238 PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 



blue with violets; phlox made the meadows brilliant; lady slippers grew 

 in the deep woods; cardinal flowers gave color to the late summer land- 

 scape; and water lilies flourished in the streams and lakes. Today, the 

 lady slipper, cardinal flower, and water lilies are extremely rare in cen- 

 tral Iowa and yet students at Ames during the 70's recall collecting the 

 two former on the college land lying near the Northwestern railroad 

 tracks. A later example of complete extinction has come within the 

 writer's experience. Eight years ago at Ames along College creek, 

 were plantations of the beautiful orchid, Spiranthes cernua, and the 

 stately Turk's cap lily, Lilium superbum. The march of improvement 

 has swept away both of these; first the orchid, which disappeared when 

 the new road was opened, later the lily, which fell before the ruthless 

 sweep of the scythe and lawn mower. Here and there are patches care- 

 fully preserved, that are the delight of the botanist and nature lover. 

 As one example, we might mention the Hayden farm near Ames, where 

 many species, as the cardinal flower and the beautiful pasque flower, 

 otherwise unknown in this vicinity of Iowa, are carefully protected. 



It is not that we do not admire the delicate native flowers, that we 

 take so little pains to save them; it is rather that in our haste to accom- 

 plish more important things, we have been unconscious of the prevailing 

 trend, until now that we are threatened with the complete extinction of 

 many of our most beautiful varieties, we are wakening to the fact that 

 immediate action is necessary if we would stay the destructive movement. 

 Granted that it is not practicable always to retain our wild plants in their 

 natural habitats, there is offered the alternative of transplanting and 

 protecting them in new homes. In this step we, however, are confronted 

 with many hindrances. To many of our home gardeners, the difficulty of 

 obtaining these native plants places them almost beyond possibility of 

 possession. Seeds of alien plants may be purchased from the local 

 seedman during an ordinary shopping expedition, or be ordered by mail 

 without stirring from the house; greenhouse plants may be easily ob- 

 tained, but the dainty spring beauty and the graceful blue bell hide in 

 the forest and are not easily accessible to one who would have them 

 in her home garden. Their blooming period is short and having accom- 

 plished this, they soon disappear and are not seen again until a new 

 spring awakens them. Hence, one must be alert who would find them in 

 time to recognize and transplant them. These two plants easily adapt 

 themselves to a new environment and after becoming once established 

 bloom and increase year after year as if in their natural habitat. 



It would be difficult to find a more beautiful vine than the perennial 

 moonseed. Its thick, ivy-like leaves quickly cover a trellis; it is not 

 affected by fungi and insects do not relish its sap, and yet it is seldom 

 seen in our towns and villages. A few years ago, an acquaintance in 

 a neighboring county sent a specimen of this plant to the writer for 

 identification. She said that it was so persistent that she had despaired 

 of destroying it, but thinking that it was a weed, had cut it down year 

 after year. Upon being advised that it made a very ornamental vine, she 

 transplanted it to her porch and was delighted with the results. In 

 northern Minnesota it is used as an ornamental porch vine and grows 

 with almost tropical luxuriance. 



