PAPERS OX BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE 71 



as trillium, jack-in-the-pulpit, rue anemone, are especi- 

 ally in need of protection. Unusually fragile species 

 must be considered also, such as the Dutchman's breeches, 

 bloodroot, celandine, and Indian pipe. To these must be 

 added those species whose leaves are the objects sought, 

 among them the laurel, galax, many ferns, and ground 

 pine. Last are those plants whose beauty is so conspicu- 

 ous as to attract even the matter-of-fact business man — 

 the azalia, the mountain laurel, water lilies, flowering 

 dogwood, redbud and others. All these must be pro- 

 tected or they will disappear speedily. 



All right-thinking people are agreed that our wild- 

 flowers should be protected, but they are not of one mind 

 as to the best way to accomplish it. The sentimentalist 

 speaks of "the sanctity of plant life" and adjures us to 

 "love the lily and leave it on its stalk" or perchance to 

 "leave the dainty little recluse to fulfill the law of its 

 being." If he (or is it she?) is speaking of properly pro- 

 tected areas, we may not object, but of what advantage 

 is it to leave a much desired specimen to the tender mer- 

 cies of the marauding urchin or some wandering cowl 

 I still remember with some chagrin inducing a class on a 

 field trip to refrain from gathering a thousand or more 

 pogonia orchids, and later while lunching in a shady 

 spot, seeing the entire thousand go by — a solid mass of 

 wilting blossoms in the clutches of a couple of small 

 boys. So long as there is one individual interested in 

 picking, no plant in unprotected areas is safe. 



If we divest the whole question of sentiment and get 

 down to the business methods of protecting plants, we 

 shall discover that adequate laws, justly enforced, is 

 the only solution of the matter. We should bend our 

 energies toward securing a law in every state which will 

 back up the land-owner in protecting his own. And after 

 such a law is secured, we should see that it is enforced. 

 The sale of wildflowers should be forbidden absolutely 

 except by legal permit, and the dealers in such things 

 should be obliged to breed their stock and not dig it up 

 from the wilds. With proper laws, sanctuaries for plants 

 could be established and maintained. Every park, every 

 large estate, the railroad rights of way, the lake shores, 



