l8o JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
" Wild Flowers of the North American Mount ains." By Julia 
W. Henshaw. 8vo. 383 pp. (McBride, Nast & Co., London, 1916.) 
10s. 6d. 
A well-arranged guide to the " flora " of North American 
mountains, often so difficult to identify by the tourist and amateur. 
The author has separated the flowers into colour categories, as did 
Miss Parsons in her " Wild Flowers of California/' and this system, 
though doubtless helpful to the tourist, who can thereby easily trace 
the flowers he has gathered, is a little tiresome to anyone wishing to 
follow up a particular family, and who has to turn constantly to the 
index ! 
The title is perhaps a little too " wide " for the contents, as many 
lovely plants are not given which are well known in mountain 
districts. For instance, the wonderful Giant Lupine found by Douglas, 
and the " Rocky Mountain Columbine," Aquilegia coerulea, perhaps 
the most admired of any flower growing in North America. 
Nor are A. canadensis, and A. chrysantha, as known to American 
nurserymen, given, unless the A.formosa described be intended for the 
one, and A . flavescens for the other. A. Skinneri, too, is not mentioned. 
And why is the lovely little " Shinleaf " Pyrola picta, or according 
to Gray Pyrola elliptica, forgotten ? The Trillium, too, the " Wake 
Robin," that charming and distinctive plant, appealing to all in 
earliest spring by the purity of its white flowers or the varied purples 
of some of the varieties — this, which grows particularly freely in the 
mountainous parts of Northern Vermont, is not given. 
Mrs. Henshaw gives the name "Red Cedar" to Thuja plicata (T. 
Lobbii) — a very misleading description, for Juntperus virginiana is 
known from end to end of America as " Red Cedar " (see also Mr. W. J. 
Bean), and it is difficult to understand how this mistake has been 
allowed to pass. 
The book is very well got up — type, paper, and illustrations 
excellent, with one exception, that of the coloured frontispiece of 
Castilleja miniata, which gives not the faintest idea of the splendid, 
flame-like colour of the lemon and vermilion bracts of that interesting 
plant. The index too is good, though " Leptarrhena " should be on 
p. 128 and is not ! 
An appreciative preface is written in the form of a letter by 
Professor John Macoun, who especially praises the English names 
Mrs. Henshaw has given in some instances. 
( 
" Corners of Grey Old Gardens." 8vo. 151 pp. (Foulis, London, 
1914.) 3s. 6d. net. 
This collection of essays will bring little that is new to the lover 
of garden literature, but will be welcome nevertheless, for it com- 
prises much that is best in that literature. It includes " The Praise of 
Gardens," by E. V. B. (who, full of years, has just passed away) ; " The 
Pleasures of an Orchard," by William Lawson ; a charming chapter 
