PLYMOUTH MAYFLOWERS 19 



of many English ships of that name, so the trail- 

 ing arbutus is not the only flower to be called 

 mayfloAver in New England. The mayflower of 

 the English fields and hedgerows was preemi- 

 nently the hawthorn, known often just as ''the 

 may." But there is a species of bitter cress in 

 England with showy flowers, Cardamine praten- 

 sis, which is also called mayflower and the name 

 is given to the yellow bloom of the marsh 

 marigold, Caltha palustria, often known, less 

 lovingly, as "blobs." The Caltha is common 

 to both Europe and America and, though it 

 is often hereabout know^n by the nickna^ne of 

 ''cowslip" which the early English settlers seem 

 to have given it, I do not hear it called mayflower. 

 In localities where the arbutus is not common 

 the name ma}'flower is here most commonly given 

 to the pink and white Anemone nemorosa, the 

 wind flower of the meadow margins and low 

 woods, and to the rock saxifrage, Saxifraga vir- 

 giniensis, both of which are among the earliest 

 blossoms of the month. 



None can visit Plymouth without wishing to 

 climb the bold promontory of "hither Manomet." 

 The legend has it that Eric the Red, the Viking 

 who explored New England shores centuries be- 



