ii(M 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



not known the effects of battling armies, whose streams and 



rivers have not been dyed with human blood and choked with 



the bodies of war's victims. 



Often it is that nature gains in times of conflicting nations ; 



for the bird-destroying gun of the thoughtless frequenter of 



the woods is ex- 

 changed for the 

 weapon of war, 

 and the meadows 

 and suburban tim- 

 bered districts en- 

 joy a partial rest 

 from the ravages 

 of the usual hosts 

 of ramblers that 

 hie thither in 

 times of tranquil- 



WF. HAVE SOME CURIOUS PLANTS WITH 

 STRANGE FLOWERS IN THE Compositae OR 

 COMPOSITE FAMILY; THIS IS ONE OF THEM, 

 AND FROM THE DROOPING BLOSSOMS OF 

 THE VARIOUS SPECIES, THEY HAVE BEEN 

 GROUPED IN THE GENUS Prenanthes. 



Fig. 2 Prenanthes alba, by some writers called 

 Nabalus albus, bears the common name of Lion's 

 Foot from its leaf; for other reasons it has been 

 named White Lettuce, Rattle-snake Root and Canker 

 Weed. Its tuberous roots are extremely bitter. 



lity. War workers have scant time for 

 country outings, while even joy-riders 

 have other uses for their cars than to 

 carry great bunches of ruthlessly gath- 

 ered wild flowers and branches of flow- when a flower is known by a great 



NUMBER OF VERNACULAR NAMES, WE MAY 



enng trees. be sure that it is a familiar plant to 



_, , , , NEARLY EVERYONE WHEREVER IT GROWS. 



I<or reasons not far to seek, m some or else it possesses numerous curious 



.. . , j ,. _. CHARACTERS; THIS IS THE CASE WITH OUR 



countries the birds and small mammals t,wo balsams of the Bahaminaceae. 



are again becoming more Or leSS abund- F >8r- J Balsams or Jewelweeds belong in the genus 



. Impatiens; this is the Impatiens biflora, so named for 



ant J at the Same time, the demand for the reason that the flowers are, in most instances, 



... . in pairs, while in other cases four of their slender 



great quantities Of timber jars the Vege- peduncles may be springing from a single leaf-axil 



... . . each bearing its blossom. 



table world in many regions, in a man- 



limits. Along the borders of rich woods in October, for 

 instance, or in the near neighborhood of some dense thicket, 

 we may meet with a specimen of the not too abundant Lion's 

 foot (Fig. 2) so named from the curious form of some of 

 its larger leaves. In such localities, this interesting plant 

 flourishes over the greater parts of the eastern United States. 

 It may grow to be a yard high, and it will be recognized by 

 its stout, purplish stem and drooping heads of curious flowers, 

 which are usually whitish in color and not infrequently 

 tinged with purple. Note that they are always nodding on 

 their stems like so many little bells, each with its bunch of 

 cinnamon-colored styles protruding beyond the flower, await- 

 ing the insect visitors. Among the other species in this 

 genus Prenanthes we have the one known in some places by 

 the common name of Gall-of-the-Earth {Prenanthes serpen- 

 taria), which appears to be confined to the Atlantic tier of 

 States, as far around as Alabama. In the upper part of the 

 same region, and bearing the same ver- 

 nacular name, we have Prenanthes tri- 

 foliolata, so called on account of its thin- 

 nish, usually petioled, 3-divided leaves. 



Again, in the sandy pine barrens of 

 New Jersey, it is not difficult to rind 

 specimens of the slender Rattle-snake 

 root {Prenanthes virgata), and there are 

 fully half a dozen other well-marked 

 species, some of which range westward 

 as far as the Rocky Mountains, while 



ner heretofore unknown to its usual quiescence. Millions of 

 trees are tumbling to man's merciless axe and saw, and the 

 lowly plants suffer severely from his down-tramping where 

 this timber is sought. 



Let not all this discourage us. Nature will arise and re- 

 establish her rule in many, many places; while with us here, 

 in this country, she is actually enjoying, in not a few regions, 

 a rest from man's interference. There are wild flowers in- 

 plenty for us to study, and no especially keen power of obser- 

 vation is required to gather a bunch just beyond one's city 



P. boottii is an al- 

 pine form, occur- 

 ring in the moun- 

 tains of New Eng- 

 land and New 

 York. Among the 

 near relatives of 

 Lion's foot we 

 find the dande- 

 lions, lettuce, and 



IN SOME RESPECTS, THIS IS AN EVEN HAND- 

 SOMER SPECIES OF BALSAM THAN THE MORE 

 ABUNDANT ONE WITH THE ORANGE FLOW- 

 ERS (Fig. 2). BOTH FLOWERS AND LEAVES 

 ARE LARGER. THE FORMER BEING A PALE 

 YELLOW HENCE ITS NAME, Impatiens pallida. 



Fig. 4 Some know this pale Touch-me-not as 

 /. aurea, on account of its golden flowers. The lower 

 blossom in the cut shows the incurved spur very 

 well. It has a beautiful leaf. 



