WILD, OR NATIVE FLOWERS. 8i 



hoary and of a dull green, few and scattered. The scales of the chaffy 

 disc are of a dark, shining purple, forming a somewhat depressed cone. 

 This species, with a slenderer-stemmed variety, with rays of a golden 

 yellow, are to be met with largely diffused over the Province. 



Miny splendid species of the Cone- flower are to be found on the 

 wide-spread prairies of the West, where their brilliant starry flowers are 

 mingled with many a gay blossom known only to the wild Indian 

 hunter, and the herb-seeking Medicine-men of the native tribes, who 

 know their medicinal and healing qualities, if they are insensible to their 

 outward beauty. One tall, purple-rayed species {Ec/iinacca purpurea) 

 is very handsome. 



I sometimes think, that though apparently indifferent to the beauties 

 of nature, our labourers are not really so unobservant or apathetic as we 

 suppose them to be ; but that being unable to express themselves in 

 suitable language, they are silent on subjects concerning which 

 more enlarged minds can speak eloquently, having words at their 

 command. The uneducated know little of the art of word painting, 

 in describing the beautiful or the sublime. 



Spice Winter-green — Gaultheria procuinbens (L). 



This pretty little plant has many names besides the one above : it 

 is also known as Tea-berry, Checker-berry and Aromatic Winter- 

 green ; but it shares these English names with many other forest 

 plants. 



The aromatic flavour of its leaves and berries has made the Spice 

 Winter-green a favourite, not with the Indians only, but also with the 

 Confectioners, who introduce the essential oil that is extracted from the 

 leaves and fruit into their sugar confections. It is also an ingredient 

 in many of the tonic and alterative bitters prepared and sold by the 

 Druggists in Canada. The Squaws chew the dry, spicy, mealy berries 

 when ripe with great relish ; and in the lodge, the Indian hunter 

 smokes the leaves as a substitute for tobacco : when burnt they give 

 out a pleasant aromatic smell. The leaves are warm and stimulant, 

 agreeable to the taste, and perfectly wholesome. 



The creeping root-stock throws up simple upright stems at inter- 

 vals, crowned with a few smooth, thick, shining leaves, of a bright green 

 colour. The flowers are three or four in number, resembling in form the 

 Arbutus, Heath, Huckle-berry and others of the family ; being a roundish 

 bell contracted at the neck, pale-white or flesh-coloured. The fruit 

 which is persistent through the winter, is of a brilliant scarlet. The 

 fleshy calyx is of the same texture and colour, and forms a part of the 



