PICTURES AND PLANTS FOR CHRISTMAS WITH AN ELK STORY 



749 



Phlox is one of the three genera of the Polemonium 

 family occurring in the Atlantic States region and as far 

 westward as Kentucky. Gray describes the group as 

 an "insipid and innocent" one, while we are all aware 

 of the fact that many species of them have long been 

 under cultivation, and among these the species now 

 being described. The various varieties of "Sweet Wil- 

 liam" are others, the wild type of which is Phlox 

 maculata. Then there is the Blue Phlox (P. divaricata) , 

 and the tall species we are all so familiar with, occur- 

 ring, as it does, in many gardens in 

 the country. As may be noted from 

 Figure 1, the Moss Pink grows usu- 

 ally in masses, resembling some great 

 pink or perchance white mat, with 



ing along roadsides and in pastures. Polemonium, or 

 Greek Valerian, is also generally associated with the 

 phloxes, and we meet with two species of it in the north- 

 eastern sections of the country and southward. 



Some of the wintry days of December may, with 

 marked profit, be spent in strolls about the famous 

 National Zoological Park of Washington, more widely 

 known as the National "Zoo." Here we see scores of 

 examples of how animals of many species and families 

 pass the winter months in captivity. Some of them spend 



HERE IS HOW THE MOSS PINK FLOWERS APPEAR WHEN WE COME UP CLOSE TO THEM; THE 

 RECESSES AMONG THE ROCKS GIVE THEM A FINE SETTING IN THIS PICTURE 



Fig. 2 The flowers are not always of a pink color; they may be of a pink-purple shade, ranging through 



various lighter shades to a pure white. 



its flowers so numerous as to almost entirely conceal the 

 modest stems and leaves beneath them. 



In the Polemonium family we also have arrayed the 

 genus Gilia, a group dedicated to a botanist of Spain 

 Senor Felipe Gil. Standing Cypress is one of these 

 (G. rubra), a plant carried into certain restricted areas 

 of Ohio and Massachusetts, where it is now found grow- 



their entire time out-of 

 doors, while others only 

 occasionally enjoy this 

 privilege. On the other 

 hand, some must be 

 coddled under cover 

 with the greatest care, 

 or their lives will in- 

 deed be cut short long 

 before the warm days of 

 spring again put in an 

 appearance. 



The wild swans, those 

 most elegant and grace- 

 ful of aquatic birds, 

 when in their natural 

 element delight in re- 

 maining in the open 

 throughout the entire winter, however cold it may come 

 to be. (Fig. 3). In nature, as well as in captivity, there 

 is no more memorable sight of the kind than to ob- 

 serve several of these superb birds, as with arched necks 

 and wings erect, in the most perfect silence they keep 

 their course down mid-stream, with glistening ice 

 upon either side, and both banks covered with an 



