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are: the common blue flag of our swamps, the yellow flag 
of Europe, the German iris, the Siberian iris, the Japanese 
iris, and the blackberry lily. For the canna family reference 
is made to the plantations at the Garden fountain at the ap- 
proach to the museum building and to the conservatories, and 
for orchids to the conservatories. 
Crossing the brook now by the path paralleling the drive- 
way, we come to the beginning of the sequence of the large 
series of plants with net-veined leaves and with two seed- 
leaves (dicotyledons). This series begins with the lizard’s- 
tail family, represented here in the brook by the lizard’s-tail 
(Saururus), a common plant of our brooks and river borders 
in the eastern United States. To the nettle family one bed 
is at present given, located near the group of magnolia trees, 
where will be found, among other kinds: the slender nettle, 
of North America; the stinging nettle, native in Europe and 
Asia, but introduced into this country; and the wood nettle, 
also a North American plant; all of these secrete an oil 
through the hairs covering the stem and leaves, this oil being 
irritating to the skin, especially in the stinging nettle. In 
the immediate neighborhood and to the right is the birthwort 
family, represented by several species of wild ginger (Asarum), 
among them the common one of this region, the short-lobed 
wild ginger, the root of which is of medicinal value; an- 
other is Shuttleworth’s wild ginger, of the southeastern 
United States. To the buckwheat family there are at pres- 
ent devoted three beds, forming a group to the left of the 
nettle family. The docks (Aumex) are present in many 
forms, as are the knotweeds (Polygonum); the most showy of 
these are the Japanese and Sakhalin knotweeds, the latter a 
piant of considerable economic importance, being used as a 
fodder plant, and is a native of the Sakhalin island; to this 
family also belong rhubarb, or pie-plant, and buckwheat. 
Next to this and near the brook is the goosefoot family, with 
several species, one of which, the lamb’s-quarters (Cheno- 
podium), is native of Europe and Asia, but found as a common 
weed in waste places and along roadsides in this country ; its 
