Good Families 251 
while the Cactus is almost exclusively West- 
ern and American and may be said to be 
native in a stricter sense than even the Ameri- 
can Indian. Orchids are better represented 
in the East and far better still on the Gulf 
Coast of Mexico. 
There are many more of these good families, 
for this estate has many floral tenants and 
among the various species there is a surprising 
difference in what I have called personality. 
Some are distinguished in appearance with 
the bearing of aristocrats; others are the 
lowliest of the lowly. Some are modest and 
retiring, others bold in their flaming' beauty; 
and then there is the great hoi polloi of weeds 
to which some families contribute nothing 
while others belong to it altogether—com- 
monplace by nature and tradition. Neither 
are there wanting parasites in this floral 
society. 
Certain plants more than others have en- 
deared themselves to me, doubtless because 
of association not less than personal charm. 
Of the early flowers, bloodroot and hepatica 
have seemed to embody the spirit of spring 
more fully or more delicately than others. 
Among violets—a family so admirable in 
all its members—the pedata and the white 
