Tie Garden Magazine, July, 1921 
315 
BLUEBELLS 
Across low meadows and 
along streams these 
Bluebells (Mertensia 
virginica) fairly riot 
from late March to 
May; they sometimes 
range as far north as 
Ontario and east to 
New Jersey 
SHOOTING-STAR 
Curiously interesting in 
its habit of growth this 
prairie plant (Dodeca- 
theon Meadia) is cer- 
tainly worth a place in 
our gardens. Its flowers, 
poised as though just 
ready to shoot off into 
space, may be purple, 
pink, or white; the pur- 
ple variety is here shown 
Trillium nivale, grandiflorum, and erec- 
tum; and Phlox divaricata. By the end 
of June the woods have lost their flower 
charm and the ground is protected by 
a mass of low shrub throwing a dense 
shade. In the river valleys on the flood 
plain where the soil is very rich, coarse 
herbaceous plants grow to amazing size, 
obscuring everything until the appear- 
ance of late summer and fall flowers, 
chiefly Composites. 
In July flourish a class of flowers quite 
different from those of the earlier 
months. There are many strong, deep- 
rooted coarse plants, some eight feet in 
height. Three of these in particular are synonymous with the 
prairie, although found elsewhere. They are the Compass-plant 
(Silphium laciniatum) the Rosinweed (Silphium terebin- 
thinaceum), the Cup-plant (Silphium perfoliatum). The burn- 
ing and cutting to which they are subjected seems only to 
make their roots much stronger and deeper. (Does this hold 
a hint for gardeners?) • 
The Compass-plant is very distinctive, its flowers attractive, 
and its foliage decorative. The Rosin-weed is interesting 
enough but probably has few friends; its leaves are large, thick 
and leathery; it has no stem; the button-like, inconspicuous 
flowers are held up three or four feet on smooth stem. If any 
part of the plant is broken a thick resinous juice flows freely. 
The Cup-plant prefers wet soil and is excellent for water edges. 
It grows to nine feet. The stem is strong and square; the 
clasping leaves form deep cups which usually contain water; a 
curious habit of growth which, obviously, has given the plant its 
name; it flowers in a graceful, loose corymb about three inches 
in diameter and in color yellow. 
Long after the smaller plants are dried by the drought these 
three “huskies” survive and thrive. To the farmer they are 
weeds that must be exterminated; growing along the roadside 
they become unrecognizable through the heavy coating of dust; 
everywhere they are stalked by a harassing fate. When they 
are gone, the last symbol of the prairie will, it seems to me, be 
gone; leaving a land, fertile to be sure, but completely tamed and 
harnessed. 
There are two trees that must be mentioned in connection 
with the flowers — the Hawthorns and Crab-apples, which are 
inseparable from any conception of the prairie flora. Individ- 
uals or small groups are frequently found isolated in open places, 
but 1 do not feel that such a place is their most characteristic 
habitat. They are plentiful bordering forest glades or islands 
of trees of irregular outline where prairie joins forest. Here they 
make solid walls of interlaced thorny branches which are a glory 
of flowers before the leaves appear. During the summer months 
they are quite lost to sight except where an individual is fully- 
exposed. Some species are very striking because of their 
horizontal branching. In fall their bright-colored fruit again 
makes these plants conspicuous. By 
November, after their leaves are gone, 
the wood of the Crab-apples colors very 
strongly and little groups of them appear 
hazy or smoky, so purple and blue is the 
bark. 
How is the prairie flora, so lovely, so 
worthy of continuance, so genuinely a 
part of the original America, to be pre- 
served? Who will do it if we gardeners 
do not? Already many of the plants are 
quite rare! Grown in the usual conven- 
tional garden some become very rank 
and much changed in appearance; they 
BEAR'S GRASS OR 
QUAMASH 
Though a native of rich 
meadows, the Camassia 
is most amenable to 
cultivation and, given 
plenty of moisture in 
early spring, will thrive 
in any loSm. This is 
variety esculenta with a 
light blue flower 
