26 Notes on some of our Native Plants. 



be also distinguished on the stem, especially when young. 

 Some irregularly shaped, brown spots are to be seen, also, on 

 the upper surface of the foliage, from which, perhaps, its spe- 

 cific name is derived. From the upper Avhorl of leaves rises 

 a common footstalk, supporting two or three flowers, having 

 white petals, of a broadly obovate, concave form, and, while 

 not so beautiful as those of the true pipsisskva, are superior 

 in the fact of possessing a delicate odor, of a peculiar charac- 

 ter. Sometimes it happens that only one of the flower buds 

 expands into blossom : the present species has always, how- 

 ever, the merit of its singularly striped foliage, which causes 

 it to be regarded as an object of curiosity. 



The little clump of roots which I brought from Northbor- 

 ough, I potted in a mixture of vegetable mould, chopped sphag- 

 num, and decayed leaves ; and, shading it from the sun under 

 some bushes in the garden, with frequent waterings, it pro- 

 duced me a flower stalk having a single blossom ; being the 

 only bud of sufficient strength to come to maturity. It after- 

 wards made a fine new growth, and is at this moment on my 

 table, looking as if it was as well established in its new home 

 as it ever was in its native locality. For three weeks, this 

 single blossom continued fresh in my room, shaded from the 

 sun. No seed-vessel, however, was produced, probably ow- 

 ing to deficiency of opportunity for impregnation. I consider 

 it a pretty pot plant, certainly of as much merit as Cyclamen 

 hedersefolium, which is cultivated with so much care. The 

 species may, perhaps, be classed as among the "plantse ra- 

 riores;" or, as florists would say in plain English, it is a 

 "rare plant." As such, I shall preserve it, — more, however, 

 for its own beauty; more, still, as a memento of pleasant 

 hours amid its sylvan home. 



This species, according to Menzies, is indigenous to the 

 Northwest Coast of North America, as Nuttall tells us in his 

 Genera of North American Plants. Several other species are 

 also enumerated in the Flora of the United States, by some 

 botanists ; but these belong to another section, and go under 

 the name of Pyrola, of which we have, in the vicinity of 

 Boston, several, which claim attention for their own intrinsic 

 and peculiar merits. 



South Hingham, Dec, 1847. 



