PINK 



TRAILING ARBUTUS. MAYFLOWER. GROUND 



LAUREL. 



Epigcva repens. Heath Family. 



Stem. — With rusty hairs ; prostrate or trailing. Leaves. — Rounded ; 

 heart-shaped at base; evergreen. Flowers. — Pink; clustered; fragrant. 

 Calyx. — Of five sepals. Corolla. — Five-lobed ; salver-shaped ; with a slen- 

 der tube which is hairy within. Sta?nens. — Ten. Pistil. — One, with a five- 

 lobed stigma. 



" Pink, small and punctual, 

 Aromatic, low," 



describes, but does scant justice to the trailing arbutus, whose 

 waxy blossoms and deUcious breath are among the earliest 

 prophecies of perfume-laden summer. We look for these flowers 

 in April — not beneath the snow, where tradition rashly locates 

 them, but under the dead brown leaves of last year ; and 

 especially among the pines and in light sandy soil. Appearing 

 as they do when we are eager for some tangible assurance that 



" the Spring comes slowly up this way," 



they win from many of us the gladdest recognition of the 

 year. 



In New England they are called Mayflowers, being peddled 

 about the streets of Boston every spring, under the suggestive 

 and loudly emphasized title of " Ply-y-mouth Ma-ayflowers ! " 

 Whether they owe this name to the ship which is responsible 

 for so much, or to their season of blooming, in certain localities, 

 might remain an open question had we not the authority of 

 Whittier for attributing it to both causes. In a note prefacing 

 ''The Mayflowers," the poet says: "The trailing arbutus or 

 Mayflower grows abundantly in the vicinity of Plymouth, and 

 was the first flower to greet the Pilgrims after their fearful 

 winter." In the poem itself he wonders what the old ship had 



"Within her ice-rimmed bay 

 In common with the wild-wood flowers, 

 The first sweet smiles of May ? " 



195 



