210 Flora of the Western States. [May, 



the prairies their homes are, of course, not likely to be found in those 

 States. This circumstance alone, occasions a wide diversity between 

 the herbaceous plants of these two regions, which diversity is still fur- 

 ther widened by the contrasts of their geological formations. The bota- 

 nist whose researches have been always confined to New England or the 

 East in general, when first introduced into the prairie, in one of the 

 floral months, imagines himself in a new world. Gay and beautiful forms 

 of vegetation, all apparently strange and new, appear in splendid profu- 

 sion on every side ; and it is not until after a minute and special exami- 

 nation, that he recognizes among them, here and there, a species common 

 to his own native hills, under the disguise of a superior and more beau- 

 tiful development. A more intimate acquaintance still, will show him 

 that this vast profusion, so much admired, consists rather in the number 

 of individuals than of species — that the species which adorn the prai- 

 ries are less numerous than he had at first supposed, while the indi- 

 viduals are multiplied to immensity. 



This fact accounts for those remarkable transformations of color which 

 occur almost daily in the spring and summer robes of the prairies. 

 Since every plant belonging to any special species appears in blossom 

 simultaneously, and different species at different dates, it follows that 

 the same wild prairie which to-day glows with purple as far as the eye 

 an reach, may, on the morrow, shine to the same extent in resplendent 

 yellow. We have watched this succession of colors from the purple of the 

 Phlox in early spring, brightening to the hue of the gilded Coreopsis in 

 summer, and fading at length to the somber hues of the Asters in 

 autumn. 



The native grasses of the prairie bear but a low proportion to the rest 

 of the flora, and the term grassy, so often applied to it, is therefore inap- 

 propriate in its wild state. The few that it produces are of the coarser 

 sort, and never form a turf. Those tallest spires, so conspicuous upon 

 the plain, thinly scattered, are known by the significant name o^forhed- 

 spike (Andropogon furcatus). AVith them are occasionally seen clusters 

 of the rank Spartina, the scented Eragrostis, the rough Hystrix, etc. 

 Timothy, red-top, and hlue-grass (Phleum pratense, Agrostis vulgaris, 

 Poa compressa), do indeed flourish abundantly upon the settled prairies, 

 never upon the wild. They require the hand of cultivation for their 

 introduction, but after having thus gained a footing, they soon eradicate 

 nearly every native plant from the field which they occupy. 



Among the early spring flowers of the prairies, we have already 

 noticed the Phlox, which genus is wholly native of the United States, 

 and almost universally cultivated for ornament. They are, however, not 



