fell upon the great Napoleon, who 

 adopted the flower as his emblem. He 

 was, in fact, called by his followers 

 Pere de la Violette, and upon going into 

 exile Napoleon assured his friends that 

 he would return with the Violets. Hence 

 the flower became the sacred symbol by 

 which his followers recognized each oth- 

 er. When asked, "Do you like the Vio- 

 let?" if the reply was "Oui" the answerer 

 was not a confederate. If, however, the 

 reply came, "Eh, bien," they recognized a 

 brother conspirator and completed the 



sentence, "It will appear again in the 

 spring." 



During the middle ages the Violet be- 

 came the chosen symbol to the minstrel 

 and troubadour, of loyalty and faithful 

 love. A blue Violet was the first love 

 token passed by Clemence Isaure through 

 a hole in the wall of her convent garden 

 to her noble lover, Count Raymond, of 

 Toulouse, and in its association as a 

 bridal- flower Milton used it to carpet 

 Eve's bower in Paradise. 



Charles S. Raddin. 



THE ROUND-LOBED LIVERWORT. 



{Hepatica hepatica.) 



All the woodland path is broken 

 By warm tints along the way, 

 And the low and sunny slope 

 Is alive with sudden hope, 

 When there comes the silent token 

 Of an April day — 

 Blue hepatica. 



— Dora Read Goodale. 



There are many plants that are closely 

 related to the mythology and folklore of 

 nations. This is even true of many that 

 are native only in our own young coun- 

 try. The Liverwort^ or Hepatica, as it 

 is more often called, though it is not en- 

 tirely free from mythical association 

 among the Indian tribes, does not enter 

 largely into their folklore. 



This beautiful plant has, however, 

 been the inspiration of many poets. 

 Helen Chase calls the Hepaticas 



"Hooded darlings of the spring. 

 Rarest tints of purple wearing." 



The delicate blue of the flowers is 

 mentioned by William Cullen Bryant : 



"The liverleaf put forth her sister blooms 

 Of faintest blue." 



The life of this plant is poetical. Dur- 

 ing the summer months a luxuriant 

 growth of leaves is produced. As cold 

 weather approaches these lie down upon 

 the ground and are soon covered by the 

 falling leaves, which have been nipped 

 from the trees by bite of the frost king. 

 Soon, too, they are covered with snow. 

 In this warm cradle they sleep through 



the winter, yet, as it were, with open 

 eyes for the dawn of spring. Had the 

 Hepatica the power of reason we would 

 say that it longed for spring, for after 

 the first few warm days that herald the 

 approach of that season there is activity 

 in every part of the plant. It does not 

 wait to produce new leaves, but in an 

 incredibly short time sends up its flower 

 stalk and spreads its blue, purple or 

 white petals to the warm rays of the sun. 

 The Hepatica is truly a harbinger of 

 spring, and in Eastern North America, 

 from Southern British America to the 

 Gulf of Mexico, its appearance intro- 

 duces the new season. In the northern 

 portion of its habitat its flowers are 

 among the first to grace the dreary, leaf- 

 less forests. This Hepatica is also found 

 in Europe and Asia. It is not only a 

 flower of the forests of lower altitudes, 

 but is also found in mountainous regions 

 at an elevation of nearly three thousand 

 feet. 



This plant was first described by Lin- 

 naeus in 1753, who gave it the name He- 

 patica, as he saw in the shape of the leaf 



137 



