THE QANADIAN HOBTTCULTDRTST» 



275 



THE RAREST AMERICAN WILD 

 PLANT. 



Shortia CaUvcifolia. 



The "Tenus Fly Trap" (Dionma 

 musipnlaj is a plant that is found wild 

 only in a few spots in the United 

 States ; but for its peculiar structure 

 has been propagated so much that it ivs 

 ceasing to be a novelty. There is 

 another species of plant that is more 

 rare than this, and a brief account of 

 its history and a description of the 

 plant itself may not come amiss. 



In the year 1839, in examining the 

 dried specimens of a noted English 

 botanist, Dr. Asa Gray came across a 

 plant that had been collected in the 

 mountains of North Carolina over a 

 hundred yeai-s ago. It was unlike any 

 other American plant that he had seen, 

 and the species was given the generic 

 name of Shortia, in honor of Dr. C. W. 

 Short an accomplished botanist, as well 

 as physician, of Louisville, Ky. 



Dr. (-Jray and other botanists made 

 an extended tour through North Caro- 

 lina in the year 1841, mainly for the 

 purpose of re-discovering the new plant, 

 but without success. At frequent 

 intervals since that date other botanists 

 have followed the trail of the original 

 discoverers, but in all cases failed to 

 find Shortia. It was believed by many 

 that the species must have become 

 extinct. 



In 1877 Mr. G. M. Haynes had the 

 good fortune and honor of rediscovering 

 the long sought plant. He found it in 

 MacDowell County, N. C. ; and in 1879 

 Dr. Gray witli others made a pilgrimage 

 to the home of the rarest of American 

 wild plants. The locality where it was 

 growing was a space of about ten by 

 thirty feet and contained not over one 

 hundred plants. It is certainly quite 

 remarkable that this plant should be so 

 limited in its range of growth, and also 

 as wonderful that it should be I'e-dis- 



covered so long after it was first found 

 by a wandering botanist. 



How quickly a case like this calls to 

 mind the struggle for existence this plant 

 has had I and one is inclined to turn in 

 thought to the unfitness which this 

 plant must have for the battle of life. 

 Had it not been re discovered it might 

 have become extinct before many yeai^. 

 It would seem as if Shoi-tia was, in the 

 evening twilight of its obscureexistence, 

 but rescued from death by tlu; saving 

 hand of man. 



A few words of description aie in 

 order. Shortia belongs to the small 

 Diapensia Family, so that it is closely 

 allied to the heaths on one side and the 

 primroses on the other. The plant is 

 a low herb with a creeping root stock 

 from which arise evergreen leaves in 

 shining tufts. The specific name gal- 

 acifolia is given it because its leaves 

 have a strong resemblance to those of 

 a species of !/alax, a related genus. The 

 flower stalks arise from among the 

 leaves, each bearing a single flower, 

 which is pure white and about an inch 

 across. The petals are scolloped and 

 somewhat fringed at the margin, and 

 marked with semi-transparent veins. 

 Shortia is a pretty little plant, and its 

 gi'eat rarity makes it an object of great 

 interest to all lovers of plants. — Byron 

 D. Halstead, in Ladies Floral Cabinet. 



A Kansas paper asserts that the people 

 of that State have planted, under the 

 State forestry laws, 93,000 acres in trees. 

 The cotton wood, on account of its rapid 

 growth, has been planted most abund- 

 antly. Some G,000 acres of black walnut 

 have been put out. These 93,000 acres 

 of trees, if well cared for, will in a few- 

 years not only add greatly to the beauty 

 of Kansas scenery, but will materially 

 modify the clijuato of tlie State. If the 

 good work goes on, the day will come 

 when Kansas will be as free from drouths 

 as are any of the Western States. The 

 constant winds will also be done away 

 with, to a great degree. — Prairie Farmer. 



