80 
nURAL HOURS. 
early flower of the same date can claim. There are several vari- 
eties of these flowers ; they are quite capricious as regards color- 
ing and size, some being as large as hlies, others not half that 
size ; many are pure white, others dark, others again are flushed 
with pale pink, or lilac, while one kind, with white petals, is 
marked about the heart with rich carmine tracery. Now you 
find one pendulous, while another by its side bears its flowers 
erect. Botanists call them all Trilliums, and a countrywoman 
told me, the other day, they were all " moose-flowers." Each vari- 
ety, however, has a scientific name of its own, and some are 
called nightshades ; others wake-robins, both names belonging 
properly to very difl'erent plants. The true Enghsh wake-robin 
is an arum. The difference in their fruit is remarkable. The 
flowers, so much alike to the general observer, are succeeded by 
berries of two distinct characters: some resemble the hips of 
sweet-briar in color and size, though terminating in a sharp point ; 
others bear a dark, purple fruit, strongly ribbed, but rounded in 
character. I have seen these as large as the common cherry. 
But although very similar in their growth, leaves, and petals, the 
hearts of the plants diff'er very materially, a very simple solution 
of what at first strikes one as singular. We found only the white 
flowers, this evening, growing on the skirts of the field. It is rare 
to meet them beyond the woods, as they disappear before culti- 
vation ; and these looked as though they had just stepped out of 
the forest to take a peep at the world. 
The border of an old wood is fine ground for flowers. The 
soil is usually richer than common, while the sun is felt there 
with greater power than farther within the shady bounds. One 
is almost sure of finding blossoms there at the right season. In 
