10 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



France, for instance, as used in heraldry, is not a lily at all 

 in a botanical sense, but a conventionalized representation of 

 the iris that has no existence in nature. In choosing a flower 

 for purely sentimental or decorative purposes, it is not 

 necessary to be very particular as to botanical distinctions 

 which the general public knows and cares nothing about. For 

 this reason it would not be advisable to designate any one of 

 our numerous species of Helianthus as the national emblem, 

 but to accept whatever the popular nomenclature recognizes as 

 a sunflower, and thus spare the average citizen the trouble of 

 taking a lesson in botany before he can tell whether he must 

 display a Helianthus annuus, or a Helianthus inicroccphalus, 

 or any one of a score of other botanical puzzles, in order to 

 give proper expression to his patriotic feelings. 



But the strongest point in favor of the proposed choice, 

 I have reserved to the last. If anybody will examine carefully 

 the disk of one of these so-called flowers, he will find that it is 

 not a single blossom, as is commonly supposed, but a whole 

 community, or a federal union, so to speak, of small flowers 

 which have combined into a compact association for their 

 mutual benefit, and thus exemplify, with striking appropriate- 

 ness, our national motto: "E Pluribus Unum." By the com- 

 mon consent of botanists they are regarded as represening the 

 highest stage of progressive evolution yet attained in the plant 

 world. And since America has assumed the proud position 

 of a leader in the cause of democracy against despotism, what 

 more appropriate symbol could she find than this democratic 

 republic of flowers? 



