52 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



These plants bloom during May, June and July and when 

 in bloom are intensely fragrant, scenting the air for a quarter 

 of a mile. As to their hardiness I see no reason why they 

 are not as hardy as the eastern type of azaleas. They are 

 deciduous and drop their leaves after the first heavy frosts. 

 When in bloom the bushes are completely covered with their 

 Sfreat masses of flowers from 1>4 to 3 inches across and a 

 great number in a cluster. 



THE SAND LILY 



By EarIv Lynd Johnston. 



IT is remarkable that the first flower of spring on the semi- 

 arid plains should be delicate, showy and fragrant. The 

 early flowers are generally inconspicuous and with no claims 

 to odor. The sand lily is the most striking exception. The 

 bright green of the tuft of leaves which often appear before 

 the last snow of winter has dissappeared is prophetic of the 

 spring near at hand ; the gleaming whiteness of its six-rayed 

 waxen petals peeping forth from banks of sand and clumps of 

 Buffalo grass in the frosty air of an early spring morning 

 seems somehow to remind me of patches of snow here and 

 there on the prairie that has recently surrendered to the be- 

 nign rays of the returning sun. To me the sand lily seems to 

 tie up winter with spring. 



Sand lily! It's very name suggests a desert. The sun- 

 flower with its shining heads of gold and brown is a transient 

 summer visitor that settles in our cultivated fields; the Rus- 

 sian thistle is a world-traveler that preempts lands once broken 

 up from the raw prairie and, wind-driven, fills our fence rows 

 with the debris of prickly stalks which leave a trail of seeds 



