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192 THE AMEEICMf-" 
From New York.— You ask for some botanical 
notes from this part of our great country. Yegetation 
is yet mostly dormant, and we must confine ourselves 
to anticipation of what Nature will soon present. Here 
and there, however, in warm sheltered spots, by brush- 
ing away the masses of fallen leaves we may recognize 
some of our early spring flowers nearly ready to burst 
forth into life and beauty. Among these is the Liver- 
leaf {Hepatica), the Spring Beauty {Glaytonia GaroUni- 
ana), and several kinds of violets. 
Of the violets I must speak a little at large, although 
it is yet too early for their appearance. The commonest, 
and perhaps the most beautiful, is a blue violet growing 
in wet or damp grounds, especially in meadows and by 
the borders of brooks and streams, the Viola cucullata^ 
Ait., which rendered into English means the Hooded 
violet, from the manner in which the young leaves are 
rolled together in the form of a hood . Tlie color of this 
violet is quite variable, from a light sky-blue to a dark 
purple, but always bright and attractive. Next we 
have, in low or wet grounds, the small White violet 
( Viola Uanda,^^^.), with roundish, heart-shaped, or 
kidney-shaped leaves, and delicate white flowers on 
short stalks, seldom rising more than an inch or two 
from the ground. Then we have the low yellow violet 
( Viola rotundifolia. Mich . ) , which is found on wooded 
slopes and hill sides. This has small, bright yellow 
flowers, opening in early spring. The leaves, at the 
time of flowering, are about an inch broad and nearly 
round, but when fully grown they are often three or four 
inches across . The three species we have mentioned 
aref stemless violets, the leaves and flowers springing 
separately from the root or root- stock. 
Of the stemmed violets we have a number of species. 
In damp shady places the low leafy blue violet, a variety 
of Viola canina, L, , or the Viola Muhlenbergii, Torr., the 
Long-spurred violet {Viola rostrata, Pursh.), in rich 
soils on wooded hills, the Striped-flowered violet ( Viola 
striata, Ait.) , and the large white violet ( Viola canaden- 
sis, L.), which is the largest species we have in^ the 
country , common in rich , open woods, the flowers of 
good size, whitish, and delicately tinged with violet. 
Lastly, we have the large yellow violet ( Viola pubescens, 
Ait.) which is common in open, and especially in sandy 
woods . 
I was much pleased the other day , in crossing a low 
place in a meadow, to observe the young flower- stalks, 
or spathes, of the Skunk Cabbage {Symplocarpus fostidus, 
Salisb.) just shooting into sight. With a knife I cut 
down into the ground, and severed some of these from 
the root, that I might examine their very singular 
structure. They consist of a roundish mass, or head, 
in which grow many small crowded yellowish flowers , 
the whole surrounded by a thick, leathery kind of leaf, 
of a purplish color, spotted and striped with yellow and 
green, and extending beyond the cob, or head of flowers, 
enwrapping and almost entirely concealing them from 
view. The young leaves are already beginning to press 
out of the ground, and when fully developed they form 
a mass of large heart-shaped leaves, looking not unlike 
a head of cabbage, and, from their strong and peculiar 
odor, meriting the name by which it is generally known. 
A plant of such oflensive odor should have some com- 
pensating qualities, and we And that the root of this 
plant has a pretty well established reputation in the 
Materia Medica. 
Meagre as is the botanizing field among the flowering 
plants at present, we find it little more satisfactory among 
cryptogams. Several kinds of mosses have found warmth 
sufficient to make some growth, and send up fruiting 
pedicels and mature capsules. On the bodies of trees 
are several species of Orthotrichum (particularly 0. stran- 
gulatum, Beauv., and 0 . crispum, Hedw.) in little round 
patches, and occasionally large masses of the handsome 
JVeclcera pennata, Hedw. l*often gather this in fine con- 
dition on the beech wood which is brought into market. 
Yarious other kinds of mosses are still under beds of 
snow, where they find conditions favorable to their 
growth, and when their fleecy covers are melted away 
they will please the eye with their bright and lively 
colors, and repay tenfold any labor taken in a close 
examination. These small delicate objects are worthy 
of more careful study . P . 
Utica, N. Y., April, 1870. ' 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Plants to Name — Mrs. B. S. LaTce, Golorado. — It is 
a pleasure to look upon such finely preserved specimens 
as the Colorado plants you send. No. 1 is the sky-blue 
Columbine {Aquilegia cerulea, Torr.), one of the finest 
ornaments of the Rocky Mountains. The flowers are 
larger and more showy than either the garden Colym- 
bine {A. vulgaris, L.) or the wild Columbine (A. cttna- 
densis, L.) of the Eastern States. It grows about two 
feet high, has la^ge bright blue flowers, the spur of the 
petals being two inches long. It is well worthy of 
cultivation . No . 2 is the smooth Mountain Maple {^Acer 
glabrum, Torr.) It is a small shrub, six to eight or ten 
feet high, with small smooth leaves, somewhat three- 
lobed and toothed, and producing an abundance of the 
winged fruit peculiar to the maples. No. 3 is Oxytropis 
Lamherti, Pursh. , without any common name so fai^ as 
we are aware. It belongs to the Pea Family 
minoscc). It is a low plant with perennial root, bearing 
all the leaves at the ground and sending up simple 
spikes of flowers, varying from light blue to pimple, 
which are succeeded by upright cylindrical pods ^out 
an inch long. The plant is wide-spread over the f>lains 
and among the lower mountain ranges . No . 4 is a shrub 
peculiar to the Rocky Mountains, nearly related to the 
Hydrangea, and is botanically known as Jamesia Amer- 
icana, T. and G., in honor of the discoverer. Dr. 
James, the Botanist of Long’s Expedition in 1820. 
No. 5 is a plant well known in the Western States, 
occurring in hazel patches and the borders of prairies, 
and is sometimes called Shooting Star, sometimes Pride 
of the Prairie {Dodecatheon Meadia, L.) It is a unique 
and beautiful plant of the Primrose Family. We do 
not mean the Evening Prim/rose Family, but the true 
Primrose Family {Primulacece) . The type of this family 
is the Primrose of Europe, of which genus we have but 
two species (both rare) in this country. The Dodeca- 
theon has a number of large, oblong, smooth leaves at 
the surface of the ground, from which rises a long 
naked stem a foot or two in length, and surmounted at 
the top with an umbel of from five to twenty flowers, 
which are nodding when fully open, but in fruit 
are strictly erect. It has been somewhat introduced 
into cultivation, and is well worthy a place in every 
garden. 
