1895.] ESSAYS. 81 



hornbeain, wliich were formed during the preceding summer, now 

 scatter tiieir fertilizing pollen freely and abundantly to the wooing 

 breezes. Such flowers lack the color and the perfume which render 

 so many insect-fertilized flowers so attractive. Not depending on the 

 visits of insects to secure fertilization, they do not need the attractive 

 charms which would bring them. They do need projecting stamens 

 laden with pollen, most of which may be wasted, but enough will 

 remain to accomplish the desired purpose. The fact that the leaves 

 of these trees and shrubs are not yet expanded, would seem to indi- 

 cate that Nature does not wish to interpose unnecessarily any obsta- 

 cle to the pollen on its journey to the waiting stigma. But the gen- 

 eral interest does not lie in such flowers as these which contain the 

 essential organs but lack a showy calyx or corolla. 



Three or four flowers of spring seem to have most of the beauty of 

 the season wrapped up in themselves. What is more dainty than the 

 pale blue blooms of the hepatica, or more evanescent than the sepals 

 and petals of the blood-root, or more delicately fragrant than the pale 

 pink flowers of the trailing arbutus. To be seen at their best, how- 

 ever, they must be seen in their native haunts, beside the babbling 

 brook, among the lichen-covered bowlders, under the pines, but always 

 in the free, open air with the bright sky overhead. The spirit of 

 Emerson's little poem, "Each and All," enfolds them. They cannot 

 be separated from their natural environment without losing some of 

 their natural beauty. 



In the deep woods, it may be, we shall find late in April the early 

 yellow violet, whose praise Bryant sang, probably at Cummington, 

 in the interval between the composition of those two matchless poems, 

 " Thanatopsis " and " Lines to a water-fowl." Near by it should be 

 seen the small yellow flowers of the yet leafless stems of the leather- 

 wood, Dirca jMlustris, L. The dog's tooth violet was the first flower 

 I was able to identify by a careful study of its structure. Till then 

 I cannot say that I had leally seen it, although since then I have 

 seen meadows all yellow with it. Perhaps my eyes had been before 

 like mirrors, which reflect the light and images of objects, but tiiem- 

 selves see nothing. I look for it now every spring. If I should not 

 see it, something would be wanting to the perfect charm of that 

 delightful season. 



One of the shrubs or small trees which cannot fail to attract atten- 

 tion by its abundance in the yet leafless woods is the shad-bush or 

 June berry. Its numerous white flowers in drooping racemes are 

 then far seen and show the large number of individuals, which would 



