272 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Recreation is now taking its 

 place in forest activities. It is 

 an added return from forest 

 areas to the people of the com- 

 munity or nation. It is an es- 

 sential part of the life of the 

 nation and the greatest re- 

 source of recreational territory 

 of the country is found in the 

 forests. In the future there will 

 be even a greater area available 

 for such use. The Forest Serv- 

 ice is today blazing the way in 

 recreational development of the 

 forests, and there is every rea- 

 son to be hopeful of the results, 

 for, as in all fields, the Forest 

 Service is picking men with the 

 proper training to handle the 

 work. 



Modestly and efficiently recre- 

 ation is becoming a part of the 

 regular activities of the forests. 

 It is right that it should be rec- 

 ognized as a major forest utility. The future will more 

 forcibly demonstrate this fact than can the present. But 

 the present is bright and the future holds good promise 



Dressed appropriately, in 



HIKERS ON THE SHOSHONE 

 "rough and ready 



the Prairie Club of Chicago is 

 all-day hike. 



all ready to start on an 



for this great forest utility which, while not actually a 

 new use of forests, is but now being generally recognized, 

 efficiently organized and properly planned. 



AMONG THE TRILLIUMS 



BY BESSIE L. PUTNAM 



T7 EW of our native plants are more beautiful, and 

 while the haunts of the trillium are for the most 

 part in deep woods, it seems readily to adapt itself to 

 cultivation. We have during the past few years, when 

 asked by distant flower lovers for the flowers, sent the 

 entire plant rather than cut flowers. Since the blossoms 

 cannot be gathered to advantage without taking the 

 whorl of green leaves a couple of inches below, and 

 since these leaves cannot be renewed it is better to take 

 the root with them, and thus enable the admirer to plant 

 them in the garden, where they may be renewed and re- 

 admired year after year. 



The trillium is one of the May blossoms of North- 

 western Pennsylvania, and T. grandiflorum is by far the 

 most common species, growing almost equally well on 

 the rich hillsides and bordering the brook. Recently we 

 saw it in abudance on a steep hill bordering the upper 

 Allegheny, the pure white blossoms appearing to the 

 best possible advantage against a background of hem- 

 locks. This species varies greatly in size, the two ex- 

 tremes being often found growing side by side, and the 

 best specimens are nearly twice as large as either of the 

 other species with which the writer is acquainted. The 

 petals turn pink with age. It also bears evidence of the 

 close relationship between leaves and flowers, the petals 

 often reverting to the foliaceous form. 



T. erectum is less frequent, following more closely the 

 streams and moist places. The flowers are of a dull red, 



New England Blossoms," mentions the fact that they are 

 visited by a common carrion-fly, which evidently aids in 

 the problem of cross-fertilization. While T. grandiflorum 

 is probably fertilized by insects, they are certainly not 

 attracted by any blossoms of lurid flesh color nor by a 

 putrid odor. The pure white flowers are nearly odorless 

 and have no suggestion that would tempt the olfactories 

 of the carrion-loving insect. 



Matthews states that T. erectum is poisonous, as an 

 acquaintance found when mistaking the root for that of 

 Indian turnip. There are variations in color, some- 

 times the flowers being pink, greenish or white. The 

 writer has found cream colored specimens, the peculiarity 

 of the ovary leaving no doubt as to the species of which 

 it is a freak. 



We have heard of T. erythrocarpum, the beautiful 

 Painted Trillium near Meadville, Pennsylvania, but 

 never had the good fortune to see it until last May, when 

 visiting a "rock city" near Tidioute. There, at the base 

 of one of the great sandstone cliffs, forty feet or more 

 high, with seemingly only the disintegrating rocks for 

 sustenance, we found three beautiful blossoms, the crim- 

 son markings in the center well entitling the plant to its. 

 name. One root was carefully taken up and placed on 

 the north side of the house, where the sandy soil with 

 the sandstone of the cellar wall for a background seem to 

 supply all necessary conditions of its native rock city. 

 If it adapts itself as readily as its sisters, it certainly will 



