174 PLANTS GROWING IN RICH OR ROCKY SOIL. 



AMERICAN ORPINE. LIVE-FOR-EVER. {Plate XCI.) 



Sedum tekphioides. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Orpine. Flesh colour. Scentless. Georgia northward. June. 



Flowers : growing in many-flowered, compact cymes. Calyx : of four or five 

 sepals. Corolla: of four or five lanceolate, or linear petals. Stamens: ten. 

 Fistils : five. Leaves : alternate ; obovate ; entire ; the lower ones tapering into 

 a petiole; the upper ones sessile. Stem : erect ; leafy ; branching. 



In common with its relative of the garden, which was so 

 cherished by our grandmothers and so disliked by the farmers, 

 the wild orpine is almost indestructable. The price of land en- 

 ters very little into the calculations of the garden variety and 

 it has imbibed, perhaps from the farmer, the love of owning all 

 adjoining territory. It is very difficult of extermination, as it 

 lives more by its leaves and stalks than by its roots. The wild 

 variety, however, chooses mostly to cover rocks on high hills, 

 which property we do not begrudge it, as the bloom is ex- 

 tremely fresh and pretty, and so it saves itself from the reputa- 

 tion of being a troublesome weed. 



DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES. WHITE HEARTS. 

 SOLDIERS' CAPS. 



BicuciiUa Cucidlaria. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Fumitory. White and yellow. Scentless. Mostly north. April, May. 



Flo7uers : growing in a one-sided raceme on a naked scape. Calyx : of two 

 scale-like sepals. Corolla : somewhat heart-shaped, of four closed, cohering 

 petals ; the inner ones enclosing the anthers and stigma ; the two outer, larger 

 ones extending into widely spreading spurs that suggest its name. Stamens : 

 six. Pistil : one. Leaves : from the base ; growing on slender petioles ; thrice 

 compound and irregularly cut. Scape: slender; smooth. Rootstock : a scaly 

 bulb ; slightly tuberous. 



When the soft, warm days of spring load the air with a subtle 



fragrance, those among us that are so fortunately placed as to 



make it possible, wander to the woods in search of its early 



bloom. And there we find the Dutchman's breeches. Staid 



old soul as the Dutchman is, he must really have been surprised 



at the naming of this etherial plant after his trousers. It is 



true that under mitigating circumstances they have gained an 



