AMERICAN WILD FLOWERS 



In this number, pages 48J-J06, the Geographic Magazine prints its Urst 

 color series of American wild Hoivers. In future numbers other zvild Uozvers 

 will be pictured in colors, as it is planned gradually to give the members of the 

 National Geographic Society in their Magazine as complete a collection of com- 

 mon wild floivers of all parts of the United States as has been given of the 

 common birds of tozvn and country. There are many hundreds of "mild flowers, 

 many more than there are varieties of birds. The present collection contains 

 flozvers blossoming from late spring to September. The pictures zvere made by 

 Miss Mary B- Eaton, and zvill undoubtedly be admired by every reader for their 

 delicacy and beauty. 



In the descriptions accompanying these splendid pictures the spirit in zvhich 

 they zvere zvritten is that of one of our great botanists, zvho says: 



"Let us content ourselves no longer zvith being mere 'botanists' — his- 

 torians of structural facts. The flozvers are not mere comely or curious vege- 

 table creations, zvith colors, odors, petals, stamens, and innumerable technical 

 attributes. The zvonted insight alike of scientist, pJiilosopher, theologian, and 

 dreamer is nozv repudiated in the nezv revelation. Beauty is not 'its ozvn excuse 

 for being.' nor zvas fragrance ever 'wasted on the desert air.' The seer has at 

 last heard and interpreted the voice in the zvilderness. The Hozver is no longer 

 a simple passive victim in the busy bee's szveet pillage, but rather a conscious 

 being, zvith hopes, aspirations, and companionships. The insect is its counter- 

 part. Its fragrance is but a perfumed ultisper of welcome, its color is as the 

 wooing blush and rosy lip, its portals are decked for his coming, and its szveet 

 hospitalities humored to his tarrying, and, as it speeds its parting affinity, rests 

 content that its life's consummation has been fulfilled." 



This zvonderful collection in colors has cost many thousands of dollars to 

 reproduce, but the Geographic believes that the beauty of the subjects and the 

 importance of encouraging the study and preservation of American zvild flozvers 

 more than justify this expense. 



THE WILD COLUMBINE (Aquilegia 

 canadensis L.) 



(See page 483) 



Among all the flowers that bloom, none out- 

 shine the wild columbine for wild grace, un- 

 trammeled and unconventional beauty, or the 

 idyllic nature of its habitat. 



Choosing the stony ground of the inner 

 woodlands for its favorite abiding place, en- 

 joying a long flowering season, covering the 

 April-July period, and cosmopolitan enough to 

 be at home from Nova Scotia to the North- 

 west Territory and from Florida to the Rocky 

 Mountains, it is one of the most pleasant of 

 our summer visitors. 



This striking flower is a child of America; 

 it is said that during the reign of Charles I a 

 young colonist kinsman of the king's gardener 

 sent to him from Virginia specimens of the 

 plant for the adornment of the gardens of 

 Hampton Court. 



Like most flowers, the columbine has made 

 remarkable provision for its own propagation. 

 Its nectar it hides far back in its little cornu- 

 copias, where only those insects who are able 

 to carry its pollen to some other flower can 

 partake of its sweets. 



So the nectar of the columbine is largely re- 



served for the big bumblebee and the little 

 humming-bird. The former with his long 

 tongue and strong legs can hang upside down 

 as gaily as an acrobat on a trapeze and drink 

 its nectar while doing so. And the ruby- 

 throated humming-bird finds the inverted posi- 

 tion of the honey-cup no disadvantage. 



The efforts of the flowers of the field to 

 dress in the colors that delight the senses of 

 the creatures that bear their pollen is strik- 

 ingly shown in the columbine. In Europe the 

 ruby-throated humming-bird is a stranger, and 

 the columljine wears colors vanishing from red 

 to blue, for the bee is its pollenizing agent 

 there, and, as Sir John Lubbock proved bj' a 

 striking series of experiments, the favorite 

 color of the bee is blue. On the other hand, 

 in America, where the humming-bird is the 

 principal fertilizing agent, the columbine at- 

 tires itself in a dainty red that is known to de- 

 light "king ruby-throat." 



Some of the smaller bees have learned of the 

 discrimination that the columbine practices 

 against them through its length and narrow- 

 ness of neck, and frequently they may be seen 

 ripping holes in the tips of the petals and get- 

 ting the nectar without paying their toll of 

 pollen-carrying to the flower. As a defensive 

 measure against this rape of her sweets, the 



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