Copyright, 1898, bv 

 rUOeiSTS' PUBUISMING go., 520-333 Gaxton Bulldind. CtllGAGO. 



VoLH. 



CHICA.GO AND NEW YORK, JULY 21, 1898. 



No. 34. 



Aquilegia Ciuysantha, the Golden Flowered Columbine. 



COLUMBINES. 



hclden to be very medicinable for the di£ 



ing of dmposthumaitions or swellings in the 



throat. 



Coronary Herbs, by Owillim. 



It is Still undecided as to the deri- 

 vation of the generic name aquilegia, 

 applied to the columbine, whether it 

 came from aquilegus, a water-collect- 

 or, or from aquila, an eagle, in refer- 

 ence to the form of the petals, al- 

 though the latter is probably the true 

 one. It is sometimes called the Dove- 

 plant. Doctor Prior mentions the "re- 

 semblance of its nectaries to the heads 

 of pigeons in a ring round a dish," 

 and Lady Wilkinson speaks of "the 

 figure of a hovering dove with expand- 

 ed wings, which we obtain by pulling 

 off a single petal with its attached 

 sepals." 



The columbine is one of the oldest 

 garden flowers in cultivation and is 

 mentioned by Shakespeare and other 

 early writers. The genus is well re- 

 presented in various parts of the 

 globe, in both warm and cold climates. 

 One species from the Himalayas, A. 

 fragrans, is highly scented. 



The species illustrated. A. chrysan- 

 tha, the golden-flowered columbine, is 

 a native of California that was intro- 

 duced to cultivation in 1873, and is 

 considered one of the finest hardy pe- 

 rennials in use. It grows about three 

 feet high, blooming when under fa- 

 vorable conditions from May until 

 August. The flowers are described as 

 "sepals primrose yellow, spreading 

 horizontally in full expansion nearly 

 or quite one inch long, tinted claret at 

 the tips; limbs of petals deeper yellow, 

 not quite so long; spur straight, very 

 slender, divergent, lyo to 2 inches 

 long; stems many flowered." 



Another very beautiful form is A. 

 caerulea from the Rocky Mountains, 

 with its rare white variety. The type 

 is described as a sky blue and white. 



