THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



69 



such odds, but the gentians and a. few- 

 others remain with us to the last. There 

 are three species of Gerardia thsdhloom 

 in late summer and continue into au- 

 tumn. The showy blossoms of the false 

 foxgloves ( G. flava and quercifolia ) 

 naay be found in our upland woods till 

 the middle of September. The plants 

 are much alike and are often taken for 

 the same, the main difference being that 

 the downy false foxglove {G. flava ) is 

 pubescent and less branching than the 

 other. Their yellow, bell-shaped blos- 

 soms are often two inches long. The 

 purple Gerardia ( G. tenuifolia) blos- 

 soms in the latter part of August, and 

 is still in bloona at the end of October. 

 It is a low plant with purple blossoms — 

 a foxglove in minature — growing on 

 stony hillsides. The leaves are little 

 more than one twelfth of an inch wide, 

 and the whole plant is so tough that it 

 will come up by the roots rather than 

 break off. It is inclined to be rather 

 rare in some localities. We have three 

 species of gentians, the most common 

 being G. quinqueflora which grows in 

 rocky ground. In wet places may be 

 found the closed gentian with large 

 deep purple, sometimes white, flowers 

 that never open. The fringed gentian 

 is rarest of all and but seldom found. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The Taxidermist is much improved by 

 the use of a better grade of paper. The 

 magazine contains much to interest all 

 lovers of natural history. 



Mr. Chas F. Carr, Madison, Wis., 

 wishes us to announce that his supply 

 of cataloguest is exhausted. New ones 

 will be ready for mailing by the last of 

 September. 



In July, at the completion of its first 

 volume, the Wisconsin Naturalist sus- 

 I pended publication. An increase of other 

 I duties caused the publisher to take this 

 I step, but we are informed that the mag- 

 I azine may be started again in the course 



of a year. The Naturalist was a very 

 interesting journal and we regret that 

 it was discontinued. 



By far the best directory for Natural- 

 ist 3 that we have seen for a long time is 

 the Standard Directory, compiled by 

 Will A. Crooks and published by the 

 Bulletin Publishing Company, Gillman, 

 111. The volume's forty pages contains 

 the names and addresses of all the lead- 

 ing ornithologists, oologists and taxi- 

 dermists of North America. The names 

 in each state are arranged alphabetically, 

 making reference easy. It is neatly 

 printed and will prove a handy volume 

 for the collector. 



THE NARCISSUS POETICUS. 



BY ADELINE S. KEITH, BRIDGEWATER, 

 MASSACHUSETTS. 



How many people blunder in naming 

 this flower, and all through ignorance. 

 Mothers have been known to tell their 

 children that the single ones were Jon- 

 quils and the double ones were Daffo- 

 dils. Few children would know it if 

 called "Poet's Narcissus," and grown 

 people are just as ignorant. Nearly 

 eveyone must have seen this flower in 

 some old garden. It has a pretty, white 

 blossom and is usually single, yet some- 

 times it is double, and in gardens that 

 have long been waste, a half double 

 variety is found. Some people will not 

 believe that these three are only varieties 

 of the same flower. They say the three 

 are altogether different, and when you 

 bring blossoms and show them traces of 

 the crimson-edged cup in all three they 

 are not convinced. 



Now why should they call this flower a 

 Jonquil ? The Jonquil belongs to the 

 same family, it is true, but there is 

 very little resemblence between them. 

 The Jonquil is yellow, nothing but 

 yellow ; it is inuch smaller than the 

 other every way ; not quite so hardy, 

 either, I think. And then there never 



(, 



