44- THE PICKEREL-WEED FAMILV. 



Moreover, they destroy bridges and docks and at the present time have 

 more anathemas showered upon them than any other plant in Florida, or 

 perhaps in the country. So serious, indeed is their rapidly increasing power 

 that the department of agriculture at Washington is perplexed about the 

 best means to employ in their destruction. At the present time what has 

 wreaked more damage on them than anything else are the heavy rainfalls to 

 which Florida has been subjected and which have caused the river to rise 

 greatly. High gales have then floated them into the adjoining woods, where, 

 when the water fell, they have been left to die being entangled among other 

 growth, and where in decaying they richly fertilise the soil. 



Among other good qualities, they are highly nourishing food for horses, 

 crows, pigs and cattle. Often we saw the latter standing in water which 

 left little more than the line of their back showing and placidly eating the 

 stalks and leaves. These have a peppery taste and are said to be very fat- 

 tening to stock. The bloom also is very beautiful. 



THE STEMONA FAMILY. 



Stemondceo'. 



CROOMIA. 



CroLvnia pauciflbra. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Sceiiiona. G>et-nis/i. Sct-niiess. Fla., Ga. and Ala. April. 



Flowers: small; nodding ; growing on slender, jointed pedicels from the axils of 

 the leaves. Ferianlh : persistent; four-parted; the divisions oval. Statnens : 

 four, on the receptacle opposite the lohes. Stioj/ta: two-lobed. Leaves: alter- 

 nate about the summit of the stem; ol^long-cordate ; mostly seven nerved; entire ; 

 thin ; glabrous; becoming tissue-like when dried. Stem: six to twelve inches high, 

 ascending from a creeping rootstock, sheathed at the base. 



At one time this low and insignificant- looking herb was much talked of 

 in the south, and it still claims a good deal more than an ordinary amount 

 of attention. When first it Vv^as discovered the leading botanists of the 

 country were greatly puzzled to know just where to place it in the great 

 world of plants ; and finally it was made to stand as the type of a new genus. 

 It was discovered by, and named for one of the oldest and best known bot- 

 anists of the south, Mr. Stephen Croom, whose love for flowers was so en- 

 thusiastic that he was able to interest Dr. Chapman in the science, who first 

 took it up as a pastime. It seems to have been a melancholy fate that Dr. 

 Croome and his family should all perish while on the Atlantic, and, there- 

 fore, it is particularly pleasant to find this little plant still blooming in his 

 honour. 



