The American Botanist 



VOL. XXI JOLIET, ILL., MAY, 1915 No. 2 



ejrreen old £fardens hidden awai/ 



<^rom si£f/it of revel and sound of strife, — 



J^ere have <^ leisure to breathe and move, 



^nd to do my wor/c in a nobler way/ 



TJo siny my sonys and to say my say, 



TJo dream my dreams and to love my love; 

 Zjo hold my faith and to live my life, 



97fa/ciny the most of its shadowy day, 



— Lady Ciirrie. 



A VARIABLE PHLOX 



By Willard N. Clute. 



I 'HE passage of time has only served to confirm the opin- 

 ions expressed when the silvery lavender phlox {Phlox 

 argillacea) was described as a new species nearly four years 

 ago. It has maintained its specific characters in a variety of 

 situations and comes true from seed without showing any 

 trace of Phlox pilosa which has been suggested as its probable 

 ancestor. In general appearance Phlox argillacea does resem- 

 ble this latter species, but no more sO' than it does another 

 species, Phlox glabcrrima^ which grows in the same general 

 region. It is hairy like pilosa and tall like glaherrima, but the 

 blossoms are unlike either and the time of flowering comes be- 

 tween these two species. Possibly the species began as a sport 

 from one or the other of its allies, but it has progressed along 

 its own lines until it is quite unlike either. That it is not a 



