48 
RURAL HOURS. 
Followed an old Avood road for some distance. Squirrel-cups 
in abundance ; tliouglr very regular in other respects, these little 
flowers are not all colored alike : some are rvhite, others pink, 
hlac, or grayish blue. They are a nice httle floAver, Avith a mod- 
est, unobtrusiA-e air, Avhich is A'ery engaging. When they first 
appear, they shoot up singly, each blossom alone on its doAvny 
stalk ; but noAv they haA'e gained courage, standing in little groups, 
gleaming gayly aboA C the Avithered foliage. Their young doAvny 
leaves do not shoAV yet, although a fcAv of last year’s groAvth are 
fomid, in a half-evergreen state. One often sees these floAvers at 
the foot of trees, growing on their roots, as it Avere ; and perhaps it 
is this position, Avhich, added to their downy, furred leaves and 
stems, has given them the name of squirrel-cups — a prettier name, 
certainly, for a Avood floAver, than liverAVort, or its Latin version, 
hepatica. 
The small yelloAv A'iolets are springing up ; they also sIioav their 
golden heads before their leaA^es are out. It seems singular that 
the flower, Avhich is the most precious and delicate part of the 
plant, should ever be earlier than the leaf, yet it is the case with 
many plants, great and small ; among trees it is veiy common. 
Doubtless there is a good reason for it, Avhich one would like to 
knoAv, as the learned in such matters luiA-e probably found it out. 
The arbutus is uoav open everyAvhere in the Avoods and groves. 
IIoAV pleasant it is to meet the same floAvers year after year ! If 
the blossoms wbre liable to change — if they Avere to become capri- 
cious and iiTegular — they might excite more surprise, more curiosi- 
ty, but Ave should Ioa'C them less ; they might be just as bright, 
and gay, and fragrant under other fonns, but they Avould not be 
the Anolets, and squirrel-CAips, and ground laurels Ave loved last 
