102 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 



for instance, in the fields around Morristown, N. J., 

 and also in Prospect Park, Brooklyn ; but I have 

 never found it in the meadows of New Hampshire. 

 It is a near relative of the dog's-tooth violet, but 

 blooms much later, in early summer. It belongs to 

 the Lily family. 



Buttercup. The child's favorite yellow wild ilow- 

 Ram.uncuiusre^en,. gj., the buttercup, does not need any 

 hints or facts recorded here for its identiiication ; 

 yet I wish to draw a closer attention to the flower. 

 Those artistically inclined young people who like 

 to paint the familiar buttercup frequently lose sight 

 of its simple elements of beauty ; I allude to the 

 shape of the leaf and the burnished color of the 

 flower. The leaf is one of the most charming in- 

 stances of symmetry in Nature. Examine it closely, 

 and, for the sake of better acquaintance, spread a 

 large perfect specimen flatly on a piece of paper, 

 trace around its edge with a sharp-pointed pencil, and 

 note the conventional, decorative beauty of the out- 

 line thus obtained. There are not many flowers 

 which can boast of such a beautiful leaf. Then the 

 brilliant yellow of the corolla is almost beyond the 

 power of pure water color to reproduce. The only 

 way one can adequately represent it is to use the 

 purest yellow, and leave, for the dazzling touches of 

 light, spots of the clean white paper beneath. The 



