WINTEB ACONITE BANEBEBBY COLUMBINE. 19 



The pretty white Cliristmas Eose, so called because of its 

 flowering at that season, is also a Hellebore, and its calyx is 

 a brilliant white. Its beauty and purity, as well as the season 

 when it blooms, insure it being a favourite in every garden. 



The little Winter Aconite, which blooms so very early in 

 the spring, its large green sepals giving it the appearance of 

 a little boy of the olden time with an ample frill under his 

 chin, and the bright blue and pink and white Hepaticas, so 

 charming in our gardens and in the Swiss woods at the same 

 season, also belong to this order. 



The Poisonous Baneberry (Actsea spicata), one of the rare 

 ornaments of the hilly districts of the north, with its spike of 

 pink-tinted flowers, more nearly resembling a Spiraea than a 

 Ranunculus, represents another family of this order. Herb 

 Christopher is another name for it. Its leaves are frequently 

 divided, and its fruit consists of a poisonous berry. 



The Columbine forms an agreeable contrast to the golden 

 Ranunculuses ; it is generally purple, though sometimes pink 

 or white. Growing to the height of two feet, its stem slightly 

 branched, and bearing drooping blossoms at the end of the 

 branches, its appearance is very elegant. The sepals are purple 

 as well as the petals, and these last are in the form of a pen- 

 dant cornucopia. A fancied resemblance in the cluster of 

 spurred petals to a nest of young pigeons procured it the 

 name of Columbine. The upper leaves are three-parted, the 

 lower ones twice three-parted. Familiar as this plant is in 

 the shrubbery and garden, it is rare in a wild state. We 

 were much delighted two years ago when informed by an 

 eminent botanist that the Columbine was to be found beyond 

 the WicklifFe woods. We started on a hot day in June, 

 leaving Richmond very early, and searching every field after 

 the aforesaid woods were passed. My companion found it 

 while I was examining another field, and we considered our 

 fatigue well expended in procuring wild specimens (Aquilegia 

 vulgaris, Plate L,fig. 9). Twamly calls this " Folly's Flower," 



