NEW YORK 

 ttOTANJCAL 



TORREYA 



Vol. 24 No. 1 



January-February, 1924 



SPRING FLOWERS IN THE WINTER 



George T. Hastings 



Next spring's flowers are all in the wotxls this winter. To 

 find them one must hunt below the soil, or beneath the scales 

 covering the buds of the flowering shrubs and trees. When it 

 becomes too cold for growth to continue there are three ways in 

 which plants may spend the winter. All annual plants die, 

 leaving the host of seeds to produce the next season's plants; 

 shrubs and trees become dormant, the tender growing points 

 wrapped around with layers of dry scales coated with waterproof 

 varnish or wax; with other plants the parts above ground may 

 die, an underground stem remaining. In none of these ways is 

 the plant protected against cold or freezing. Even when under 

 ground the stems and buds are usually so near the surface that 

 they with the soil around them will be solidly frozen. The 

 protection given is chiefly against drying; the seeds with the 

 nearly waterproof. seed coat, the bud with the varnished scales, 

 the underground parts packed around with soil beneath a carpet 

 of dead leaves. The bud, whether on the tree or below ground, 

 is more than a growing point with the inherent power of de- 

 veloping stem, leaves and flowers, for the early spring flow^ers at 

 least, it contains in miniature all the flowers and leaves of next 

 season, ready to expand when wakened by the warmth of April 

 or May. In the winter, or before growth begins in the spring, 

 we may hunt the early flowers by digging down for a few inches 

 in the soil of the woods. After finding the bulbs or rootstocks 

 with their pale buds it is fascinating to open one of the latter, 

 carefully removing the protecting scales, to find the tiny per- 

 fectly formed leaves and flowers. 



One of the most easily found of these plants is the hepatica 

 (Hepatica triloba, or H. acutiloba), easily recognized by the old 

 leaves which remain. Usually within an inch or less of the 



