192 



THE AMERICAN 



From Neir York.— You ask for some botanical 

 notes from this part of our great country . Vegetation 

 is yet mostly dormant, and we must contine ourselves 

 to anticipation of what Nature will soon present. Here 

 and there, however, in warm sheltered spots, by brush- 

 ing away the masses of iiUlen leaves we may recognize 

 some of our early spring flowers nearly ready to burst 

 forth into life and beauty. Among these is the Liver- 

 leaf (Hepaiica), the Spring Beauty {Claytonia Garolmi- 

 ana), and several kinds of violets. 



Of the violets I must speak a little at large, although 

 it is yet too early for their appearance. The commonest, 

 and perhaps the most beautiful, is a blue violet growing 

 in wet or damp grounds, especially in meadows and by 

 the borders of brooks and streams, the Viola cucuUata, 

 Ait., which rendered into English means the Hooded 

 violet, from the manner in which the young leaves are 

 rolled together in the form of a hood . The color of this 

 violet is quite variable, from a light sky-blue to a dark 

 purple, but always bright and attractive. Next we 

 have, in low or wet grounds, the small White violet 

 ( Viola blanda,Wi\\d.), with roundish, heart-shaped, or 

 kidney-shaped leaves, and delicate white flowers on 

 short stalks, seldom rising more than an inch or two 

 from the ground. Then we have the low yellow violet 

 {Viola rotundi/olia. Mich.), which is found on wooded 

 slopes and hill aides. This has small, bright yellow 

 flowers, opening in early spring. The leaves, at the 

 time of flowering, are about an inch broad and nearly 

 round, but when fully grown they are often three or four 

 inches across. The three species we have mentioned 

 are stemless violets, the leaves and flowers springing 

 separately from the root or root-stock. 



Of the stemmed violets we have a number of species. 

 In damp shady places the low leafy blue violet, a variety 

 of Viola canina, L. , or the Viola Muhlenbergii, Torr., the 

 Long-spurred violet (Viola rostrata, Pursh.), in rich 

 soils on wooded hills, the Striped-flowered violet ( Viola 

 striata. Ait.), and the large white violet { Viola canaden- 

 sis, L.), which is the largest species we have in the 

 country, common in rich, open woods, the flowers of 

 good size, whitish, and delicately tinged with violet. 

 Lastly, we have the large yellow violet ( Viola puhescens, 

 Ait.) which is common in open, and especially in sandy 

 woods . 



I was much pleased the other day, in crossing a low 

 place in a meadow, to observe the young flower-stalks, 

 or spathes, of the Skunk Cabbage {Symplocarpus ftetidus, 

 Salisb.) just shooting into sight. With a knife I cut 

 down into the ground, and severed some of these tVom 

 the root, that I might examine their very singular 

 structure. They consist of a roundish mass, or head, 

 in which grow many small crowded yellowish flowers, 

 the whole surrounded by a thick, leathery kindof leaf, 

 of a purplish color, spotted and striped with yellow and 

 green, and extending beyond the cob, or head of flowers, 

 enwrapping and almost entirely concealing them from 

 view. The young leaves are already beginning to press 

 out of the ground, and when fully developed they form 

 a mass of large heart-shaped leaves, looking not unlike 

 a head of cabbage, and, from their strong and peculiar 

 odor, meriting the name by which it is generally known. 

 A plant of such ott'ensive odor should have some com- 

 pensating qualities, and we And that the root of this 

 plant has a pretty well established reputation in the 

 Materia Medica. 



Meagre as is the botanizing field among the flowering 

 plants at present, we find it little more satisfiictory among 

 cryptogams. Several kinds of mosses have found warmth 

 suflicient to make some growth, and send up fruiting 

 pedicels and mature capsules. On the bodies of trees 

 are several species of Orthotrichum (particulai-ly 0. stranr 

 gulatum, Beauv., and 0. crispum, Hedw.) in little round 

 patches, and occasionally large masses of the handsome 

 Neckerapennata, Hedw. 1 often gather this in fine con- 

 dition on the beech wood which is brought into market. 

 Various other kinds of mosses are still under beds of 

 snow, where they find conditions favorable to their 

 growth, and when their fleecy covers are melted away 

 they will please the eye with their bright and lively 

 colors, and repay tenfold any labor taken in a close 

 examination. These small delicate objects are wortliy 

 of more careful study. P. 



Utica, N. Y., April, 1870. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Plants to Tiame—Mrs. B. S. Lake, Colorado.— It is 

 a pleasure to look upon such finely preserved specimens 

 as the Colorado plants you send. No. 1 is the sky-blue 

 Columbine {Aquilegia cerulea, Torr.), one of the finest 

 ornaments of the Rocky Mountains. The flowers are 

 larger and more showy than either the garden Colum- 

 bine (,A. vulgaris, L.) or the wild Columbine (^. cana- 

 densis, L.) of the Eastern States. It grows about two 

 feet high, has large bright blue flowers, the spur of the 

 petals being two inches long. It is well worthy of 

 cultivation . No . 2 is the smooth Mountain Maple (Acer 

 glah-um, Torr.) It is a small shrub, six to eight or ten 

 feet high, with small smooth leaves, somewhat three- 

 lobed and toothed, and producing an abundance of the 

 winged fruit peculiar to the maples. No . 3 is O.i-ylropis 

 Lainberti, Pursh., without any common name so far as t 

 we are aware. It belongs to the Pea Family (Legu- 

 minosai). It is a low plant with perennial root, besting 

 all the leaves at the ground and sending up simple 

 spikes of flowers, varying from light blue to pjirple, 

 which are succeeded by upright cylindrical pod^ about 

 an inch long. The plant is wide-spread over thi,' plains 

 and among the lower mountain ranges . No . 4 ira slirub 

 peculiar to the Rocky Mountains, nearly related to the 

 Hydrangea, and is botanically known as Ja?>t§^ Amer- 

 icana, T. and G., in honor of the disco> ;rer. Dr. 

 James, the Botanist of Long's Expedition in 1820. 

 No. 5 is a plant well known in the Wesyru States, 

 occurring in hazel patches and the borders of prairies, 

 and is sometimes called Shooting Star,'sometimes Pride 

 of the Prairie (Dodecatheon Meadia, L.) It is a unique 

 and beautiful plant of the Primrose Family. We do 

 not mean the Ereidng Primrose Family, but the tru-e 

 Primrose Family (Primidacea). The type of this family 

 is the Primrose of Europe, of which genus we have but 

 two species (both rare) in this country. The Dodeca- 

 theon has a number of large, oblong, smooth leaves at 

 the surface of the ground, from which rises a long 

 naked stem a foot or two in length , and surmounted at 

 the top with an umbel of from five to twenty flowers, 

 which are nodding when fully open, but in fruit 

 are strictly erect. It has been somewhat introduced 

 into cultivation, and is well worthy a place in every 

 garden. 



