50 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
What proof have we of this secret labor? The evi- 
dence of our senses. The flower-bed, even in early 
February, showed us various pale, sharp points aspiring 
to the hght and piercing the overlying counterpane of 
rubbish. These plants, to be sure, are foreigners; cro- 
cuses, snowdrops, snow-flakes, squills, tulips, h^-acinths, 
chisnodoxas. The^^ know no better. Often they pay 
dearly for their precocity. 
But, after all, they are not alone in vernal prepara- 
tions. There comes a moving da}' for all plants. Go out 
into the swampj^ woodlands in March and you will see 
the quaint parti-colored hoods of skunk-cabbage (vSj'7?3p7o- 
carpus). Often these protrude from the half-frozen 
ground. We always welcome thCvSe weird, gnome-like 
forms, wrapped in their vivid green or dark maroon 
mantles. Some holy order doubtless — but devoid of the 
odor of sanctity. 
Upturn the earth anywhere and numerous bulbs, 
corms, and root-stocks will be found instinct with life and 
covered wnth vigorous buds. From them later will grow 
our adder's-tongues, bloodroots, dwarf ginsengs, Jack-in- 
the -pulpits and Solomon's-seals. The buds were formed 
last summer, so were new corms and buds, while root- 
stocks prepared to continue a foraging expedition across 
countr3% dying at one end while advancing at the other. 
So do they seek and attain new soil. 
It is funn3% but almost every jQar the writer has 
presented to him as a startling fact that the trailing 
arbutus {Epigeea repens) is a-bud in February. As a 
matter of fact, it formed its flower-bud last summer. In 
the same way the willows, alders, hazels, and other 
amentaceous shrubs and trees, also maples, elms, etc., 
perfect their buds in a previous season. They hang upon 
the branches all winter for everyone to see, but few take 
note of them. This fact may be published a thousand 
times. It is of no use ; the next year one can safel}' repeat 
the same sermon undetected. 
One of the earliest spring signs, noticeable in January 
