from these unpruned clumps that plantations are 

 made. The approved method is to set one shoot in a place and 

 keep all side shoots cut away until the plant grows tall and 

 strong, forming a symmetrical tree. Twenty year old myrtles 

 rarely attain the size of an average peach tree. The branches 

 are evenly and gracefully set, never straggling and unbalanced. 

 The foliage is borne evenly along each side of the smooth, lithe 

 branches, and is remarkably persistent for a deciduous tree, 

 turning brilliant crimson late in autumn. 



The crape myrtle is an exceedingly long lived tree. Al- 

 ways one of the components of gardens, parks, and arboretums 

 in the South, it is quite common to see it vigorous and free- 

 flowering upon old home sites where every other mark of 

 former habitation has been obliterated. 



JOHN BARTRAM 



^/^\XE 'day I was busy in holding my plough (for thou 

 ^-^ seest I am but a simple ploughman) and being 

 aweary, I sat me beneath the shade of a tree to rest myself 

 I cast mine eyes upon a daisy. I plucked the pretty flower, 

 and viewing it with more closeness than common farmers 

 are wont to bestow upon a weed, I observed therein many 

 curious and distinct parts, each perfect in itself, and each 



