EARLY WILD FLOWERS, CATKINS. 



retreat; in its place the marsh marigold {Caltha 

 palustris) appears, a flower with scarcely less gold in 

 its cup than the dandelion possesses. But the ear- 

 liest wild flower of spring is 

 undoubtedly the hepatica or 

 liverwort {Hepatica triloba) ; 

 this dainty, purplish white flow ■ 

 er appears before its 

 new leaves (the large 

 purple-blotched ones 

 are last year's ; the 

 new ones are tiny 

 and fuzzy) sometime 

 in early April, next 

 to a lingering bit of 

 snow, and among 

 the withered leaves be- 

 neath the trees at the woodland border of the road. 

 I have found the hepatica in some seasons earlier 

 than the trailing arbutus {Epigoia repens), but this 

 is a matter of personal experience. William Ham- 

 ilton Gibson asserts positively that the flower is 

 really the flrst to appear, and I believe he is quite 

 right. It is the easiest thing in the world to pass 

 the hepatica without noticing it, so closely does it 

 snuggle among the withered leaves ; on this account 

 I am inclined to believe it comes and goes quite un- 



Ilepatica. 



