(250 ) 
and tropical regions, and many other species may be found 
in the conservatories. Buta short distance from the violet 
family is the evening-primrose family; here may be found 
a number of the evening primroses (Oenothera), with their 
showy yellow flowers, noteworthy as the plants mainly 
experimented with by Professors DeVries and MacDougal 
in their studies on the origin of species. Along the brook, 
not far from the loosestrife family, is the water-milfoil 
family, represented by the Chilean water-milfoil or parrot’s- 
feather, forming a beautiful mass of feathery green on the 
surface of the water. Returning now to the ridge, a little 
beyond the violet family, we find the bed allotted to the 
ginseng family; here are the Indian-root, from eastern 
North America, and the heart-leaved aralia from Japan. 
To this family also belongs the ginseng plant, the root of 
which is so much prized by the Chinese as a medicine. 
Down the slope from this group may be found two beds 
given over to the carrot family, which includes many 
economic plants, such as the carrot, parsnip, celery and 
caraway; lovage, a common European plant, is shown, and 
the rattlesnake-master, from the eastern United States; 
the wild carrot and the golden meadow parsnip also belong 
here. 
To the primrose family, located at the base of the ridge a 
little beyond the carrot family, belong the primroses (Prim- 
ula), many of which are natives of Europe; here we find the 
common European primrose, the cowslip and others; the 
moneywort, a native of Europe, but introduced into many 
places in this country, sends its long creeping stem all over 
the bed—this is sometimes known as creeping Charlie; the 
fringed loosestrife, from North America, is also here, as is 
the clethra-like loosestrife, from Japan, with its racemes of 
white flowers. Between the two beds devoted to the carrot 
family, and a little beyond, is the plumbago family, to 
which belongs the common thrift of Europe; there are 
several other thrifts here also, as well as the statices or 
sea-lavenders, in several species. The bed allotted to the 
