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are both here. Along the edge of the brook, and opposite 

 the spurge family, will be seen the water-starwort family, to 

 which belong a number of small aquatic plants. About oppo- 

 site this, and at the base of the rocky ridge to the right, are 

 two representatives of the box family, in the trailing pachy- 

 sandra, from North America, and its Japanese relative, the 

 terminal pachysandra ; the true box (Baxus) is a shrub or 

 small tree, native of Europe, and several specimens of it will 

 be found at the fruticetum. A little to the right of the wood- 

 sorrel family is the jewel-weed family, to which belong the 

 common balsam of the gardens, and the plant so common 

 along our brooks and other wet places, and known as jewel- 

 weed, or touch-me-not. A little beyond this are three beds 

 of the mallow family ; the hollyhocks belong here, as do the 

 mallows; the crimson-eye mallow, and the swamp-rose mal- 

 low, both from North America, are showy representatives of 

 this family ; the halberd-leaved rose-mallow, also a North 

 American plant, with its pinkish white flowers with a deeper 

 center, is also showy ; and the marsh mallow, a native of 

 Europe and the Orient, is also shown ; its root is used in the 

 manufacture of a mucilage and for medicinal purposes. 



To the right of the mallows is the bed given over to the 

 St. John's-wort family. The rock-rose family comes next, a 

 little further on ; here belong the rock-roses of Europe, and 

 our own frost-weeds. To the right of this is the violet family ; 

 a large collection of our native species, together with some 

 from foreign lands, is here brought together and many of these 

 will be recognized as old friends. Up on the ridge to the 

 right, across the walk, will be found the cactus family ; rela- 

 tively few of these are hardy in this climate, so the larger 

 part of the cactus collection must be sought in the conserva- 

 tories. Here will be found, however, several representatives 

 of the prickly pears {Oftunt/'a), including the eastern prickly 

 pear, common in this part of the country, which is frequently 

 found on the rocky ridges in the vicinity of New York and 

 occurs wild on some ledges within the Garden reservation. 

 Down near the brook, and not far from the mallow family, 





