THE UPPER GARDEN 



an Eastern land which we found sitting quaintly on 

 the counter of our village drug-store. The vase of 

 angled, orange-scarlet seed vessels dangling four or 

 five along the length of the stem was a picture. 



"What wonderful color!" I exclaimed. "What are 

 they?" 



"I don't know their name," responded the head of 

 the establishment; but seeing my covetous eyes, I sup- 

 pose, with his usual courteous helpfulness he added: 

 "Won't you take them?" 



"Oh, no! Only one, then." And I bore off my 

 prize to look up its name and nature. The seeds so 

 resembled the ground cherry in shape that we knew it 

 must belong to the same family and soon found it in 

 our catalogues. It was named the Physalis Francheti 

 after the Frenchman who first described it, as recently 

 as 1879. Why it should be called the Chinese lantern 

 plant when it comes from Japan is one of the in- 

 congruities of nomenclature, although its lacquer tint 

 and balloon-like shape certainly remind one of those 

 gorgeous lights. The seed pods retain their color all 



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