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NATURE STUDY REVIEW [10:5— May, 1914 



a dense mat of bloom, over which the small solitary bees fly 

 quisically about, and the still naked trees cast their dark shadows. 

 Now in some localities, we shall find the hepatica throwing up 

 its clusters of delicately shaded blossoms. Each on its hairy scape, 

 snuggles closely to its brothers, partly, it may be, to keep warm, 

 and partly, it may be, out of an affectionate regard. The diver- 

 sity of tints and shades of the blossoms stands in striking contrast 

 to the torn and faded leaves which have functioned the season 



Fig. 4. 



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The Hepaticas — helter-skelter among the brown leaves 



past, and soon to be replaced by delicate young ones after the 

 blossoms shall have disappeared. The hepatica is a beautiftil 

 woodland flower, sometimes growing as a single plant at the 

 base of an old stump, or in the angle between the roots of a giant 

 tree, or helter-skelter among the green leaves. 



Closely related to the hepatica, and growing in similar places, 

 is the Rue Anemone. It is a plant of larger growth, however, 

 and possessed of a tough wiry stem, bearing at its summit an umbel 

 of white or pink-tinted blossoms. Sometimes you may find 

 colonies of considerable numbers, though more frequently it is 

 found in relatively small numbers. 



We must not overlook the bloodroot. This would be, however, 

 a very easy thing to do, since it is found less abundantly, in most 



