JUNE DAYS IN FIELD AND FOREST 



397 



a couple of Luna moths were secured by the writer (Fig. 

 6) ; but aside from one specimen of a silk-worm moth 

 (Telea), no other large moths were seen. Indeed, this 

 extreme scarcity of insects and birds in 1920 was ob- 

 served by the entomologists and ornithologists of the 

 United States National Museum, and in various cities the 

 local papers commented upon the fact. 



As to the plants, many species did not bear flowers at 

 all during that summer, or if they did they were so rare 

 as not to be noticed by any one; upon the other hand, 

 some plants flowered luxuriously. This was markedly 

 the case in some of the com- 

 mon flowers, such as the 

 horse nettle, a plant which, 

 at the time mentioned, was 

 to be seen growing in great 

 abundance everywhere 

 even along the sidewalks in 

 the city of Washington. 

 Not only this, but the plant 

 and its flowers was espe- 

 cially fine in all respects 

 during that summer (Fig. 

 7). Considerable difficulty 

 attends the photography of 

 this plant, as it begins to 

 wilt almost as soon as it 

 is gathered ; the best way 

 to get a good picture of it 

 is to dig up the entire plant, 

 and carry it home in a 

 shaded basket. Other 

 plants are in the same case 

 with respect to wilting, 

 such as the Jewel-weed, the 

 Dandelion, and the Wild 

 Geranium or Crane's bill. 



During this phenomenal 

 summer of 1920, it was no 

 uncommon thing to observe 

 in wet places, in the neigh- 

 borhood of Washington, 

 great masses of Jewel-weed 

 both the red and the yel- 

 low with hardly any 

 flowers upon the plants ; 

 while in the same locality 

 the Virginia Day-flower might be flourishing most lux- 

 uriously, bearing its blue flowers by the hundreds. 



Such facts as these are probably far beyond our ken 

 and may never be explained. The above conditions ob- 

 tained in trees, too; for while such trees as the locusts 

 (Fig. 8) blossomed most profusely, the poplars 

 had scarcely any flowers. It was truly a wonderful sight 

 to see the locust trees in some parts of the East; and so 

 abundant and fragrant were their great bunches of flow- 

 ers that the air was filled with their perfume for mile? 

 about. 



THE LUNA MOTH 



Fig. 6 We know of no more beautiful North American moth 

 than the common Luna, it being of a bright, though pale, pea 

 green, with the fore-wings emarginated in front with brown. 

 This one was captured by the writer at Glen Echo, Southern 

 Maryland, and is here seen resting on the bark of a big syca- 

 more. It is just out of its cocoon. 



Yellow or Black Locusts, with various other trees re- 

 lated to them, form the family Leguminosw or Pod- 

 bearers an enormous group, with representatives all 

 over the world; most of them are of vast economic im- 

 portance, and no fewer than seven or more thousand spe- 

 cies have been described. They have been called "pod- 

 bearers" for the reason that they all bear simple, two- 

 valved pods containing the seeds when their flowering 

 stage is over. This being the case, it is clear that such 

 plants as the clovers, all the peas and beans, lentils, and 

 so forth, are arrayed in this group in fact, any plant, in 



any part of the world, with 

 a seeded pod like a honey 

 locust or a bean, belongs in 

 this family, the legumes. 

 Some yield fine foodstuffs, 

 while many of the trees 

 produce timber of the best 

 quality. Some furnish us 

 with dyes, rubber, oils, bal- 

 sams, and so on; and not 

 a few of our finest garden 

 flowers are members of the 

 pod-bearing family, as the 

 sweet pea and a long list 

 of others. 



Insofar as the pod-bear- 

 ing trees go, they are all of 

 especial interest to forest- 

 ers, as we not only have 

 the various species of Lo- 

 custs, but such fine trees as 

 the Red-bud or Judas tree, 

 and the Texan variety of it 

 (Cercis texensis), which 

 latter is a shrub rather than 

 a tree. Then there is the 

 Kentucky Coffee tree ; the 

 Yellow- wood or Virgilia; 

 the Texan ebony, and oth- 

 ers. 



Many of the American 

 leguminous trees are 

 thorny even the Honey lo- 

 cust is known in many 

 places as the Three-thorned 

 Acacia; and the wood of 

 the latter is widely used for fuel and for fencing on 

 farms where the tree is abundant. Wheel hubs are 

 turned from this wood, and in some sections it is a great 

 ifavorite as an ornamental shade tree; while it makes an 

 excellent hedge when kept trimmed well down. Its 

 flowers are small and inconspicuous. In nature it occurs 

 most frequently in rich woods and river bottoms ; and 

 where one tree grows, we are likely to find quite a num- 

 ber of them. 



An altogether different tree is the Locust, also called 

 the Yellow or Black Locust, which may grow to be 



