JUNE. 153 



characteristics of the flowers of this month and of the 

 last. In May the prominent colors were white and the 

 lighter shades of purple and lilac, in which the latter 

 were but faintly blended. In June the purple shades 

 predominate in the flowers, except those of the shrubs 

 which are mostly white. The scarlet hues are seldom 

 seen until after midsummer. The yellows seem to be 

 confined to no particular season, being conspicuous in 

 the dandelion, ranunculus, and coltsfoot of spring ; in 

 the potentillas, the senecios, and the loosestrifes of sum- 

 mer, and in the sunflowers, goldenrods, and many other 

 tribes of autumn. 



One of the most charming appearances of the present 

 month, to one who is accustomed to the minute obser- 

 vation of nature's works, is the flowering of the grat^ses. 

 Though this extensive tribe of plants is remarkable in 

 no instances for the brilliancy of its flowers, yet there is 

 no tribe that exhibits more beauty in their aggregations ; 

 some rearing their flowers in a compact head, like the 

 herd's grass and the foxtail ; others spreading them out 

 in an erect panicle, like a tree, as the orchard grass and 

 the common redtop ; others appearing with a bristling 

 head, like wheat and barley ; and a countless variety of 

 species, with nodding panicles, like the oat and the 

 quaking grass. The greater number of the gramineous 

 plants are in flower at the present time, and there are 

 no other species which afford more attractions, to those 

 who examine nature with the discriminating eye of 

 science. 



He who is accustomed to rambling is now keenly 

 sensible of that community of property in nature, of 

 which he cannot be deprived. The air of heaven is 

 acknowledged to belong equally to all, and cannot be 

 monopolized ; but the land is apportioned into tracts 



