VERNAL FLOWERS. 281 



slip (CALTIIA palustris^ a fine example of the class Polyan- 

 dria ; and the adder's tongue (ERYTHRONIUM dens-canis^ 

 having a beautiful liliaceous flower, which affords a good ex- 

 ample of the class Hexandria. 



In woods, and by the sides of brooks, is to be seen the San. 

 guinaria or blood- root ; which bears a white blossom, more 

 elegant and ornamental for a garden, than many flowers which 

 are brought from foreign countries, and affording from its root 

 a highly valuable medicine. 



The CLAYTONIA, or as it is often called, spring beauty, is 

 also to be found at this season ; the dandelion too, you well 

 know is found among the earliest flowers of spring. The 

 garden violet, which is an exotic, appears also at this time ; 

 the VIOLA rotundifolia, or yellow violet, with roundish leaves 

 lying close to the ground, is found in the fields. Besides these, 

 are found several species of Carex, a coarse kind of grass ; 

 the trailing arbutus, EPIGEA repens, and the TRILLIUM, which 

 we remarked under the class Hexandria, as a flower exhibiting 

 great uniformity in its divisions. 



In May, many species of the Viola appear ; there is some- 

 times a difficulty in determining between these species ; the 

 distinctive marks seem often to be blended ; we are in such 

 cases obliged to place our plant' under that species, to which in 

 our judgment, it seems to have most resemblance. 



One of the most interesting flowers of this season, found in 

 woods and meadows, is a species of ANEMONE, the Windflower 

 (virginiana), a name, given as some say, because the flower 

 expands only jn windy weather ; its petals are large and 

 usually white, the stem grows to the height of two or three 

 f6et, and contains one terminal flower. Several other species 

 of the Anemone are in blossom about this time. 



The Xylosteum, or fly-honey-suckle, may be found by the 

 side of brooks, a shrub with blossoms growing in pairs ; also 

 the UVULARIA, a plant of the lily family having a yellow 

 blossom ; and the strawberry, with its numerous stamens 

 growing on the calyx ; it has also many styles, each one bear- 

 ing a seed. 



The ARONIA, is an early flower, a species of which, the 

 shad-blossom, is not unfrequently found in April ; this is a 

 shrub, often growing upon the banks of brooks, with white 

 petals, clustering together in the form of a raceme. 



Many of the mosses are now in blossom ; these, we trust, 

 you have learned to consider as presenting much that is inter- 

 esting, to those who understand their structure ; but you will 



Dandelion, &c. Flowers of May Viola Anemone, &c. Mosses now in 

 bloom. 



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