64 RHEXIA VIRGINICA. MEADOW-BEAUTY. 



still, are confined exclusively to the Atlantic portion, none having 

 as yet been discovered on the western coast. Of the few species 

 of which our country can boast, the Meadow-Beauty extends 

 the farthest north, being found, according to the Portland Cata- 

 logue, in the State of Maine. Dr. Gray says it grows in sandy 

 swamps ; and he limits it northward to Eastern Massachusetts, 

 giving its range thence to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, 

 and southward. Dr. Chapman locates it in swamps, chiefly in 

 the upper districts, Mississippi and northward; and according 

 to Prof. Wood it grows in wet grounds, Massachusetts to Illinois 

 and Louisiana. Its flowering time, according to the two last- 

 named authors, is in July and August. Of more special loca- 

 tions, Dr. Darlington records it as growing in slaty swamps in 

 Chester County, Pa., but not common. Beck, as long ago as 

 1826, noticed that it grew sparingly on the banks of the Missis- 

 sippi, sixteen miles south of St. Louis; and it is included in 

 Geyer's lists of the plants of Illinois and Missouri, of the year 

 1844. As already noted, it grows in Arkansas, and is recorded 

 in some Texan collections. It is not found in Kansas, but Prof. 

 Aughey includes it in the flora of Nebraska, which is all the 

 more remarkable as it has not yet been discovered in Iowa. As 

 it occurs in Nebraska, west of Iowa, and in Wisconsin, on the 

 east, we might certainly expect to find it in some Iowa collec- 

 tions, and it seems almost probable that further investigations 

 will yet add it to the list of Iowa plants. It may be of value to 

 keep these data on record, as they will give a clue in after 

 years, if geographical changes should then be noticed. 



To the lover of the beautiful, the bright color, both of the 

 petals and the foliage, will be very pleasing. In its general 

 aspect the plant is of a formal order of beauty ; yet the strict 

 symmetry and unity which appear in all its parts, even to the 

 flower-buds, make it emphatically a work of art from the hand 

 of nature. 



Explanation of the Plate. — i. Flowering branch with its first expanded blossom. — 

 2. Lower portion of stem, showing tuberous root. 



