THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 3 



a wide and isolated distribution ; the little creeper being a deni- 

 zen in turn of the arctic, the temperature and the tropic zones ! 



Some days later I returned to take a negative of my prized 

 discovery. The firmly set fronds offered no resistance to a 

 good exposure, even in a stiff autumn breeze. But it was 

 another matter with the more delicately poised Dicksonia and 

 Cystopteris, which were disputing possession with Rhizophil- 

 liis for the shade and nurture of the limestone slope. 



Hannibal, Mo. 



CROCUSES. 



By Dr. W. W. Bailey. 



HERE in Providence crocuses usually put in an appearance 

 simultaneously with the silver-leaf maple blossoms, but 

 both are very variable in their time of showing. Snow-drops 

 may come a little earlier. We have in certain years, seen all 

 three by Valentine's Day, which everyone knows is February 

 14th. 



No garden flowers surely, and few wild ones, excel these 

 enforced immigrants in vernal charm. We watch for them as 

 a promise of other, though not better, things. Their tender- 

 ness appeals to us, while their endurance cheers and enobles. 

 How do they open their satin delicacies to the piercing minds 

 of our spring? 



The power of certain plants to resist cold is indeed ex- 

 traordinary and appears to have little to do with their apparent 

 texture or constitution. One would expect their juices to be 

 congealed at the temperature at which they blossom and per- 

 fect their fruit. Take, for instance the delicate seeming chick- 

 weed, which the coldest weather does not seem to especially 

 disturb. It will germinate at about the freezing point, and can 

 be found in flower at any time when there is no snow to hide 



