TJic Plants of our Woods and Fields. 3 1 



the T. grandiflorum of New England, of surpassing loveliness. Thirty- 

 three years ago, I brought four tubers of this species from Burlington, 

 Vt., and planted them in my garden. Some of their descendants, from 

 offsets and seedlings, remain in the precise spot where they were first 

 planted. This clump yearly gives me a large amount of flowers : and 

 others still, distributed among friends, succeed equally well. In May, 

 nothing can surpass it in beauty : its three broad, pure-white petals, 

 supported by the green sepals, also three in number as well, rising from 

 the bosom of three broadly rhomboidal leaves, supported on a stout 

 herbaceous stem, and crowded into a mass of forty or fifty flowers, strikes 

 every visitor with delight. As the petals are about to fade, they become 

 of a pale violet-purple tint, which creates a pleasing variety of color. The 

 seeds are numerous, and fall soon from the fleshy capsule, germinating 

 readily, and appearing as young plants during the next spring, and, in two 

 or three years, blossoming. As yet, I have noticed no variation from the 

 original type of color or form : a double sort would be a veritable monster, 

 and another color would not be desirable. 



We earnestly recommend to florists just so much of the study of botany 

 as will make them familiar with the native treasures of our country. We 

 are quite sure that they can find, either quite contiguous to their homes 

 or not very remote, beautiful plants enough to render their gardens the 

 sources of enjoyment and recreation ; and familiarity with genera of other 

 plants brought from abroad will surprise them oftentimes that the native 

 habitats and homes of many are American, first collected here, cultivated 

 for a while in Europe, and then imported from foreign nurseries and 

 gardens as novelties of the season : in confirmation of which statement, it 

 occurs to us what a botanical friend told us, — that, among certain new 

 shrubs, almost every one was familiar to him here, but furnished with 



new names ! 



yohn Lewis Russell. 



