t    MAY  3  1895  \ 
THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
MA  Y,  1895. 
STRUCTURE  OF  EPIG^EA  REPENS.  — »  ; 
By  Bdson  S.  Bastin. 
The  "  first  sweet  smiles  of  May,"  as  Whittier  calls  the  flowers  of 
this  plant,  prettily  portray  the  fact  that  they  are  at  once  among  the 
earliest  and  the  most  prized  of  our  spring  floral  treasures. 
In  most  localities  where  the  plant  is  known  it  is  called  the  Trail- 
ing Arbutus,  but  in  Massachusetts  and  some  other  portions  of  New 
England  it  is  commonly  called  the  Mayflower,  partly,  perhaps,  in 
allusion  to  its  time  of  blossoming,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
the  first  flower  to  gladden  the  eyes  of  the  Pilgrims  in  the  spring 
after  their  first  winter  on  the  bleak  shores  of  their  new  home. 
The  plant  is  widely  distributed  over  the  northeastern  part  of 
North  America,  but  is  especially  abundant  in  the  region  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies  and  in  the  pine  and  fir-clad  regions  bordering  the  Great 
Lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  It  particularly  affects  rocky 
hill  slopes,  where  the  soil  is  light  and  well  drained,  but  is  not  infre- 
quently found  on  lower-lying  sandy,  tree-clad  areas,  where  the  soil 
is  well  aerated.  The  sturdy  little  plant  also  prefers  the  vigorous 
north,  and  is  seldom  found  south  of  the  line  of  the  Ohio  River,  save 
in  the  more  elevated  portions  of  the  Alleghenies.  Its  stems  are 
prostrate,  and  the  slender  trailing  branches  often  attain  a  foot  in 
length,  and  possess,  like  the  petioles  and  the  under  surfaces  of  the 
leaves,  a  copious  growth  of  rusty-brown,  multicellular,  but  simple 
hairs.  These  also  occur,  but  much  more  sparingly,  on  the  upper 
surface  of  the  leaves.     The  leaves  are  evergreen,  veiny,  scarcely 
(23O 
