24 Notes on some of our Native Plaiits. 



and transplanting. Some plant the entire cone, which is 

 done in the case of the pitch pi7ie, whose cone is smaller and 

 more rigid ; but this must be an evident waste in both cases. 

 Any light, thin land will answer for such nurseries, perhaps 

 better in consequence of being freer from weeds and less val- 

 uable for other culture. 



The recollection of the susw'ring of the lofty pines, and of 

 their agreeable shade in summer, quite led me away from my 

 little sylvan favorite which grows beneath them, and expands 

 its exquisite blossoms year by year, as the estival months 

 come back in annual succession. Cultivation of the tree 

 seems more easy than that of its humble companion. The 

 peculiar dryness of the soil and the nature of the shade per- 

 haps could not be very well imitated in the garden, to a de- 

 gree favorable to cultivating it. I know of no attempts to 

 introduce it as a garden flower ; but surely it deserves a place 

 among the gems of the florist's care. Artificial belts and 

 coppices of the white pine ought to be adorned with the win- 

 tergreen, or pipsissiwa, as the Indians call it; more classi- 

 cally known in botany as Chimaphila umbellata, a beautiful 

 allusion to its hardy habits, denoting, in its etymon, a love?- 

 of winter. Its astringent and spicy-bitter leaves are also 

 reputed as a popular medicine; yet more value, I suspect, is 

 to be found in the beauty of its flowers than in any pharma- 

 ceutical point of view. To the eye of the observer of native 

 elegance, the chimaphila of the pine woods will always pre- 

 sent a subject for his attention, at whatever season of the year 

 he may chance to see its hardy and verdant foliage. 



We take leave of the dark-foliaged wintergreen, to look 

 after its more rarely found sister and co-species, the Chima- 

 phila maculata. Darlington tells us, in his Flora Cestrica, 

 that this species is called erroneously, by Pursh, the Pipsissi- 

 wa, the same as we have seen belonging in truth to the 0. 

 umbellata. The present species has a general resemblance, 

 but is much more unique. It seldom grows so large, and is 

 never so plentiful ; at least, I never have seen any instances 

 of its occurrence where more than a dozen or two plants could 

 be found at a time. I recollect many years ago seeing the 

 plant for the first time at the Botanic Garden in Cambridge, 

 where it was carefully preserved by Mr. Carter, the skilful 



