STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 309 



Frencli word for the marigold, "Souci," means also care and 

 anxiety, and the flower is dedicated to the Mater Dolorosa. It 

 is also a good barometer, closing its petals at approaching rain. 

 The Climbing Hemp weed (Mikamia Scandens, named for 

 Joseph Mikane, of Prague,) is an exceedingly pretty vine, with 

 clusters of minute vari -colored flowers not unlike the heliotrope, 

 and is common everywhere in the United States east of the Mis- 

 sissippi. It must be very easy of cultivation and very hardy. 



The White Bay Gordonia Pubiscens is a beauty, and if it were 

 diffl ult to obtain, it would bring a great price to the grower. 

 It is a southern flower or shrub found in the everglades of Flor- 

 ida. It was named for Dr. Gordon, a botanist of Aberdeen, 

 Scotland; belongs to the order of Camellias, and is first cousin 

 to the tea plant. 



The cardinal flower (Lobelia Cardinalis) is one of the most 

 brilliant of wild flowers, and is common in IvTew England and all 

 through the eastern half of our country. It grows luxuriantly 

 beside streams and brooks. The poet sings thus of this forest 

 beauty: 



" The cardinal and the blood red spots 

 Its double in the stream, 

 As if some wounded eagle's breast, 



Slow throbbing o'er the plain, 

 Had left its airy path impressed 

 In drops of scarlet rain." 



Its generic name was given in honor of L'Obel, a famous Flemish 

 botanist of the sixteenth century. Nor must we omit the elegant 

 Golden Red and Purple Aster which light up and glorify our 

 prairies and wild woods in the autumn; nor yet the fringed Blue 

 Gentian, the royal flower, namesake of a -liking, all of which are 

 especially valuable, blooming long after many others have faded 

 and gone into winter cxuarters. 



Among the countless mercies and pleasant incidents which my 

 King scatters along my path of duty, I name a delightful day's 

 ride two years ago in the extreme northern x^art of Dakota, very 

 near the 49th parallel, in company with the Eev. Mr. Scott, of 

 Wathalla, a learned botanist and an enthusiastic lover of flowers. 

 He knows the name and habits of every leaf and blossom, and 

 as we rode leisurely along through that strangely beautiful reg- 

 ion among the Pembina Mountains, he stopped frequently to 



* The Illysian king, Gentius, who is said to have first discovered the medicinal properties of 

 this plant. The genus comprises several varieties. 



