1 66 COLUNSONIA CANADENSIS. COLLINSON S FLOWER. 



take through the medium of some of the EngHsh serials, for we 

 find Green, a subsequent writer, much more particular in his 

 statement of the location of the species than was customary at 

 that time in the case of American plants. The last-named 

 author says that the Collinsonia Canadensis "is a native of 

 North America, in Pennsylvania, in a rich soil about 43.15 

 north latitude. Mr. Barton was the first who discovered and 

 sent it to Europe." But, in spite of Green's attempt at accuracy, 

 his statement is disfigured by two sad blunders, which, if they 

 should occur in our " Native Flowers and Ferns of the United 

 States," would be considered unpardonable in these fortunately 

 more critical and exact times. We have seen already that Bar- 

 tram, and not Barton, was the man who sent the first seed of 

 our plant to England, and a glance at the map will show that 

 Pennsylvania is a good piece to the south of latitude 43.15 

 north. It is quite likely, therefore, that Green meant to say 

 40.15. Linnaeus, who visited Collinson in 1736, and in 1737 

 published an account of the plants he had obtained from his 

 English friend, called our species Collmsonia Canadensis. 



Our species was made very prominent in botanical literature 

 by the curious behavior of its pistils, which was first noticed by 

 Dr. Darwin, the well-known author of the poem called " The 

 Botanic Garden," published at the beginning of the present 

 century. In a foot-note in this work. Dr. Darwin writes as fol- 

 lows : " I have lately discovered a very curious circumstance in 

 this flower: the two males (stamens) stand widely diverging 

 from each other, and the female bends herself into contact first 

 with one of them, and after some time leaves this, and applies 

 herself to the other. It is probable one of the anthers may be 

 mature before the other." In his " Loves of the Plants," the 

 same author personifies the stamens and the pistil, and thus 

 sings of their tender jDassions : — 



" Two brother swains, of Collins' gentle name, 

 The same their features and their forms the same, 

 With rival love for fair Collinia sigh, 



