POAETQUISSINGS IN WINTER. 43 



graceful, hanging catkin of the smootli alder. These 

 are too pretty to be passed by unheeded, and yet but 

 few are familiar with them. I have had them scattered 

 among roses from the hothouse, and they were stared 

 at and toyed with as some rare exotic. 



Because of its raephitic odor we are apt to shun it, 

 and it is not to be carelessly handled, nor will any be- 

 come enthusiastic over it; yet the despised skunk-cab- 

 bage must be considered in the list of the winter-bloom- 

 ing plants of Poaetquissings. Its purple-tinted, shell- 

 shaped spathe will bear examination, and the ball of 

 flowers it contains will be found in full bloom always 

 in February, and sometimes earlier. 



However disparagingly this vigorous plant is spoken 

 of by most of those who know it at all, it is kindly 

 thought of by many naturalists, for it harbors at its 

 roots the earliest salamanders, the pretty Maryland yel- 

 lowthroat nests in the hollows of its broad leaves, and 

 rare beetles find a congenial home in the shelter it af- 

 fords. 



Back to the hillside, from the swampy ground where 

 we found the cabbage, let us look among the drifted 

 leaves for more yellow bloom. It will not require long 

 to make the search. In every nook that the frost has 

 spared the dandelion has flourished, and is even now, in 

 midwinter, in bloom. 



We can justly claim at least two thirds of March as 

 strictly winter, and so the bloom of the first three weeks 

 of the month may be considered here as the botanical 

 attractions of Poaetquissings at that season. 



Already seven blooming plants have been named that 



