THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 9 



itself in the flaming reel of bloody war and the consuming- torch 

 of the invader, but wears the livery of the golden sunshine, 

 while its brightness calls to mind no fiercer flame than the 

 peaceful glow of the domestic hearth. And its face is always 

 turned to the light, as the face of our country, let us hope, 

 will always be turned toward the light of liberty, of justice, 

 and of humanity. 



It is hardly necessary, now, to say that the plant alluded 

 to is the sunflower. The reader has probably already guessed 

 this for himself. But while truly a sunplant in its preference 

 for light and sunshine, it is not heliotropic in the same sense 

 as plants like the cotton, which follow the sun in his daily 

 course through the heavens ; and I suspect that the name "sun- 

 flower" refers rather to its broad disklike face surrounded by 

 a ring of bright rays, which is very suggestive of the symbolic 

 representation of the sun familiar to us in old almanacs, and 

 in common use among nearly all peoples from the remotest 

 times. It is the most cosmopolitan of flowers, and there is 

 hardly a corner of the globe— certainly not of the temperate 

 zone — where some of its kindred may not be found. Forty- 

 four species are credited to our Southern States alone (from 

 Texas to Maryland, inclusive), and probably twice as many 

 more might be counted in other parts of our country and 

 Canada. In South America, some twenty species have already 

 been described, besides those that country has in common with 

 us. The Old World, also, could add a goodly company, to 

 say nothing of our "big sunflower" (Helianthns aiiiuuis) which 

 it has utilized in cultivation much more extensively that we 

 have. 



And if these are not enough to satisfy all tastes, there 

 are a number of closely related species, such as the cone- 

 flowers (Rudbcckia), better known by their popular name of 

 "black-eyed Susan"— which, for the purpose here intended, 

 may answer very well in place of sunflowers, as the lily of 



