FLOWERS 55 



years it, in this lovely setting, seems almost on the 

 way to extinction. 



I have seen this same Primrose growing near St. 

 Louis, Missouri; in fact, it is widely distributed over 

 the world. Were it not for the fact that the blossoms 

 fade in the early morning sunshine they would be 

 used more extensively in our gardens, being so large 

 and showy, and filled with a faint elusive fragrance. 



The Water Hyacinth grows almost everywhere in 

 warm countries, sometimes as an unmitigated pest. 

 (I started work on it first in Honolulu, where it is 

 blocking some of the smaller streams, but not doing 

 any special damage. Lack of time prevented my ac- 

 complishing much at that time.) At the Missouri 

 Botanical Gardens I found the buds started to open 

 at nine o'clock in the evening and were fully opened 

 the next morning into a beautiful blue spike. Also, 

 it drank about one third of the water I had it in 

 during the night, the leaves swaying back and forth 

 all the time. The flowers are attractive and the plant 

 in fish ponds or an aquarium very beautiful the 

 bright green leaves with their greatly swollen stems 

 acting with their air vacuoles as floats, their blossoms 

 like blue sails moving the plants from one side to 

 another of their water homes, made them unusual 

 and distinctive. 



During the lecture vacation of the Christmas holi- 



