208 



GARDEISERS' CHRONICLE 



That Botanical Chap Calls Again 



FLORUM AMATOR 



"W 



'ELL, almost a year has passed since 1 was in 

 your office. I called last year in August and 

 I saw the editor then. \Ve had a delightful 

 time with each other and studied Ijotany together. I 

 brought plant specimens with me and played the part 

 of teacher and he of pupil. He at first argued with us a 

 little about taking his part, but proved a good pupil after 

 he wanned up under instructions, and, I presume, has 

 remembered his lesson; is he in today?" 



We looked up rather reluctantly from the work before 

 us on our desk, as we heard these words uttered at our 

 elbow, ;uid recognized at once '"That Botanical Chap" 

 who called on us last year. He had a large box under 

 his arm, and we knew what was in store for us. "The 

 editor is not in today," we answered. "What can we do 

 for you?" "Perhaps you are the assistant editress," he 

 .said. "We are one of his assistants," we replied. ''Good," 

 said he. '"you may be the chief editress some day ; women 

 are making such rapid advances in many occupations ami 

 professions." 



As he di]:)lomatically uttered this bit of flattery, he drew 

 a chair up near our desk in response to our invitation to 

 him to take a seat, and, placing the big box across his 

 knees, began deliberately to untie the string which held 

 the paper wrapping on the box, saying, as he proceeded 

 with his work : "I have some specimens of plants here 

 w^hich I am going to show }ou. You have no doubt some 

 knowledge of botariy, the most interesting of all the natu- 

 ral sciences, and nearest home : not away ofT like astron- 

 omy. I had to gather these specimens in the rain ; no 

 balmy June this year; it has rained almost every day; 

 Perhaps July will be sunny." 



He took out of his box a plant. "This," said he, "is 

 an ideal specimen : it has the roots, stem, leaves, flowers, 

 and seed pods, and you are able to obser\-e everv part of 

 the plant. \'ou cannot always have a complete plant like 

 this, but for botanical puqioses you should always obtain 

 as nearly an entire plant as possible ; if that is not feasible 

 on account of its large size, then gather portions repre- 

 senting the different parts of the plant, for example both 

 radical and stem leaves, a section of the stem of sufficient 

 length to show the manner of growth, another section to 

 show the mode of inflorescence, flowers, seeds, and root. 

 \\'hen you cannot obtain all of these, gather as many as 

 you can. In the case of trees and shrubs, rei^resentative 

 branches having leaves, flowers, and if possible fruit or 

 seed ix)ds will have to suffice. I hope you will never do 

 such a stupid thing as many peojjle do. namely, .send a 

 botanist a leaf or two or a single flower of a plant, and 

 request him to give you its name. He may even from 

 such a .scanty data be able to identify the ])lant if he is 

 fannliar with ii. luit if not, he stands a small chance of 

 learning its name through a systematic botanical analysis. 



You say that you have not a working knowledge of 

 systeinatic botany sufficient to enable you to analyze a 

 flower unknown to you and so learn its name. It would 

 be a valuable ac(|uisition. but never mind, recall what you 

 can of what you learned of botany in school or college, 

 none too mucli, pn,I)ably. and make use of it. and we will, 

 no doubt, get along well looking the.se plants over to- 

 gether, and you will enjoy the hour's study.'' We almost 

 jumped from our chair as he said the word "hour," but 

 he appeared not to notice it, and we became resigned to 

 spend what in the end iiroved a profitable and pleasurable 

 hour with "That liotanical Chap." 



"We will not," .said he, "attempt a strict analysis of 

 these si^ecimens 1 have brought with me, though that 

 would be a profitable w'ay to spend our time if we had a 

 botanical micro.scope. and needles and a sharp knife and 

 a strong natural light at our command, but we will ob- 

 serve some of the ])ronounced features of each and note 

 the derivation of both the generic and specific name, and 

 learn what uses the plant has. if any. and so weave a little 

 story, as it were, about the plant, which will enable you 

 to recall its name whenever you see it, for you, of course, 

 know it is far easier to remember and recall a name when 

 it is associated with other names or facts. 



"This specimen, as I said before, is an ideal one, be- 

 cause it represents every part of this rather pretty, native 

 yellow-flowered plant. This is Lysi)iuicliia qiiadrifolia, 

 whose common name is Loo.sestrife. It was named in 

 honor of Lysimachus, a general of Alexander the Cireat, 

 and later King of Thrace. The name is connwsed of two 

 ( ireek words, Insis. a loosing from, luacliia. strife. Its 

 specific name is quadrifoHa; Latin, qiiodri, four, ^nd folia, 

 leaves, because its leaves are arranged on its stem for the 

 most part in whorls of four. Now look at this plant and 

 as you look, fix in your memory whom it was named after 

 and w-hat the name is derived from and what each part 

 means, and what the specific name was derived from and 

 what it means, and you will always be able on sight to 

 recall the name of this jilant. 



■'This white-flowered plant, which 1 also jiulled up en- 

 tire, is also a complete specimen. The name of this plant 

 is Achillea millcfoliinn. Its common name is Yarrow or 

 Milfoil. It was named in honor of" Achilles the Greek, 

 who fought in the Trojan War in 1184 B. C. and whom 

 the (ireek poet. Homer, immortalized in his Iliad. Achil- 

 les is said to have been the first to discover the medicinal 

 virtues of this plant. The specific name, inillrfoliniii, is 

 from the Latin millc, tliousand, and foliuiu. a leaf, the 

 leaves of this plant being so finely dissected as to make 

 the divisions appear almost innumerable. This gives it 

 one of its common names. Milfoil ; the other Yarrow is 

 of doubtful derivation but is perhai>s from the old Eng- 

 lish. Yare. meaning prompt, effective, perhaps referring 

 to tlie medicinal virtue which Achilles discovered. Now 

 smell of this plant and note and remember that it is 

 strong-scented and ]5Ut with it the fact that its leaves 

 sometimes have been used for smoking. See. vou and I 

 have woven another little story around .Icliillca millc- 

 foliiiiii, which will enable us to always recall its name 

 when we see it. Why, it is just as easy to remember the 

 name of this ])lanl. which we have examined, as to re- 

 member the name .^an h'rancisco. which you. ]ierhaps, 

 ha\'e never seen, is it not? 



"This is a marsh, or sometimes a<|nalic ])l;ini. .Vquatic 

 plants, as you probably know, grow in tlir water: the 

 name aquatic is derived from the Laiin tu;iui. water. .\ 

 knowledge of Latin and Greek is a great help to anyone 

 studying the natural sciences. \otc that the leaves of ibis 

 plant are ;hc shajJC of an Indian arrow-head. This fact 

 gives this ]ilant its generic Ixitanical name. Sas^itlaria, 

 derived from the Latin S'ai^itta. an arrow, and also its 

 comnion name, .\rni\\ ILad. XHw. tluTc is another 

 specimen of this same pl;ml, and lu-re is a thii'd. Though 

 the leaves are of the same general arrow-head iDrm. those 

 of s]iecinien number one are bmad and obiu^e. those of 

 mnnher two broad and acute, and of number three ii;irrow. 

 This gives this plant its specific n;ime -rariahilis. which is 



