older species, and it is st that it should be now restricted to 
the Ozark mountains, while our eastern witch hazel is generally 
i m lanti 
mH It is not probable that plants bloomed at such unseason- 
bloom before ais has really opened, and some ne of them com- 
es their year’s growth and disappear by the middle of summer. 
y do plants ns in this way? When a why did they 
a the habit? 
t is fair to presume that it is in some way a result of the 
glacial period and of natural selection through that time. One 
Another theory holds that these woodland plants coul bi 
sufficient light for their proper ae and aevcispracnt only 
in the early spring, before the forest trees above them u 
folded their leaves either theory has been proved o: t- 
and our native one even goes so far as to bloom the preceding 
autumn. No aid witch hazel can get ahead of a loyal 
American plant! 
H. A. Gleason. 
WILD PUMPKINS 
HAVE WE FOUND THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THIS GARDEN ESCULENT? 
Notwithstanding the vast amount of literature that has been 
published on the early history of ea font s care ated plants, 
the origin of most of our staple veg uits is shrouded 
in mystery. 
