99 



was held in high esteem by the ancient Greeks and Romans, being 

 regarded by them as the emblem of fidelity. It is a native of 

 southern Europe and western Asia, and is largely cultivated for 

 its perfume, which is called herb-of-memory. A liquor is made 

 from it, and it is used in the manufacture of eau-de-cologne. 



A little further along is the milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae, 

 represented by several plants worthy of notice in the genus 

 Ceropegia, from Africa. The parachute flower, Ceropegia San- 

 dersoni, from Natal, has large green flowers which resemble a 

 parachute, hence its common name ; another of the same genus 

 is C. Woodii, from further south in southern Africa. 



On the south side bench, near the entrance to house no. 13. is 

 the sunflower family, Compositae. There are a number of showy 

 things among these, their flowers appearing at different times, 

 some early in the year and others continuing the procession up 

 to late fall. Eupatorium micranthum, from Mexico, with its white 

 flower-heads exhaling a delicious heliotrope-like fragrance, is very 

 attractive. Thyrsanthema semifloscularc, often known as Chap- 



urary and March its unpretentious flowers. The same tale is told 

 to us by the golden flowers of Chrysogonum virginianwn which 

 is from the same country. This latter is hardy and may be found 

 in the herbaceous grounds also, but it blooms there, of course, 

 much later. 



On the northern portion of the central bench will be found first 

 the dogwood family, Cornaceae, represented by two genera, 

 Aucuba japonica, from Japan, and Corokia Cotoneaster, quite dif- 

 ferent in appearance, from New Zealand. 



of Eryngium. In the ginseng family, Araliaceae, is the rice-paper 

 tree, Tetrapanax papyrifentm, in small plants. This is a native of 

 China, where it attains a height of ten to twelve feet and a trunk 

 diameter of three to four inches. It is from the white pith of the 

 interior portion that the rice paper is made. 



On the north side bench will be found the loosestrife family, 

 Lythraceae. The genus Parsonsia, often called Cuphea, is present 



