70 
The unusually early spring has stirred the plants out of doors 
into sudden activity, and many plants in the herbaceous grounds 
are sending up their tender young shoots. It is to be hoped 
that no unwelcome frost, such as occurred early in May two years 
ago, will come to blast these. Among the first to flower during 
March were Hepatica acuta, the sharp-lobed liverwort, Helle- 
borus Colchicus, and Eranthis hyemats, the winter aconite, all 
noted in bloom on the 15th, and all members of the crowfoot 
family. The hepatica is a native of our own country and finds 
its home from Quebec and Ontario to Minfiesota and Iowa and 
south in the mountains to Georgia, but it is very rare along the 
Atlantic coast. Helleborus Cotchicus has large purple flowers 
and is a native of Asia Minor. he winter aconite is a native 
of Europe, and is sparingly naturalized in some places in this 
country. 
The pink flowers of Saxifraga crassifolia and its allies have 
made a pretty show in the saxifrage family. The large fleshy 
evergreen leaves make a rich setting for the bright flowers. 
Arabis albida, in the nearby cruciferous bed, has been a mass 
of white ; and the butterdock, Petasztes Petasites, and the white 
butterdock, Petasites albus, have been in full bloom in the far 
end of the grounds among the Compositae, to which family they 
belong. 
GEORGE V. Nasu. 
March 31, 1903. 
ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY. 
During the last two years persistent efforts have been made 
towards the building up of the horticultural portion of the library. 
In some cases the Garden owned broken sets which had to be 
filled up and in others was fortunate in procuring complete ones. 
Such notable periodicals as ‘‘Gardener’s Chronicle,” ‘The 
arden,” “Garden and Forest,” “ Hovey’s Magazine of Horti- 
culture,” “ The Horticulturist,” “La Revue Horticole,”’ “ L’Illus- 
tration Horticole,”’ ‘‘ The Florist,” ““ Neubert’s Deutsches Magazin 
fir Garten und Blumenkunde,” “I Giardini,’ Loudon’s “ Gar- 
