32 WILD FLOWER FAMILIES 



quently it seems safe to say that for most people 

 the Hepatica is the first wild flower of the season. 

 And it is a very fitting leader for the light-footed 

 procession that is to follow through the golden 

 days of spring. All winter the buds have waited, 



ROUND-LOBED LIVER-LEAF 



with seeming impatience, the word to start, and as 

 soon as the snow upon the southern slopes begins 

 to disappear these buds creep upward, the three 

 large bracts that cover the blossom open slightly 

 and the tender flowers unclose, revealing the 

 stamens and pistils within. 



Quite often these earliest blossoms have to 



