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sandra, from North America, and its Japanese relative, the 

 terminal pachysandra; the true box (Buxics) is a shrub or 

 small tree, native of Europe, and several specimens of it may- 

 be found at the f ruticetum. A little to the right of the wood- 

 sorrel family is the jewel-weed family, to which belong the 

 common balsam of the gardens, and the plant so common 

 along our brooks and other wet places, and known as jewel- 

 weed, or touch-me-not. A little beyond this are three beds 

 of the mallow family ; the hollyhocks belong here, as do the 

 mallows; the crimson-eye mallow and the swamp-rose mal- 

 low, both from North America, are showy representatives of 

 this family ; and the marsh mallow, a native of Europe and 

 the Orient, is also shown ; its root is used in the manufacture 

 of a mucilage and for medicinal purposes. 



To the right of the mallows is the bed given over to the 

 St. John's-wort family. The rock-rose family comes next, a 

 little further on; here belong the rock-roses of Europe and 

 our own frost-weeds. To the right of this is the violet family ; 

 a large collection of our native species, together with some 

 from foreign lands, is here brought together and many of these 

 may be recognized as old friends. Up on the ridge to the 

 right, across the walk, may be found the cactus family; rela- 

 tively few of these are hardy in this climate, so the larger 

 part of the cactus collection must be sought in the conserva- 

 tories. Here may be found, however, several representatives 

 of the prickly pears (Opuntia), including the eastern prickly 

 pear, common in this part of the country, which is frequently 

 found on the rocky ridges in the vicinity of New York and 

 occurs wild on some ledges within the Garden reservation. 

 Down near the brook, and not far from the mallow family, 

 is the loosestrife family, represented by the purple loosestrife, 

 a native of Europe, but introduced in many places in this 

 country; among others belonging to this family is the swamp 

 loosestrife, or willow-herb (Decodon) , a plant of which may 

 be found along the brook opposite to the loosestrife bed. 

 Near this, on the edge of the brook, is located the meadow 

 beauty, one of the prettiest little flowers of our meadows. It 



