Pink to Red Flowers 249 



NORTHERN TWIN FLOWER 



Linnaa borealis var. americana. Honeysuckle Family 



Branches slender, trailing. Leaves: obscurely crenate, thick, some- 

 times wider than long. Flowers: two-flowered, nodding; peduncles 

 slender, erect, two-bracted at the summit; calyx-tube five-lobed; corolla 

 tubular-campanulate, five-lobed. 



T 



This lovely fragrant plant, called after the great Lin- 

 naeus, the Father of Botany, is a 



" Monument of the Man of Flowers," 



who loved its exquisite pink bells above all else in Nature, 

 and who sealed his preference by adopting it as his crest. 



There is no more charming spot in the mountains than 

 some sequestered nook or shady bank carpeted and adorned 

 by the delicate trailing branches of the Northern Twin 

 Flower, its glossy green leaves mingling with the moss, and 

 its pale pink pairs of bells, veined and lined with rose col- 

 our, growing in lavish profusion and " gently to the passing 

 breeze diffusing fragrance." The slender stalks of this 

 vine stand up erect, and, forking near the summit, bear on 

 either side twin-born pendent blossoms of rare loveliness. 



Seeking the shade and moisture, this plant avoids exposed 

 or sunny places, for 



" Beneath dim aisles, in odorous beds, 

 The slight Linnsea hangs its twin-born heads," 



and reminds us as we gather its graceful perfumed bells 

 that " sweetest of all things is wild-flower air." 



It is widely distributed throughout most northern coun- 

 tries, and is found even within the limits of the Arctic 

 Circle. 



