20 



flora). The calyx and claws of the corolla form a slender tube 

 quite unlike the tube of the pistillate flower. The calyx of the 

 latter is inflated by the swollen seed-pod at maturity, but even 

 before it begins to sustain pressure from the swelling pod, it is 

 much larger in diameter than those calyces which never expect to 

 bear fruit. The full grown seed-pod is of itself an attractive ob- 

 ject with its ten little notches at the top where the seeds escape. 



The vitality some of the flowers possess is amazing. A 

 spray carelessly thrown aside after examination in a cool room 

 was found the next evening in full bloom, although it had been 

 without moisture of any kind for a day. 



WILD FLOWERS IX THE GARDEN. 

 To a lover of wild flowers many of the cultivated forms com- 

 monly found growing in small gardens lack much of that irresist- 

 ible charm and attractiveness possessed by their indigenous rela- 

 tives. Yet how seldom do we find people who are trying to culti- 

 vate the wild flowers ! One is led to presume that people choose 

 to pass by the delicate and graceful native flowers for the often 

 bold and showy but not more beautiful varieties figured in such 

 brilliant colors in florists' and seedsmen's catalogues — a presump- 

 tion which I fear is but too true. These people can see no beauty 

 in the flowers of our fields and hillsides, simply because they are 

 common and can be had for the gathering, and because Nature 

 instead of a professional florist has propagated them. There is 

 an opinion among many that native plants will not succeed if 

 brought into the garden — an opinion which is without founda- 

 tion if the conditions of the garden can be made somewhat 

 similar to those of the field. But many native plants when 

 brought into the garden are planted where the temperature, soil, 

 amount of moisture, sunlight and shade are very different from 

 the natural conditions under which the plants have been growing, 

 with result that the plants vary to such a degree as to lose much 

 of their native beauty and attractiveness, even though they 

 thrive. This is probably why native plants are not more com- 



