SUMMER MEETING AT OREGON. 105 



grace of our meadow or mountain lilies; no wood flower so taking to the 

 eye as our painted trillium and lady's slipper ; no bog-flower that com- 

 pares with our Calopogon and Arethiisa, so common in southeastern New 

 England; no brooksidc flower that equals our jewel weed; no rock flower 

 before which one wou'd pause with the same admiration as before our 

 columbine ; no violet as striking as our bird's foot violet , no trailing 

 flower that approaches our matchless arbutus ; no fern as delicate as our 

 maiden hair ; no flowering shrub as sweet as our azalias ; in fact, the 

 flora of England represents a commoner type of beauty, very comely and 

 pleasing, but not so exquisite and surprising as our own," And these 

 comparisons are made without including any distinctively Western spe- 

 cies, such as our evening primrose, golden hypericum and sensitive briar. 



In our own State, the flora of the Mississippi Valley not only attains 

 in some respects its highest excellence, but the flora of the entire country 

 is well represented, species in one hundred and twenty-three orders out 

 of one hundred and thirty having been found within our borders. Nor 

 is this to be wondered at, considering the great diversity of our soil and 

 surface, lake and river, mountain and valley, wood and prairie offer a 

 home congenial to an almost infinite variety of vegetation. 



The very valuable catalogue of our native plants, published two 

 years ago by Prof. Tracy, although containing the names of nearly eigh- 

 teen hundred species, does not probably include nearly all the flowering 

 plants of the State. The botanist may even hope to find many new spe- 

 cies in the wilder and less thoroughly explored localities. 



Among the floral families affording us the most beautiful blossoms and 

 in the greatest profusion are the rose, the violet, the pea, the hone)'suckle 

 and the sunflower families. Many of our most exquisite spring flowers 

 belong to the rose and ranunculus families. The first of these includes 

 that prince of flowering trees and shrubs, the wild or sweet-scented crab- 

 apple. Nothing north or south can compare with it in all that makes a 

 flower completely satisfactyry to the refined taste. The grace of its co- 

 rymbs, its exquisitely folded buds, the structural symmetry and elegance 

 of its open blossoms its delicate, spicy fragrance, its glossy leaves of va- 

 rying shades of green, combine to render it supreme in loveliness. In the 

 same order we find all the beautiful thorns with their snow-white or pink- 

 tinted clusters and varnished leaves and the wild roses, the types of the 

 family, from the delicate hicida to the robust and aspiring sctegcra. In 

 the ranunculus family the clematis, larkspurs and columbine have given 

 us some rare and valuable varieties. In violets few regions can compete 

 with us in number of species and profusion. " I know a bank whereon," 

 not " the wild thyme," l)ut the j^ansy violet "grows" — to paraphrase 



