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leaves decreasing in size upward. The basal shoots have longer 
leaves, all gracefully recurved, and forming a crowded cluster 
at the summit of a long strong fibrous tap-root, which often 
penetrates deep down into some crevice and breaks off when 
uprooted. For this reason the plant frequently survives, in spite 
of its showy blossoms, though it is not abundant any longer, 
where it is frequently picked. 
The Wild Pink was described by Thomas Walter in his Flora of 
Carolina in 1788, and redescribed by André Michaux in 1803 as 
Silene Pennsylvanica. It often grows in sandy or rocky soil on 
the borders of woods from Maine to Georgia in the Eastern States, 
along the Alleghanies, and flowers from April to June. 
It belongs to the pink family or Caryophyllaceae a large family 
of about seventy genera and over 1,500 species, which are widely 
distributed, mostly in temperate regions. The generic name 
Silene was given by Linnaeus in 1753 in reference to the viscid 
hairs and about 250 species are known of which many are showy 
graceful plants, the showiest perhaps being the Fire-pink, Silene 
virginica, and the most graceful, the Starry Campion, Silene 
stellata. 
ELIZABETH G. BRITTON. 
WINTER-KILLING OF EVERGREENS,. 
The destruction of evergreens in the east during the past winter 
has been wide-spread, due apparently to a combination of adverse 
conditions. The collections here at the Garden have not been 
exempt from this visitation. Some forms which have hitherto 
been considered hardy have proved unstable, while others which 
have been looked upon as doubtful have not been unduly harmed. 
In the following list of both coniferous and broad-leaved ever- 
greens, arranged according to genera, the behavior of various 
species is noted. 
The collection of firs, Adies, in the pinetum is located on a 
gentle slope facing the northwest, and subject to the sweep 
of the winds from that quarter. The plants here are grown as 
