574 



[WSOB* 



[Vol. IV., No. 99. 



date every year. But one spray of arbutus does 

 not make a spring, and the lovely May-flower may 

 not reach its prime of beauty and fragrance for 

 some time after the most sheltered plants open 

 their buds. Even in the same neighborhood, dif- 

 ferences in exposure and elevation defy an exact 

 tabulation of the periods of leafing, flowering, and 

 fruiting; and the moderating influence of a body of 

 water may retard the blooming of early species in 

 its immediate vicinity for days or even weeks. 



In a country covering nearly twenty-five degrees 

 of latitude and fifty-five of longitude, with lofty 

 mountains and tablelands and low valleys, diver- 

 sified by great lakes and rivers, and embracing 

 every variety of climate from the subtropical to the 

 subarctic, with excesses of humidity in one region 

 and of drought in another, it is impossible to 

 arrange the phenomena of the seasons so as to in- 

 clude the whole. 



On comparing the data obtainable, however, a few 

 general features are found common to a great part 

 of the country. Whatever their exact date of leaf- 

 ing or flowering may be, there are certain genera — 

 like the maples, poplars, and elms among trees, and 

 the violets and wakerobins among herbs — that 

 precede most of their fellows ; and, except in very 

 anomalous seasons, their species succeed each 

 other with the same regularity. Where the same 

 plant extends from the Gulf to New England, it 

 naturally blooms earlier in the warmer region; but 

 it is noticeable that the difference, greatest in the 

 flowers of early spring, becomes less marked as 

 the season advances, under the accelerating heat 

 of the northern summer, so that there is often little 

 difference in the flowering of summer and autum- 

 nal plants. In general the same rule applies to 

 species occurring over a considerable range of alti- 

 tude, and is now and then illustrated nicely by a spe- 

 cies with a wide distribution on both high and low 

 ground. 



Floral Calendar. 1 



Blooming all the year in favorable seasons. — 

 Chickweed, dandelion (N.), Cherokee rose 

 (AL), Eschscholtzia, Anagallis (Cal.). 



Jan. 1-10. — Ranunculus californicus (Cal.). 



Jan. 10-20. — Ribes sanguineum (Cal.). 



Jan. 20-30. — Red cedar (AL). 



Feb. 1-10. — Scoliopus (Cal.), red maple (AL), Salix 

 scouleriana (O.). 



1 Based on the notes of Dr. Mohr for Mobile, Ala. (Al.); Pro- 

 fessor Porter for middle Colorado (3-6,000 feet, Col. ' 8-10,000 feet, 

 Col.); Mr. Rattan for San Francisco, Cal. (Cal.); Mr. Hay for St. 

 John, N.B. (C.) ; Mr. Howell for Oregon (O.) ; and the writer for 

 Wisconsin and New York (N.). 



Feb. 10-20. — Trillium ovatum (Cal.), wild plum, 

 trailing-arbutus (AL). 



Feb. 20-28. — Choke-berry, blue violet (AL), Den- 

 taria (O.). 



March i-io. — Cottonwood, sassafras (AL), Ne- 

 mophila Menziesii, Viola pedunculata (Cal.), 

 Trillium ovatum (O.). 



March 10-20. — Oaks, Pinus taeda (AL), Phacelia 

 tanacetifolia, Nemophilaaurita (Cal.). 



March 20-30. — Locust, flowering dogwood (AL), 

 Gilia multicaulis (Cal.), Ribes sanguineum (O.). 



April 1-10. — Violets, Gilia achilleaefolia (Cal.), 

 magnolia, wild cherry, Oxalis violacea (AL), 

 skunk-cabbage (N.). 



April 10-20. — Gilia androsacea (Cal.), hickories 

 (AL), red maple, cottonwood, red cedar, pasque- 

 flower (N.), Delphinium bicolor (Col.), Nardos- 

 mia palmata (C), Erythronium (O.). 



April 20-30. — Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (Cal.), poison 

 sumach, blue flag (AL), trailing-arbutus, sugar- 

 maple (N.), Thlaspi alpestre (Col.), spring beau- 

 ty (C). 



May 1-10. — Calochortus alba (Cal.), smooth su- 

 mach (AL), ash, spring beauty, Erythronium, 

 Trillium, golden currant (N.), spring beauty, 

 pasque-flower (Col.), Clematis Douglasii 

 (Col.). 



May 10-20. — Calochortus Weedii (Cal.), sun-dews, 

 New-Jersey tea (AL), blue violet, wild plum, 

 wild cherries (N.), Viola Nuttallii (Col.), Mer- 

 tensia alpina (Col.), trailing-arbutus (C). 



May 20-30. — Calochortus pulchella (Cal.), sweet 

 bay, dwarf palmetto (AL), barberry, oaks, apple 

 (N.), spring beauty (Col.), Trillium (C). 



June 1 -10. — Lilium pardalinum (Cal.), St. Johns 

 worts (AL), blue flag, choke-berry (N.), Sophora 

 sericea (Col.), golden currant (Col.), Calypso 

 (C). 



June 10-20. — Mentzelia laevicaulis (Cal.), Vir- 

 ginia-creeper (AL), raspberry, locust (N.), 

 Lepachys columnaris (Col.), Anemone multi- 

 fida (Col.). 



June 20-30. — Rosa Carolina (AL), laurel, sun-dews, 

 Aquilegia coerulea (N.), Delphinium azureum, 

 Gilia aggregata (Col.), Zygadenus glaucus (Col.), 

 Cypripedium acaule (C). 



July 1-10. — Sabbatia, Aster paludosus (AL), Vir- 

 ginia-creeper, Rosa Carolina (N.), Cleome in- 

 tegrifolia (Col.), pasque-flower (Col.). 



July 10-20. — Gentiana oregana (Cal.), Habenaria 

 ciliaris (AL), New-Jersey tea, smooth sumach 

 (N.), Pentstemon glabra (Col.), Gilia aggregata, 

 Viola canina (Col.), Habenaria psycodes (C). 



