shufeldt] 



STUDYING WILD FLOWERS AT HOME 



165 



A little later in the year, from about the close of April to the 

 end of May, flowering plants of a great many species are in evi- 

 dence all through the woods, the meadows, the swamps, and the 

 hill-sides. It is then that we have not only many species of these 

 new accessions flourishing in the home, but we are enabled to 

 gather beautiful bouquets of them to be preserved, as long as they 

 will keep fresh, in wall-pockets, vases, and similar receptacles. 



At this time, the books 

 on botany are in constant 

 demand, and special 

 study is given to May 

 apples (Fig. 2), ferns 

 (Fig. 3), and the yellow 

 iris (Fig. 4), all of which 

 were photographed by 

 me in situ in the woods. 

 Later, we have the moth 

 mulleins, the wild gerani- 

 ums, the lupine, and a 

 great long list of others 

 altogether too extensive 

 to enumerate . Our home 

 is rendered doubly inter- 

 esting through bringing 

 all these woodsy plants 

 into it. 



Should one care to 

 carry this home study 

 of wild flowers still fur- 

 ther, it is not difficult to 

 collect them for an her- 

 barium devoted to the 

 flora of the region. One 

 must learn the best 

 them ; each specimen 

 named- — both scientific 



Fig. 2. May apple or Mandrake 

 (Podophyllum peltatum). 



methods of pressing and preserving 

 must be duly labeled, dated, and 

 and vernacular names appearing in 

 the data — and finally a fine cabinet is formed in some spare room 

 of the house. After a while, one will be surprised to find how many 

 kindred souls there are in the world along such lines of study. 

 They crop up in the most unexpected places — all the way from a 



