Prairie -Flo wers. 



29 



and supposititious adornment. Especially does it shock the inspired and 

 earnest seeker after knowledge to see, as it were, the sacred vessels of the 

 temple polluted, and its holy rites desecrated, by the profane hands of these 

 unauthorized ministers. Francis G. Sanborn. 



Boston, Mass. 



PRAIRIE-FLOWERS. 



Before agriculture and pasturage spread over Northern Illinois, the 

 flora of these prairies presented pictures of novel beauty. Over these 

 smooth, far-stretching, sub-undulating surfaces, along winding watercourses 

 margined with woodlands, among the burr-oak " openings," flowers were 

 everywhere seen. In some sheltered sunny nook, during the last days of 

 March, your attention fixes on tokens of reviving vegetation. Little pur- 

 plish tufts, and lobe-leaved, semi-green clumps, seem springing into life. It 

 is our dear old vernal favorite, the Hepatica, quietly unfolding in the quick- 

 ening sunshine, heedless of the lingering chills. You look around, and 

 presently the eye rests in glad surprise on the opening flowers. Her foreign 

 kindred may be more brilliant, certainly not more pleasure-giving. Noth- 

 ing in my garden is more truly charming, or of easier cultivation. Perhaps 

 the graceful little pasque-flower {Anemone patetis or Nuttalliana) may 

 claim to be the first spring-blossom : it is certainly contemporaneous with 

 the liver-leaf {Hepatica acutiloba). 



It is early in April. Patches of bright yellow are seen in little turfy glades, 

 which seem of a sunny morning to look cheery enough. This is the bloom 

 of Ranunculus fasciciilaris. Its golden cups are near the surface of the earth; 

 yet the shining multitudes dotting here and there the open space claim a 

 passing notice. Half the April days are gone. Hitherto the Prairie has kept 

 her garb of sombre gray, except where fires of autumn swept clean the surface. 

 There the soft vernal green appears, hiding the blackened waste, and nour- 

 ished by its ashes. Bright golden spots in the water-wastes now announce 

 the marsh-marigold {Caltha palustris) ; and presently, in moist grounds 

 adjacent, we see large patches of gay purplish-pink phlox {^P. pilosa). 



