24 



appreciated by the forester and by all who are familiar with the 

 balsam fir in its native home, to say nothing of its inconsequential 

 value as a timber tree; but it continues to occupy space in the 

 news columns every year. The mountain laurel has indeed 

 been exterminated in many populous localities, chiefly through the 

 use of its foliage for winter greens; and yet there is every reason 

 to believe that, if properly safeguarded as to methods of picking, 

 the future of the laurel is in little danger. The use of the holly for 

 Christmas decorations, on the other hand, constitutes a very real 

 menace: formerly a native Connecticut tree, not a single wildspeci- 

 men is now known in this State, and it has been getting noticeably 

 scarcer in recent years throughout its entire geographic range. So 

 also, perhaps, the ground pine and running pine (species oi Ly co- 

 podium) which, by reason of their popularity in making Christmas 

 wreaths, seem destined to extinction over large parts of their 

 ranges, unless measures are taken for their protection. 



SPARE THE FLOWERS 



Don't Pull Them Up by the Roots. 

 Don't Pick Many of Them. 

 Don't Take the Rare Kinds at All. 



YOU CAN DO YOUR PART 



Save our native wild flowers from 

 destruction. Help to keep them 

 for next year and every year. 



Connecticut Botanical Society 



Fig. 1. 

 Wild flower protection poster used by the Connecticut Botanical Society. 



Wild flower protection, then, does not mean that we should 

 forego the enjoyment of all except the very commonest and most 

 prolific flowers. It does mean that, except for these commoner 

 and more prolific forms, we should pick them sparingly and that 



