STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 



become visible to our unassisted vision, have their existence, 

 though we behold them not. 



" Father of earth and heaven, all, all are Thine, 

 The boundless tribes in ocean, air and plain, 

 And nothing lives, and moves, and breathes in vain. 

 Thou art their soul, the impulse is divine : 

 Nature lifts loud to Thee her happy voice, 

 And calls her caverns to resound Thy praise ; 

 Thy name is heard amid her pathless ways, 

 And e'en her senseless things in Thee rejoice." 



Jane Roscoe. 



WILD GINGER Asarum Canadense (L.). 



This is a singular herbaceous plant, chiefly found in 

 bush-wood and damp, rich meadow-land. The leaves are 

 wide, rounded kidney-form, with deep sinuses. The flower, 

 on a short peduncle, springs from the root-stock and appears 

 below the leaves close to the ground, never more than 

 one to each shoot; it is campanulate with sharp-pointed 

 segments of a deep chocolate color. The floral envelope 

 consists of a calyx, but no corolla; the creeping thick 

 fleshy root-stock is warm, pungent and aromatic. It is a 

 coarse, singular-looking plant, much used in Indian medicine 

 craft. 



LADY'S SLIPPERS MOCCASIN FLOWERS. 



Among the many rare and beautiful flowers that adorn 

 our native woods and wilds few, if any, can compare with 

 the lovely plants belonging to the Orchis family. Where 

 all are so worthy of notice it is difficult to make a choice; 

 happily there is no rivalry to contend with in the case of 

 our Artist's preferences. We will, however, first treat of 

 the Cypripediums or Lady's Slippers, better known by the 

 name of Moccasin Flowers, a name common in this country 



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