
* A Project Gutenberg Canada Ebook *

This ebook is made available at no cost and with very few
restrictions. These restrictions apply only if (1) you make
a change in the ebook (other than alteration for different
display devices), or (2) you are making commercial use of
the ebook. If either of these conditions applies, please
check gutenberg.ca/links/licence.html before proceeding.

This work is in the Canadian public domain, but may be
under copyright in some countries. If you live outside Canada,
check your country's copyright laws. IF THE BOOK IS UNDER
COPYRIGHT IN YOUR COUNTRY, DO NOT DOWNLOAD
OR REDISTRIBUTE THIS FILE.

Title: Canadian Wild Flowers
Author: Traill, Catharine Parr (1802-1899)
Illustrator: FitzGibbon, Agnes Dunbar [ne Moodie] (1833-1913)
Date of first publication: 1868
Edition used as base for this ebook:
   Montreal: John Lovell, 1868
   (first edition)
Date first posted: 30 January 2009
Date last updated: 30 January 2009
Project Gutenberg Canada ebook #250

This ebook was produced by:
Marcia Brooks, Roland Schlenker
& the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

Images generously provided by Canadiana (ECO)--formerly
the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions






[Illustration: CANADIAN WILD FLOWERS



Painted and Lithographed



BY AGNES FITZGIBBON,



WITH



BOTANICAL DESCRIPTIONS



BY C. P. TRAILL.



AUTHORESS OF THE BACKWOODS OF CANADA THE CANADIAN CRUSOES ETC., ETC.



PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN LOVELL. ST. NICHOLAS STREET. MONTREAL.



1868.]









                              CONTENTS.





  PLATE I.

                                                                 PAGE.



  Indian Turnip.--_Arum triphyllum_ (_Arum family_) ................ 9



  Showy Orchis.--_Orchis Spectabilis_ ............................. 13



  Painted Cup, Scarlet Cup.--_Castillia Coccinea_ ................ 15



  Cone Flower.--_Rudbckia fulgida_ ............................... 19





  PLATE II.



  Sweet Wintergreen.--_Pyrola ellptica_ .......................... 21



  One Flowered Pyrola.--_Monses uniflor_ ........................ 24



  Flowering Raspberry.--_Rbus Odortus_ .......................... 25



  Speedwell.--American Brooklime.--_Veronica Americna_ ........... 27





  PLATE III.



  Adders-Tongue.--Dog-Toothed Violet.--_Erythrnium Americnum_ ... 29



  White Trillium.--Death-Flower.--_Trillium Grandiflrum_ ......... 31



  Rock Columbine.--_Aquilgia Canadnsis_ ......................... 34





  PLATE IV.



  Squirrel Corn.--_Dicntra Canadnsis_ ........................... 37



  Purple Trillium.--Death-Flower.--Birth-Root.--_Trillium

    erctum_ ...................................................... 39



  Wood Gernium.--Cranes-Bill.--_Gernium macultum_ .............. 41



  Chickweed Wintergreen.--_Trientlis_ ............................ 44





  PLATE V.



  Yellow Lady's Slippers--_Cypripdium parviflrum and

    Cypripdium pubscens_ ........................................ 45



  Large Blue Flag.--_Iris Verscolor--Fleur-de-luce_ .............. 47



  Small Cranberry.--_Vaccnium Oxycccus_ ......................... 50





  PLATE VI.



  Wild Orange Lily.--_Llium Philadlphicum_ ...................... 53



  Canadian Harebell.--_Campnula Rotundiflia_ .................... 56



  Showy Lady's Slipper.--_Cypripdium Spectbile_.--(Moccasin

    Flower) ....................................................... 59





  PLATE VII



  Early Wild Rose.--_Rsa Blnda_ ................................. 63



  Pentstmon Beard-Tongue.--_Pentstmon pubscens_ ................ 66





  PLATE VIII.



  Sweet Scented Water Lily.--_Nympha Odorta_ .................... 67



  Yellow Pond Lily.--_Nphar dvena_.--(Spatter Dock.) ............ 71





  PLATE IX.



  Pitcher Plant.--(Soldier's Drinking Cup.)--_Sarracnia

    Purpurea_ ..................................................... 73





  PLATE X.



  Liver-Leaf--Wind-Flower.--(Sharp Lobed Heptica.)--_Heptica

    Acutloba_ .................................................... 77



  Bellwort.--(Wood Daffodil.)--_Uvulria Grandiflra_ ............. 79



  Wood Anemne.--_Anemne Nemorsa_ ............................... 81



  Spring Beauty.--_Claytnia Virgnica_ ........................... 84









PREFACE.





A few words of introduction for our book on the Wild Flowers of Canada

may be deemed necessary by the friends who have so kindly and freely

come forward as Subscribers to the work, and also the public in general.



We present it with every hope that success may fellow the publication,

which has been delayed, by many unforeseen obstacles, from appearing at

as early a date as had been anticipated. However, we must fall back upon

the old saying--'Better late than never'--and in excuse, observe that

the labour of the undertaking has been very great. First, the

designs--all the flowers having been copied from NATURE'S OWN BOOK, by

MRS. FITZGIBBON--then the subsequent grouping and lithographing on stone

_by her own hand_, and finally the colouring of each separate plate--a

gigantic effort to be executed by one person.



With a patriotic pride in her native land, Mrs. F. was desirous that the

book should be entirely of Canadian production, without any foreign aid,

and thus far her design has been carried out, whether successfully or

not, remains for the public to decide.



Any short-comings that may be noticed by our friends must be excused on

the score of the work being wholly Canadian in its execution.



Our Canadian Publishers can hardly be expected to compete with the

book-sellers and printers of the Old Country, or of the United States,

labouring as they must necessarily do in a new country under many

mechanical disadvantages.



Thus far, then, in behalf of the artist and publisher--a few words

remain yet to be said as regards the literary portion of the book.



Many years ago the only work that treated in any way of the Wild Plants

of Canada, the country owed to that indefatigable botanist, Frederick

Pursh, whose valuable labours were but little appreciated in the country

in which he toiled and died--it is to be feared but poorly rewarded

during his life.



The land, with all its rich vegetable resources, lay as it were an

untrodden wilderness for many years, save by those hardy settlers who

cared little for the forest flowers that grew in their paths.



The unlettered _Indians_, indeed, culled a few of the herbs and barks

and roots for healing purposes, and dyes wherewith to stain their

squaws' basket-work and porcupine quills; and some of the old settlers

had given them local and descriptive names by which they may be

recognized even in the present day, but there was no one to give written

descriptions, or to compile a native Flora, or even domestic Herbal of

the Wild Plants of Canada. The subject seemed to excite little interest,

unless in some chance traveller whom curiosity or business brought to

the country. But now the schoolmaster is abroad, and better things are,

we trust, in store for this our noble country.



Much valuable and interesting matter has already been given to the

world, and many works still in progress are, we hear, likely to be added

to our scientific literature.



It was to supply a deficiency that has long been felt in this counter,

that the Authoress first conceived the idea of writing a little volume

descriptive of the most remarkable of the Wild Flowers, Shrubs and

Forest Trees of Canada.



This work, _seen in MS_., received the sanction and approval of several

scientific and literary gentlemen in Canada, among whom were Dr. Hincks

and Prof. George Lawson; but want of funds on the part of the writer,

prevented the publication of the work. And finally it was at last agreed

that the Book of Canadian Wild Flowers should be the work of Mrs.

FitzGibbon, and the descriptions of the plants as delineated by her

hand, should be selected and adapted to suit the subjects of the Plates

from Mrs. Traill's MS.



The scientific reader may possibly expect a more learned description of

the Plants, and may notice many defects and omissions; while others who

are indifferent to the subject, may on the other hand think there are

too many botanical terms introduced. It is difficult to please two

parties. We crave indulgence for all errors, promising that in another

volume, should our present book be kindly received, we will endeavour to

render it as perfect as our limited knowledge will allow us to do. And

so we bid our readers heartily farewell, wishing them much pleasure and

contentment, and that its contents, both artistical and literary, may

serve to foster a love for the native plants of Canada, and turn their

attention to the floral beauty that is destined sooner or later to be

swept away, as the onward march of civilization clears away the primeval

forest--reclaims the swamps and bogs, and turns the waste places into a

fruitful field. The lover of flowers may then look in vain for our

sweet-scented Pyrolas and Slipper-plants, and be forced to say in the

words of the old Scottish song--



    "The flowers of the forest are a' wede away."



           *       *       *       *       *



      O wail for the forest, the proud stately forest,

        No more its dark depths shall the hunter explore,

              For the bright golden grain,

              Shall wave free o'er the plain,

      O wail for the forest, its glories are o'er.



                                     C. P. TRAILL.



    TORONTO, December, 1868.









[Illustration: Plate I]









=Indian Turnip.=



_Arum triphyllum_ (_Arum family_.)



    "Or peers the Arum from its spotted veil."



                             BRYANT.





There are two species of Arums common to Canada, the larger of which is

known as Green-dragon (Arum Dracontium); the other, which forms the

central figure in the plate, is the most common to our soil, and is

known by the familiar name of INDIAN TURNIP (_Arum triphyllum_ or _A.

purpureum_).



These moisture-loving plants are chiefly to be found in rich, black,

swampy mould, beneath the shade of trees and rank herbage, near creeks

and damp places, in or about the forest.



The sheath that envelops and protects the spadix, or central portion of

the plant, is an incurved membraneous hood of a pale green colour,

beautifully striped with dark purple or brownish-purple.



The flowers are inconspicuous, hidden by the sheath; they are of two

kinds, the sterile and fertile, the former placed above, the latter

consisting of four or more stamens and 2 4-celled anthers, the fertile

or fruit-bearing flowers of a 1-celled OVARY. The fruit, when ripe, is

bright scarlet, clustered round the lower part of the round fleshy

scape. As the berries ripen, the hood or sheath withers and shrivels

away to admit the ripening rays of heat and light to the fruit.



The root of the Indian Turnip consists of a round, wrinkled, fleshy

corm, somewhat larger than that of the garden crocus; from this rises

the simple scape or stem of the plant, which is sheathed with the base

of the leaves. These are on long naked stalks, divided into three ovate

pointed leaflets, waved at the edges.



The juices of the Indian Turnip are hot, acrid, and of a poisonous

quality, but can be rendered useful and harmless by the action of heat;

the roots roasted in the fire are no longer poisonous. The Indian

herbalists use the Indian Turnip in medicine as a remedy in violent

colic, long experience having taught them in what manner to employ this

dangerous root.



The Arum belongs to a natural order, most plants of which contain an

acrid poison, yet under proper care can be made valuable articles of

food. Among these we may mention the roots of _Colocosia mucronatum,

Violaceum_, and others, which, under the more familiar names of EDDOES

and YAMS, are in common use in tropical countries.



The juice of _Arum triphyllum_, our Indian Turnip, has been used, boiled

in milk, as a remedy for consumption.



Portland sago is prepared from the larger species, _Arum macultum_,

Spotted Arum. The corm, or root, yields a fine, white, starchy powder,

similar to Arrow-root, and is prepared much in the same way as potato

starch. The pulp, after being ground or pounded, is thrown into clean

water and stirred; the water, after settling, is poured off, and the

white sediment is again submitted to the same process until it becomes

quite pure, and is then dried. A pound of this starch may be made from a

peck of the roots. The roots should be dried in sand before using. Thus

purified and divested of its poisonous qualities, the powder so procured

becomes a pleasant and valuable article of food, and is sold under the

name of Portland Sago, or Portland Arrow-root.



When deprived of the poisonous acrid juices that pervade them, all our

known species may be rendered valuable both as food and medicine; but

they should not be employed without care and experience. The writer

remembers, not many years ago, several children being poisoned by the

leaves of Arum triphyllum being gathered and eaten as greens in one of

the early-settled back townships of Western Canada. The same deplorable

accident happened by ignorant persons gathering the leaves of the

Mandrake or May Apple (_Podophyllin pedatum_).



There seems in the vegetable world, as well as in the moral, two

opposite principles, the good and the evil. The gracious God has given

to man the power, by the cultivation of his intellect, to elicit the

good and useful, separating it from the vile and injurious, thus turning

that into a blessing which would otherwise be a curse.



"The Arum family possess many valuable medicinal qualities," says Dr.

Charles Lee, in his valuable work on the medicinal plants of North

America, "but would nevertheless become dangerous poisons in the hands

of ignorant persons."



The useful Cassava, (_Zanipha Manipor_), of the West Indies and tropical

America, is another remarkable instance of art over-coming nature, and

obtaining a positive good from that which in its natural state is evil.

The cassava, from the flour of which the bread made by the natives is

manufactured, being the starchy parts of a poisonous plant of the

Euphorbia family, the milky juice of which is highly acrid and

poisonous. The pleasant and useful article sold in the shops under the

name of tapioca is also made from the Cassava root.









NAT. ORD. ORCHIDACE.



=Showy Orchis.=



_Orchis Spectabilis._



    "Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

     The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;

     Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,

     And waste its sweetness on the desert air."



                                 GRAY.





Deep hidden in the damp recesses of the leafy woods, many a rare and

precious flower of the Orchis family blooms, flourishes, and decays,

unseen by human eye, unsought by human hand, until some curious,

flower-loving botanist plunges amid the rank, tangled vegetation, and

brings beauties to the light.



One of these beautiful Orchids, the _Orchis spectabile_ or SHOWY ORCHIS,

is here presented in our group.



This pretty plant is not, indeed, of very rare occurrence; its locality

is rich maple and beechen woods all through Canada. The colour of the

flower is white, shaded, and spotted with pink or purplish lilac; the

corolla is what is termed ringent or throated, the upper petals and

sepals arching over the hollow lower-lipped petal. The scape is smooth

and fleshy, terminating in a loosely-flowered and many-bracted spike;

the bracts are dark-green, sharp-pointed, and leafy; the root a bundle

of round white fibres; the leaves, two in number, are large, blunt,

oblong, shining, smooth, and oily, from three to five inches long, one

larger than the other. The flowering time of the species is May and

June.



Our forest glades and boggy swamps hide many a rare and precious flower

known but to few; among some of the most beautiful of this interesting

group of plants, we might direct attention to the elegant and rare

Calypso borealis, Pogonia triphoria, and Pogonia pendula. The beautiful

Grass Pink, _Calopogon pulchellus_, with many others of the Orchidace

tribe, may be regarded as flower gems to be prized alike for their

exquisite forms and colouring as for their scarcity.



These lovely Orchids, transplanted to the greenhouse or conservatory,

would be regarded as objects of great interest, but are rarely seen and

little valued by the careless passer-by, if he chances upon them in

their forest haunts.









GRAY.                             NAT. ORD. SOROPHULARIA.



=Painted Cup, Scarlet Cup.=



_Castillia Coccinea._



                     Scarlet tufts

    Are glowing in the green like flakes of fire;

    The wanderers of the prairie know them well,

    And call that brilliant flower the Painted Cup.



                                   BRYANT.





This splendidly-coloured plant is the glory and ornament of the

plain-lands of Canada. The whole plant is a glow of scarlet, varying

from pale flame-colour to the most vivid vermillion, rivalling in

brilliancy of hues the scarlet geranium of the greenhouse.



The Painted Cup owes its gay appearance not to its flowers, which are

not very conspicuous at a distance, but to the deeply-cut leafy tracts

that enclose them and clothe the stalks, forming at the ends of the

flower branches clustered rosettes. (See our artist's plate.)



The flower is a flattened tube, bordered with bright red, and edged with

golden yellow. Stamens, four; pistil, one, projecting beyond the tube of

the calix; the capsule is many seeded. The radical or root leaves are of

a dull, hoary green, tinged with reddish purple, as also is the stem,

which is rough, hairy, and angled. The bracts, or leafy appendages,

which appear on the _lower_ part of the stalk, are but slightly tinged

with scarlet, but the colour deepens and brightens towards the middle

and summit of the branched stem.



The Scarlet Cup appears in May, along with the smaller white and red

trilliums; but these early plants are small; the stem simple, rarely

branched, and the colour of a deeper red. As the summer advances, our

gallant soldier-like plant puts on all its bravery of attire. All

through the glowing harvest months, the open grassy plains and the

borders of the cultivated fields are enriched by its glorious colours.

In favourable soils the plant rises, enclosed in a tubular _slightly_

twice-cleft calyx, of a pale green colour, attains a height of from 2ft.

4in., throwing out many side branches, terminated by the clustered,

brilliantly-tinted bracts; some heads being as large as a medium-sized

rose. They have been gathered in the corners of the stubble fields on

the cultivated plains, as late as October. A not uncommon slender

variety occurs of a pale buff, and also of a bright lemon colour. The

American botanists speak of _Castillia coccinea_, as being addicted to

a low, wettish soil, but it is not so with our Canadian plant; if you

would find it in its greatest perfection, you must seek it on the high,

dry, rolling plains of Rice-lake, Brantford, to the north of Toronto,

Stoney lake, the neighbourhood of Peterboro, and similar localities; it

is neither to be found in swamps nor in the shade of the uncleared

forest.



For soil, the Scarlet Cup seems to prefer light loam, and evidently

courts the sunshine rather than the shade. If it could be prevailed upon

to flourish in our garden borders, it would be a great acquisition, from

its long flowering time and its brilliant colouring.



These lovely plants, like many others that adorn our Canadian woods and

wilds, yearly disappear from our midst, and soon we shall seek them, but

not find them.



We might say with the poet:



    "'Twas pity nature brought ye forth,

        Merely to show your worth,

          And lose ye quite!

      But ye have lovely leaves, where we

        May read how soon things have

        Their end, though ne'er so brave;

      And after they have shewn their pride,

        Like you awhile they glide

          Into the grave.



                         HERRICK."









NAT. ORD. COMPOSIT.



=Cone Flower.=



_Rudbckia fulgida._





The Cone Flower is one of the handsomest of our rayed flowers. The

gorgeous flaming orange dress, with the deep purple disk of almost

metallic lustre, is one of the ornaments of all our wild open

prairies-like plains during the hot months of July, August and

September. We find the Cone-Flower on the sunny spots among the wild

herbage of grassy thickets, associated with the wild Sunflowers, Asters

and other plants of the widely diffused Composite Order.



During the harvest months, when the more delicate spring flowers are

ripening their seed, our heat-loving Rudbckias, Chrysanthemums,

Sunflowers, Coreopsises, Ox-eyes, and Asters, are lifting their starry

heads to greet the light and heat of the sun's ardent rays, adorning the

dry wastes, gravelly and sandy hills, and wide grassy plains, with their

gay blossoms;



    "Bright flowers that linger as they fall,

            Whose last are dearest."



Many of these compound flowers possess medicinal qualities. Some, as the

thistle, dandelion, wild lettuce, and others, are narcotic, being

supplied with an abundance of bitter milky juice. The Sunflower,

Coreopsis, Cone-flower, Tagweed, and Tansy, contain resinous properties.



The beautiful Aster family, if not remarkable for any peculiarly useful

qualities, contains many highly ornamental plants. Numerous species of

these charming flowers belong to our Canadian flora; lingering with us



    "When fairer flowers are all decayed,"



brightening the waste places and banks of lakes and lonely streams with

starry flowery of every hue and shade--white, pearly blue, and deep

purple; while the Solidagoes (Aaron's rod), are celebrated for the

valuable dyes that are yielded by their deep golden blossoms. But to

return to the subject of our artist's plate, the Cone Flower.



The plant is from one to three feet in height, the stem simple, or

branching, each branchlet terminating in a single head. The rays are of

a deep orange colour, varying to yellow; the leaves broadly lanceolate,

sometimes once or twice lobed, partly clasping the rough, hairy stem,

hoary and of a dull green, few and scattered. The scales of the chaffy

disk are of a dark, shining purple, forming a somewhat depressed cone.

This species, with a slenderer-stemmed variety, with rays of a golden

yellow, are to be met with largely diffused over the Province.



Many splendid species of the Cone Flower are to be found in the

wide-spread prairies of the Western States, where their brilliant starry

flowers are mingled with many a gay blossom known only to the wild

Indian hunter, and the herb-seeking medicine men of the native tribes,

who know their medicinal and healing qualities, if they are insensible

to their outward beauties.





[Illustration: Plate II]









NAT. ORD. ERICACE--SUB. ORD. PYROLE



=Sweet Wintergreen.=



_Pyrola ellptica._





The familiar name "Wintergreen" is applied by the Canadians to many

species of dwarf evergreen plants without any reference to their natural

affinities. The beautiful family of Pyrolas share this name in common

with many other charming forest flowers in reference to their evergreen

habit.



Every member of this interesting family is worthy of special notice.

Elegant in form and colouring, of a delicate fragrance and enduring

verdure, they add to their many attractions the merit of being almost

the first green thing to refresh the eye long wearied by gazing on the

dazzling snow for many consecutive months of winter.



As the dissolving crust disappears from the forest beneath the kindly

influence of the transient sunbeams of early spring, the deep

glossy-green shoots of the hardy Pyrolas peep forth, not timidly, as if

afraid to meet



    "The snow and blinding sleet;"



not shrinking from the chilling blast that too often nips the fair

promise of April and May, but boldly and cheerfully braving the worst

that the capricious season has in store for such early risers.



All bright, and fresh, and glossy, our Wintergreens come forth as though

they had been perfecting their toilet within the sheltering canopy of

their snowy chambers, to do honour to the new-born year just awakening

from her icy sleep.



P. ELLPTICA forms extensive beds in the forest, the roots creeping with

running subterranean shoots which send up clusters of evergreen leaves,

slightly waved and scalloped at the edges, of a deep glossy green and

thin in texture.



The name Pyrola is derived from a fancied likeness in the foliage to

that of the Pear, but this is not very obvious, nevertheless we will not

cavil at it, for it is a pretty sounding word, far better than many a

one that has been bestowed upon our showy wild flowers, in compliment to

the person that first brought them into notice.



The pale-greenish white flower of our Pyrola forms a tall terminal

raceme, the five round petals are hollow; each blossom set on a slender

pedicle, at the base of which is a small pointed bract; the anthers are

of a reddish orange colour; the stamens ascending in a cluster, while

the long style is declined, forming a figure somewhat like the letter J.

The seed vessel is ribbed berry-shaped, slightly flattened and

turbinate; when dry, the light chaffy seeds escape through valves at the

sides. The dry style in this and most of the genus remain persistent on

the capsule.



The number 5 prevails in this plant: the calyx is 5 parted; petals 5;

stamens 10, or twice five; stigma one, but 5 rayed; 5 knobs or

tubercles, at the apex; seed-vessel 5 celled and 5 valved. The flowers

are generally from 5 to 10 on the scape. Most of our Pyrolas are

remarkable for the rich fragrance of their flowers, especially _P.

rotundiflia; P. ellptica, P. incarnta_, and _P. minor_.



These flowers are, for the most part, found in rich woods; some in low

wet ground, but a few prefer the drier soil of piny forests, and one of

the finest and most fragrant of the species grows freely on grassy

uplands. The larger flowered P. rotundiflia (round-leaved Pyrola). The

exquisitely beautiful evergreen plant known by Canadian settlers as

_Prince's Pine_ is a member of the family of Pyrola.



From root to summit this plant is altogether lovely. The leaves are

dark, shining and smooth, evergreen and finely serrated; the stem of a

bright rosy-red; the delicately pink-tinted flowers look as if moulded

from wax; the anthers are of a bright amethyst-purple, set round the

emerald-green turbinated stigma. The flowers are not many, but form a

loose corymb springing from the centre of the shining green leaves.

There is scarcely a more attractive native plant than the _Chimphila

umbellta_ in our Canadian flora.



The leaves of this beautiful Wintergreen are held in high estimation by

the Indian herbalists who call it RHEUMATISM WEED, (_Pipissewa_.) It is

bitter and aromatic in quality.









NAT. ORD. ERICACE.--SUB. ORD. PYROLE.



=One Flowered Pyrola.=



_Monses uniflor._





This exquisitely scented flower is only found in the shade of the

forest, in rich black leaf mould, where, like P. ellptica, it forms

considerable beds; it is of evergreen habit. The leaves are of a dark

green and smooth surface, clustered at the base of the running

root-stock and sending up from the centre one simple scape, bearing a

gracefully nodding flower; each milk-white petal is elegantly scalloped;

the stamens, 8 to 10, are set close to the base of the petal; the

anthers are of a bright purple amethyst colour; the style straight, with

five radiating points at the extremity forming a perfect mural crown in

shape; it is of a bright green and much exceeds in length the stamen.



The scent of the flower is very fine, resembling in richness that of the

hyacinthe. This species is not common. There is another variety of the

single-flowered Pyrola that is of more frequent occurrence in our woods.

The flower is of a greenish white, the anthers of a brownish fawn

colour, the whole height of the plant scarcely exceeding four or five

inches, and the scent is less fragrant than that of the pure white

single Pyrola (_Monses uniflor_.)









NAT. ORD. ROSACE.



=Flowering Raspberry.=



_Rbus Odortus._





In English gardens our beautiful Red-Flowered, Sweet-Scented Raspberry

is deemed worthy of a place in the shrubberies, but in its native

country it is passed by because it is not an exotic, and therefore

regarded as of little worth.--Like a prophet it has no honour in its own

country.--Yet what can be more lovely than its rose-shaped blossoms,

from the deep purplish-crimson bud wrapped in its odorous mossy calyx,

to the unfolded flower of various shades of deep rose and paler reddish

lilac. The flowers of the Red Raspberry derive their pleasant aromatic

odour from the closely-set coating of short bristly glandular hairs,

each one of which is tipped with a gland of reddish hue, containing a

sweet-scented gum, as in the mossy envelope of the moss-rose of the

garden. These appendages, seen by the aid of a powerful microscope, are

objects of exquisite beauty, more admirable than rubies and diamonds,

living gems, that fill us with wonder while we gaze into their

marvellous parts and glorious colours.



All through the hot months of June, July and August, a succession of

flowers are put forth at the ends of the branches and branchlets of our

Sweet Raspberry--



    "An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds."



The shrub is from two to five feet in height, branching from the woody

perennial root-stock; the leaves are from three to five lobed, the lobes

pointed and roughly toothed. The leaves are of a dullish green, varying

in size from several inches to mere bracts. The blossoms are often as

large as those of the sweet-briar and dog-rose, but when first unfolded

more compact and cup like. The fruit consists of many small red grains,

somewhat dry and acid, scarcely tempting to the palate, but not

injurious in any degree. The shrub is more attractive, for its flowers

than its insipid fruit. We have indeed few that are more ornamental

among our native plants than the RBUS ODORTUS. Canada cannot boast of

the Rhododendrons and Azaleas that adorn the Western and Northern

States, but she possesses many attractive shrubs that are but little

known, which flourish year after year on the lonely shores of our inland

lakes and marshy beaver-meadows, Ledums and Kalmias, with many a fair

flower that withers unnoticed and uncared for in its solitary native

haunts.









VERONICA.--NAT. ORD. SCROPHULARIACE.



=Speedwell.=



AMERICAN BROOKLIME.



_Veronica Americna._



    "Flowers spring up and die ungathered."





In the language of flowers the blossoms of the Veronica or Speedwell are

said to mean undying love, or constancy, but the blossoms of the

Speedwell are fugacious, falling quickly, and therefore, one would say,

not a good emblem of endurance.



Sweet simple flowers are the wild Veronicas, chiefly inhabiting damp

overflowed ground, the borders of weedy ponds and brooks, from whence

the names of "Brooklime" and "Marsh Speedwell," "Water Speedwell," and

the like. Some of the species are indeed found mostly growing on dry

hills and grassy banks, cheering the eye of the passing traveller by its

slender spikes of azure flowers, and this is often known by the pretty

name of Forget-me-not, though it is not the true "Forget-me-not," which

is _Myosotis palustris_, also called "SCORPION-GRASS;" the derivation of

which last name we should find it difficult to trace.



The subject of the elegant little flower on the right hand side of the

plate is _Veronica Americna_--"AMERICAN BROOKLIME"--one of the

prettiest of the native Veronicas, and may easily be recognized by its

branching spikes of blue flowers, and veiny, partially heart-shaped

leaves.





[Illustration: Plate III]









NAT. ORD. LILIACE.



=Adders-Tongue=



DOG-TOOTHED VIOLET.



_Erythrnium Americnum._



    "And spotted Adders-tongue with drooping bell,

     Greeting the new-born spring."





In rich black mould, on the low banks of creeks and open woodlands,

large beds of these elegant lilies may be seen piercing the softened

ground in the month of April: the broad lanceolate leaves are

beautifully clouded with purple or reddish brown, or sometimes with

milky white. Each bulb of the _second_ year's growth produces two

leaves, and between these rises a round naked scape, (or flower stem),

terminated by a drooping yellow bell. The unfolded bud is striped with

lines of dark purple. A few hours of sunshine and warm wind soon expands

the flower, which is composed of six coloured sepals,[1] recurved which

form a lily-like turbaned flower; each segment grooved, and spotted at

the base, with oblong purplish brown dots. The outer surface of the

sepals are marked with dark lines. The stamens are six; anthers,

oblong; pollen of a brick-red, or dull orange colour, varying to yellow.

The style is club-shaped; stigmas three, united.



This elegant yellow lily bends downward when expanded, as if to hide its

glories from the full glare of the sun-light. The clouded leaves are of

an oily smoothness, resisting the moisture of rain and dew.



The name Dogs-tooth Violet seems very inappropriate. The pointed

segments of the bell may have suggested the resemblance to the tooth of

a dog, but it is difficult to trace any analogy between this flower and

the violet, no two plants presenting greater dissimilarity of form or

habit than the lily and the violet, though often blended in the verse of

the poet. The American name of the Adders-tongue is more significant.[2]



The White Flowered Adders-tongue grows, it has been said, in the more

western portion of Canada, on the shores of Lake Huron, probably the

_Erythrnium lbidum_ of Gray.









SUB ORD. TRILLIACE--(TRILLIUM FAMILY.)



=White Trillium.=



DEATH FLOWER.



_Trillium Grandiflrum._



    "And spotless lilies bend the head

     Low to the passing gale."





Nature has scattered with no niggardly hand these remarkable flowers

over hill and dale, wide shrubby plain and shady forest glen. In deep

ravines, on rocky islets, the bright snow white blossoms of the

Trilliums greet the eye and court the hand to pluck them. The old people

in this part of the Province call them by the familiar name of Lily.

Thus we have _Asphodel Lilies, Douro Lilies, &c._ In Nova Scotia they

are called Moose-flowers, probably from being abundant in the haunts of

Moose-deer. In some of the New England States the Trilliums, white and

red, are known as the _Death-flower_, but of the origin of so ominous a

name we have no record. We might imagine it to have originated in the

use of the flower to deck the coffin or graves of the dead in the olden

times. The pure white blossoms of T. nivle, T. crnuum (nodding

Trillium) and T. grandiflrum, might serve not inappropriately for

emblems of innocence and purity, when laid upon the breast of the early

dead. The darker and more sanguine hue of the red species, T. _sessile_,

and T. _recurvtum_, might have been selected for such as fell by

violence, but these are but conjecture. A prettier name has been given

to the Nodding Trillium: that of "Smiling Wake-robin," which seems to be

associated with the coming of the cheerful chorister of early spring,

"The household bird with the red stomacher," as Bishop Carey calls the

robin red-breast. The botanical name of the Trillium is derived from

trilex, triple, all the parts of the plant being in threes. Thus we see

the round fleshy scape furnished with three large sad green leaves,

closely set round the stem; two or three inches below the flower; which

is composed of a calyx of _three_ sepals, a corolla of _three_ large

snow white, or, else, chocolate red petals: the styles or stigmas

_three_; ovary _three_ celled; stamens _six_, which is a reproduction of

three. The white fleshy tuberous root is much used by the American

School of Medicine in various diseases, also by the Indian herb doctors.



_Trillium grandiflrum_ is the largest and most showy of the white

species. _Trillium nivle_ or "lesser snowy Trillium," is the smallest;

this last blooms _early_ in May. May and June are the months in which

these flowers appear. The white flowered trilliums are subject to many

varieties, and accidental alterations. The green of the sepals is often

transferred to the white petals in T. nivle; some are found handsomely

striped with red and green, and in others the very short foot-stalk of

the almost sessile leaves are lengthened into long petioles. The large

White Trillium is changed previous to its fading to a dull reddish

lilac.



The Red Trilliums are rich but sombre in colour, the petals are

longish-ovate, regular, not waved, and the pollen is of a greyish dusty

hue, while that of the White species is bright orange-yellow. The leaves

are of a dark lurid green, the colouring matter of the petals seems to

pervade the leaves; and here, let me observe, that the same remark may

be made of many other plants. In purple flowers we often perceive the

violet hue to be perceptible in the stalk and under part of the leaves,

and sometimes in the veins and roots. Red flowers again show the same

tendency in stalk and veins.



The Blood-root in its early stage of growth shews the Orange juice in

the stem and leaves, so does the Canadian Balsam, and many others; that,

a little observation will point out. The colouring matter of flowers has

always been, more or less, a mystery to us: that light is one of the

great agents can hardly for a moment be doubted, but something also may

depend upon, the peculiar quality of the juices that fill the tissues of

the flower, and on the cellular tissue itself. Flowers deprived of light

we know are pallid and often colourless, but how do we account for the

deep crimson of the beet-root, the rose-red of the radish, the orange of

the rhubarb, carrot, and turnip, which roots, being buried in the earth,

are not subject to the solar rays? The natural supposition would be that

all roots hidden from the light would be white, but this is by no means

the case. The question is one of much interest and deserves the

attention of all naturalists, and especially of the botanical student.









NAT. ORD. RANUNCULCE.



=Rock Columbine.=



_Aquilgia Canadnsis._



    "The graceful columbine all blushing red,

     Bends to the earth her crown

     Of honey-laden bells."





This graceful flower, enlivens us all through the months of May and June

by its brilliant blossoms of deep red and golden yellow.



In general outline the Wild Columbine resembles its cultivated sisters

of the garden, but is more light and airy from its nodding habit. The

plant throws up many tall slender stalks from its centre, furnished with

leafy bracts, from which spring other light stems terminated by little

pedicels, each bearing a large drooping flower and bud which open in

succession.



The flower consists of five red sepals and five red petals; the latter

are hollowed trumpet-like at the mouth, ascending; they form

narrow-tubes, which are terminated by little round knobs filled with

honey. The delicate thready pedicels on which the blossom hangs cause it

to droop down and thus throw up the honey bearing tubes of the petals;

the little balls forming a pretty sort of floral coronet at the junction

with the stalk.



The unequal and clustered stamens, and five thready styles of the pistil

project beyond the hollow mouths of the petals, like an elegant golden

fringed tassel; the edges and interior of the petals are also of a

bright golden yellow. These gay colours are well contrasted with the

deep green of the root leaves and bracts of the flower stalks. The

bracts are lobed in two or three divisions. The larger leaves are placed

on long foot stalks, each leaf is divided into three, which are again

twice or thrice lobed, and unequally notched; the upper surface is

smooth and of a dark rich green, the under pale and whitish.



As the flowers fade the husky hollow seed pods become erect--a wise

provision in this and many other plants of drooping habits, giving the

ripening seed better access to the sun and wind and preventing them from

being prematurely scattered abroad upon the earth.



The wild Columbine is perennial and very easily cultivated. Its blossoms

are eagerly sought out by the bees and humming birds. On sunny days you

may be sure to see the latter hovering over the bright drooping bells,

extracting the rich nectar with which they are so bountifully supplied.

Those who care for bees, and love humming birds, should plant the

graceful red-flowered Columbine in their garden borders.



In its wild state it is often found growing among rocks and surface

stones, where it insinuates its roots into the clefts and hollows that

are filled with rich vegetable mould; and thus, being often seen

adorning the sterile rocks with its bright crown of waving blossoms, it

has obtained the name in some places of ROCK COLUMBINE.





[Illustration: Plate IV]









NAT. ORD. FUMARIACE.--(FUMITORY FAMILY.)



=Squirrel Corn.=



_Dicntra Canadnsis._





This graceful plant belongs to the fumitory family, of which we have

many cultivated varieties in Britain and elsewhere. Here our lovely

flower grows wild in rich black mould in the forest, and in recently

cleared spots within its protecting shadow, where its drooping bells and

rich scent have gained for it the not very inappropriate name of "WILD

HYACINTH." The common name of "Squirrel-Corn" is derived from the round

orange tubers at the roots, resembling in size and colour grains of

Indian-Corn, and from their being a favourite food with the ground

squirrel.



The blossoms are of a pellucid whiteness, sometimes tinged with reddish

lilac; they form a drooping raceme on a round smooth scape, springing

from a scaly bud; the corolla is heart shaped, composed of four petals,

in two pairs, flattened and sac-like, the tips united over the stigma,

and slightly projecting; in _D. cucullria_ assuming the likeness of the

head of a fly; the cream coloured diverging petals presenting a strong

resemblance to the deer-fly of our lakes. This very charming species is

known by the somewhat vulgar name of "BREECHES FLOWER" and "DUTCHMAN'S

BREECHES." A more descriptive name would be "FLY-FLOWER."



All the species flourish under cultivation, and become very ornamental

early border flowers; but care should be taken to plant them in rich

black vegetable mould, the native soil of their forest haunts.



Our artist has chosen the delicate rosy-tinted variety as the subject of

the left-hand flower of the plate.









=Purple Trillium.=



DEATH-FLOWER.--BIRTH-ROOT.



_Trillium erctum._



    "Bring flowers, bring flowers o'er the bier to shed

     A crown for the brow of the early dead.

     Though they smile in vain for what once was ours,

     They are love's last gift, bring flowers, bring flowers."



                                             HEMANS.





Gray and other botanical writers call this striking flower (T. erctum)

the "_Purple Trillium;_" it should rather be called RED, its hue being

decidedly more _red_ than purple, and in the New England States it is

called by the country folks, "The Red Death-Flower" in contrast to the

larger White Trillium, or "WHITE DEATH-FLOWER." For further remarks on

this singular name we refer the reader to the description of that flower

where all the native varieties of the genus are dwelt upon, including

the one now before us, which forms the central flower in the present

group, and shall merely add that like the rest of this remarkable

family, _T. erctum_ is widely spread over the whole of Canada. It

appears in the middle of May and continues blooming till June,

preferring the soil of rich shady woods.



"Few of our indigenous plants surpass the Trillium in elegance and

beauty, and they are all endowed with valuable medicinal properties. The

root of the Purple Trillium is generally believed to be the most active.

Tannin and Bitter Extract form two of its most remarkable ingredients."

So says that intelligent writer on the medicinal plants of North

America, Dr. Charles Lee. There are three of the dark flowered Trillium

enumerated by Gray, two of which appear to be common to our Canadian

soil, T. erctum and T. sessile. The latter is smaller, and often the

dull chocolate colour of the pointed petals assumes a livid greenish

hue. It is earlier in flowering, appearing at the beginning of May, at

the same time with T. nivle, the "Dwarf White" or "SNOWY TRILLIUM."



Under cultivation the flowers of all the species become very ornamental;

they require black leaf mould and moderate shade, and, if left to grow

undisturbed, increase and continue to flower, year after year, in the

borders or shrubbery.



The seeds when ripe are easily obtained; they are hard and bony, several

in each division of the three celled capsule. The roots of these plants

are thick, wrinkled, fleshy, and contain the medicinal principle

described by Dr. Lee.









NAT. ORD. GERANIACE.



=Wood Geranium.=



CRANES-BILL.



(_Gernium macultum_.)





There are but few flowers of the Cranes-bill family in Canada. The one

most worthy of notice is the Wood Geranium (_Gernium macultum_). This

is a very ornamental plant; its favourite locality is open grassy

thickets among low bushes, especially those tracts of country known as

Oak-openings, where it often reaches to the height of from 2' to 3',

throwing out many branches adorned with deep lilac flowers; the

half-opened buds are very lovely. The blossom consists of five petals,

obtuse and slightly indented on their upper margins, and are lined and

delicately veined with purple. The calyx consists of five pointed

sepals; stamens ten; the anthers are of a reddish brown; styles five,

cohering at the top. When the seed is mature these curl up bearing the

ripe brown seed adhering to the base of each one. The common name

Cranes-bill has been derived from the long grooved and stork-like beak

which supports the styles. The Greek name of the plant means a Crane.

The whole plant is more or less beset with silvery hairs. The leaves are

divided into about five principal segments: these again are lobed and

cut into sharply pointed irregularly sized teeth. The larger hairy root

leaves are often discoloured with red and purplish blotches from whence

the specific name (_macultum_), spotted, has been given by botanists to

this species.



The flower stem is much branched and furnished with leafy bracts; the

principal flowers are on long stalks, usually three springing from a

central branch and again subdividing into smaller branchlets terminating

in buds mostly in threes, on drooping slender pedicels; as the older and

larger blossoms fall off a fresh succession appears on the side

branches, furnishing rather smaller but equally beautiful flowers during

many weeks. Gray gives the blooming season of the Cranes-bill from April

to July, but with us it rarely appears before June, and may be seen all

through July and August.



This Wood Geranium is a beautiful species, and would no doubt repay the

trouble of cultivation. Besides being very ornamental our plant

possesses virtues which are well known to the herbalist as powerful

astringents, which quality has obtained for it the name of '_Alum root_'

among the country people, who apply a decoction of the root as a styptic

for wounds; and sweetened, as a gargle for sore throats and ulcerated

mouth: it is also given to young children to correct a lax state of the

system.



Thus our plant is remarkable for its usefulness as well as for its

beauty.



A showy species, with large rose-coloured flowers and much dissected

leaves, may be found on some of the rocky islets in Stoney Lake, Ont.

The slender flower stem is about six inches in height, springing from a

leafy involucre which is cut and divided into many long and narrow

segments; flowers generally from one to three, terminal on the little

bracted-foot-stalks. The seed vessels not so long as in the Wood

Geranium.



Besides the above named we have two smaller species. The well known HERB

ROBERT--_G. robertinum_ or foetid geranium--which is said to have been

introduced from Britain, but is by no means uncommon in Canada, in half

cleared woodlands and by waysides attracting the eye by its bright-pink

flowers, and elegantly cut leaves, which becomes bright red in the fall

of the year. This pretty species is renowned for its rank and

disagreeable odour when handled.



Another small flowered specie, with pale insignificant blossoms is also

common as a weed by road sides and in open woods, probably this is _G.

pusllum_, smaller Cranes-bill; it also resembles the British plant, but

is of too frequent occurrence in remote localities to lead us to suppose

it to be otherwise than a native production of the soil.









NAT. ORD. PRIMULACE.



=Chickweed Wintergreen.=



_Trientlis._





This pretty starry-flowered little plant is remarkable for the

occurrence of the number seven in its several parts, and was for some

time regarded by botanists of the old school as the representative of

the Class Heptandria.



The calyx is seven parted; the divisions of the delicate white corolla

also seven; and the stamens seven. The leaves form a whorl at the upper

part of the stem, mostly from five to seven, or eight; the leaves are

narrow, tapering at both ends, of a delicate light-green; thin in

texture, and of a pleasant sub-acid flavour. The star-shaped flowers,

few in number, on thread-like stalks, rise from the centre of the whorl

of leaves, which thus form an involucre to the pretty delicate starry

flowers. This little plant is frequently found at the roots of

beech-trees; it is fond of shade, and in light vegetable mould forms

considerable beds; the roots are white, slender, and fibrous; it is one

of our early May flowers, though, unless the month be warm and genial,

will delay its opening somewhat later. In old times, when the herbalists

gave all kinds of fanciful names to the wild plants, they would have

bestowed such a name as "HERBE INNOCENCE" upon our modest little forest

flower.





[Illustration: Plate V]









NAT. ORD. ORCHIDACE.



=Yellow Lady's Slippers.=



_Cypripdium parviflrum and Cypripdium pubscens._



    "And golden slippers meet for Faries' feet."





This ornamental family are remarkable alike for the singular beauty of

their flowers, and the peculiar arrangement of the internal organs. In

the Linnan classification they were included in common, with all the

Orchis tribe, in the class Gynandria, but in the Natural Order of

Jussieu, which we have followed, the "Lady's Slipper" (_Cypripdium_),

forms one of the sub-orders in the general Order ORCHIDACE.



Of the two species represented in our Artist's group, the larger and

central flower is _Cypripdium pubscens_, the smaller, _C.

parviflrum_, or LESSER LADY'S SLIPPER. The latter is, perhaps, the more

elegant and graceful plant, and is also somewhat fragrant. The sepals

and petals are longer and more spiral, but the colouring of the lip is

not so rich and vivid as in the larger flower, _C. Pubscens_.



The small flowered plant affects a moist soil, such as low wet meadows

and open swampy woods; while the larger species, better known by its

more familiar name Moccasin flower, loves the open woodlands and drier

plains; where, in the month of June, it may be seen beside the gay

Painted Cup (_Castillia coccne_), the Blue Lupine (_L. pernnis_),

the larger White Trillium, and other lovely wild flowers, forming a

charming contrast to their various colours and no less varied forms.



The stem of the larger Moccasin flower is thick and leafy, each bright

green, many-nerved leaf sheathing the flowers before they open. The

flowers are from one to three in number; bent forward; drooping

gracefully downwards. The golden sac-like lip is elegantly striped and

spotted with ruby red; the twisted narrow petals, and sepals, two in

number of each kind, are of a pale fawn colour, sometimes veined and

lined with a deeper shade. Like many others of the genus, the organs of

the flower assume a singular and grotesque resemblance to the face of

some animal. On lifting up the fleshy petal-like middle lobe which

protects the stamens and pistil, the face of an Indian hound may be

imagined; the stamens, which are two in number, situated one on either

side of the sterile depressed central lobe, when the flower is mature,

turn of a deep brown, and resemble two round eyes; the blunt stigma

takes the form of the nose, while the sepals look like ears. There is

something positively comical in the appearance of the ape-like face of

_C. spectbile_, the beautiful showy Lady's Slipper, the description of

which will be found to face the plate in which it forms a prominent

feature.



The most beautiful of all the species is the "STEMLESS LADY'S SLIPPER,"

_Cypripdium Acalee_, of which we will treat at some future time. It

bears removal to the garden if planted in a suitable situation; but all

these native flowers require attention to their peculiar habits and

soil, or they will disappoint the expectation of the cultivator and end

in failure. All wild flowers transplanted from the woods require shade,

and bog plants both moisture and shade.









NAT. ORD. IRIDACE.



=Large Blue Flag.=



_Iris Verscolor. Fleur-de-luce._



    Lilies of all kinds,

    The fleur-de-luce being one.



                         WINTER'S TALE.





This beautiful flower, the blue Iris, which forms the left hand figure

in the group of Moccasin flowers, abounds all through Canada, and forms

one of the ornaments of our low sandy flats, marshy meadows and

overflowed lake shores; it delights in wet muddy soil, and often forms

large clumps of verdure in half-dried up ponds and similar localities.

Early in spring, as soon as the sun has warmed the waters after the

melting of the ice, the sharp sword-shaped leaves escaping from the

sheltering sheath that enfolded them, pierce the moist ground, and

appear, forming beds of brilliant verdure, concealing the swampy soil

and pools of stagnant water below. Late in the month of June the

bursting buds of rich purple begin to unfold, peeping through the spathe

that envelopes them. A few days of sunshine, and the graceful petals, so

soft and silken in texture, so variable in shades of colour, unfold: the

three outer ones reflexed, droop gracefully downwards, while the three

innermost, which are of paler tint, sharper and stiffer, stand erect

and conceal the stamens and petal-like stigmas, which lie behind them:

an arrangement so suitable for the preservation of the fructifying

organs of the flower, that we cannot fail to behold in it the wisdom of

the great Creator. The structure of the cellular tissue in most water

plants, and the smooth oily surface of their leaves, has also been

provided as a means of throwing off the moisture to which their place of

growth must necessarily expose them; but for this wise provision, which

keeps the surface dry though surrounded with water, the plants would

become overcharged with moisture and rot and decay too rapidly to

perfect the ripening of their seeds--a process often carried on at the

bottom of streams and lakes, as in the case of the Pond-lily and other

aquatics. Our blue Iris, however, does not follow this rule, being only

partly an aquatic, but stands erect and ripens the large bony,

three-sided seeds in a three-sided membraneous pod. The hard seeds of

the _Iris verscolor_ have been roasted and used as a substitute for

coffee. The root, which is creeping, fleshy and tuberous, is possessed

of medicinal qualities.



At present we know of only two varieties of the Iris. _Iris verscolor_,

and a tall slender variety with paler blue flowers and rounder scapes.

The former is the handsomer flower, being beautifully varied with

lighter and darker shades of blue, purple and yellow--the latter shade

being at the base of the flower leaves. These are again veined with

delicate lines and veinings of darker purple.



The name IRIS, as applied to this genus, was bestowed upon it by the

ancient Greeks, ever remarkable for their appreciation of the beautiful,

on account of the rainbow tinted hues displayed in the flowers of many

of the species; especially are the prismatic colours shown in the

flowers of the large pearly white garden Iris, a plant of Eastern

origin, and also in the Persian or Susian Iris.



The Fleur-de-lis, as it was formerly written, signified whiteness or

purity. This was changed to Fleur-de-luce, a corruption of

Fleur-de-Louis. The blossoms of the plant having been selected by Louis

the Seventh of France as his heraldic bearing in the Holy Wars. The

flowers of the Iris have ever been favourites with the poet, the

architect, and sculptor, as many a fair specimen wrought in stone and

marble, or carved in wood, can testify.



The Fleur-de-lis is still the emblem of France.



Longfellow's stanzas to the Iris are very characteristic of that

graceful flower:



    Beautiful lily--dwelling by still river,

          Or solitary mere,

    Or where the sluggish meadow brook delivers

          Its waters to the weir.



    The wind blows, and uplifts thy drooping banner,

          And around thee throng and run

    The rushes, the green yeomen of thy manor--

          The outlaws of the sun.



    O fleur-de-luce, bloom on, and let the river

          Linger to kiss thy feet;

    O flower of song, bloom on, and make forever

          The world more fair and sweet.









NAT. ORD. ERICACE.



=Small Cranberry.=



_Vaccnium Oxycccus._



    There's not a flower but shews some touch

    In freckle, freck or stain,

    Of His unrivalled pencil.



                    HEMANS.





There is scarcely to be found a lovelier little plant than the common

marsh Cranberry. It is of a trailing habit, creeping along the ground,

rooting at every joint, and sending up little leafy upright stems, from

which spring long slender thready pedicels, each terminated by a

delicate peach-blossom tinted flower, nodding on the stalk, so as to

throw the narrow pointed petals upward. The leaves are small, of a dark

myrtle-green, revolute at the edges, whitish beneath, unequally

distributed along the stem. The deep crimson smooth oval berries are

collected by the squaws and sold at a high price in the fall of the

year.



There are extensive tracts of low, sandy, swampy flats in various

portions of Canada, covered with a luxuriant growth of low Cranberries.

These spots are known as _Cranberry Marshes_; these places are generally

overflowed during the spring; many interesting and rare plants are found

in these marshes with mosses and lichens not to be found elsewhere, low

evergreens of the heath family, and some rare plants belonging to the

Orchidaceous tribes, such as the beautiful Grass-pink, (_Calopgon

pulchllus_) and Calpso borealis.



Not only is the fruit of the low Cranberry in great esteem for tarts and

preserves, but it is considered to possess valuable medicinal

properties, having been long used in cancerous affections as an outward

application--the berries in their uncooked state are acid and powerfully

astringent.



This fruit is successfully cultivated for market in many parts of the

Northern States of America, and is said to repay the cost of culture in

a very profitable manner.



So much in request as Cranberries are for household use, it seems

strange that no enterprising person has yet undertaken to supply the

markets of Canada. In suitable soil the crop could hardly prove a

failure, with care and attention to the selection of the plants at a

proper season.



The Cranberry forms one of the sub-orders of the heath family

(Ericace), nor are its delicate pink-tinted flowers less beautiful than

many of the exotic plants of that tribe, which we rear with care and

pains in the greenhouse and conservatory; yet, growing in our midst as

it were, few persons that luxuriate in the rich preserve that is made

from the ripe fruit, have ever seen the elegant trailing-plant, with its

graceful blossoms and myrtle-like foliage.



The botanical name is of Greek origin, from oxus, sour, and coccus, a

berry. The plant thrives best in wet sandy soil and low mossy marshes.





[Illustration: Plate VI]









NAT. ORD. LILIACE--(GRAY.)



=Wild Orange Lily.=



_Llium Philadlphicum._



     "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,

     neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all

     his glory was not arrayed like one of these."





The word Lily is derived from the Celtic, which signifies _li_,

whiteness; also from the Greek, _lirion_. Probably the stately Lily of

the garden, _Llium candidum_, was the flower to which the name was

first given; from its ivory whiteness and the exquisite polish of its

petals. However that may be, the name LILY is ever associated in our

minds with grace and purity, and reminds us of the Saviour of men, who

spake of the lilies of the field, how they grew and flourished beneath

the care of Him who clothed them in robes of beauty more gorgeous than

the kingly garments of Royal Solomon.



Sir James Smith, one of the most celebrated of English botanists,

suggests that the lilies alluded to by our Lord may have been _Amaryllis

Lutea_, or the Golden Lily of Palestine--the bright yellow blossoms of a

plant which abounds in the fields of Judea, and at that moment probably

caught his eye; their glowing colour aptly illustrating the subject on

which he was about to speak.



The Lily has a wide geographical range, and may be found in some form in

every clime.



There are Lilies that bloom within the cold influence of the frigid

zone, as well as the more brilliant species that glow beneath the

blazing suns of the equator in Africa and Southern Asia.



Dr. Richardson mentions, in his list of Arctic plants, _Llium

Philadlphicum_, our own gorgeous orange (or rather scarlet-spotted

Lily.) He remarks that it is called by the Esquimaux "MOUSE-ROOT," from

the fact that it is much sought after by the field mice, which feed upon

the root. The porcupine also digs for it in the sandy soil in which it

delights to grow.



In Kamtschatka the _Lillium_ pomponium is used by the natives as an

article of food; and in Muscovy the white Narcissus is roasted as a

substitute for bread.



The healing qualities of the large white Lily roots and leaves are well

known, applied in the form of a poultice to sores and boils. Thus are

beauty and usefulness united in this most attractive plant.



The subject of our artist's pencil, the ORANGE LILY, is widely spread

over this portion of the American continent, as well as in the more

sunny Western States of North America.



We find it, however, more frequently growing on open plain-lands, where

the soil is sandy loam. In partially shaded grassy thickets in

oak-openings, in the months of June and July, it may be seen mixed with

the azure blue Lupine (_Lupine pernnis_), the golden flowered Moccasin

(_Cypripdium pubscens, Pyrola rotundiflia_,) the large sweet-scented

Wintergreen, and other charming summer flowers. Among these our gay and

gorgeous Lily stands conspicuous.



The stem is from 18" to 2' high. The leaves are narrow-pointed; of a

dark green colour, growing in whorls at intervals round the stem. The

flowers are from 1-3'; large open bells, of a rich orange-scarlet

within, spotted with purplish-brown or black. The outer surface of the

petals is pale orange; anthers six, on long filaments; pollen of a brick

red, or brown colour; stigma three cleft. The Lily belongs to the

artificial class and order, _Hexandria monogynia_.



Many flowers increase in beauty of colour and size under cultivation in

our gardens, but our glorious Lily can hardly be seen to greater

advantage than when growing wild on the open plains and prairies, under

the bright skies of its native wilderness.









NAT. ORD. CAMPNULACE.



=Canadian Harebell.=



_Campnula Rotundiflia._



    "With drooping bells of purest blue

     Thou didst attract my childish view,

           Almost resembling

     The azure butterflies that flew

     Where 'mid the heath thy blossoms grew,

           So lightly trembling."





The same charming writer has also called the Harebell "the Flower of

Memory," and truly the sight of these fair flowers, when found in lonely

spots in Canada, has carried one back in thought to the wild heathery

moors or sylvan lanes of the mother country.



    "I think upon the heathery hills

       I ae hae lo'ed sae dearly;

     I think upon the wimpling burn

       That wandered by sae clearly."



But sylvan wooded lanes, and heathery moorlands are not characters of

our Canadian scenery, and if we would seek the Harebell, we shall find

it on the dry gravelly banks of lakes or rivers, or rocky islets, for

these are its native haunts.



Although, in colour and shape of the blossom, the Canadian flower

resembles the British one, it is more robust in its growth, less

fragile--the flower stems being stouter, and the foot-stalk or pedicel

stiffer and less pendulous, and yet sufficiently graceful. The root

leaves, which are not very conspicuous during its flowering season, are

round, heart-shaped. Those of the flower-stem are numerous, narrow and

pointed. This pretty flower is variable in colour and foliage. Its

general flowering season is July and August.



The corolla is bell-shaped or campanulate; 5 cleft; calyx lobes, awl

shaped, persistent on the seed vessel; stamens 5, style 1, stigmas 2;

seed vessel several celled and many seeded; in height the plant varies

from a few inches to a foot; number of flowers varying from a few to

many.



We have but three known species in Canada, Campnula Americna, "a large

handsome species being found in Western Canada;"[3] and _C.

aparinodes_. The rough-leaved Bellflower is found in thickets where the

soil is poor but the atmosphere moist; it is of a climbing or rather

clinging habit; the weak slender stem, many branched, laying hold of the

grasses and low shrubs that surround it for support, which its rough

teeth enable it to do very effectually; in habit it resembles the

smaller Glium, or Lady's bed-straw. The delicate bell-shaped flowers

are marked with fine purple lines within, at the base of the white

corolla. The leaves of this species are narrow-linear, rough, with

minutely-toothed hairs; the flowers are few, and fade very quickly. The

name campnula is from campna, a bell.



The Harebell has often formed the theme of our modern poets, as

illustrative of grace and lightness. In the Lady of the Lake we have

this pretty couplet when describing Ellen:



    "E'en the light Harebell raised its head

     Elastic from her airy tread."



Our Artist has availed herself of the Canadian Harebell to give airy

lightness to her group of native flowers.









NAT. ORD. ORCHIDACE.



=Showy Lady's Slipper.=



_Cypripdium Spectbile._



(MOCCASIN FLOWER.)



    But ye have lovely leaves, where we

    May see how soon things have

    Their end, tho' ne'er so brave;

    And after they have bloomed awhile,

    Like us, they sink

              Into the grave.



                         HERRICK.





Among the many rare and beautiful flowers that adorn our native woods

and wilds, few, if any, can compare with the lovely plants belonging to

the family to which the central flower of our Artist's group belongs.

Where all are so worthy of notice it was difficult to make a choice;

happily there is no rivalry to contend with in the case of our Artist's

preferences.



There are two beautiful varieties of the species, the pink and white,

and purple and white Lady's Slipper (Cypripdium spectbile), better

known by the familiar local name of Moccasin-Flower, a name common in

this country to all the plants of this family.



Whether we regard these charming flowers for the singularity of their

form, the exquisite texture of their tissues, or the delicate blending

of their colours, we must acknowledge them to be altogether lovely and

worthy of our admiration.



The subject of the figure in our plate is the Pink-flowered Moccasin; it

is chiefly to be found in damp ground, in tamarack swamps, and near

forest creeks, where, in groups of several stems, it appears, showing

its pure blossoms among the rank and coarser herbage. The stem rises to

the height of from 18" 2' high. The leaves, which are large, ovate, many

nerved and plaited, sheathing at the base, clothe the fleshy stem, which

terminates in a single sharp-pointed bract above the flower. The flowers

are terminal, from one to three, rarely more; though in the large purple

and white Lady's Slipper, the older and stronger plants will

occasionally throw out three or four blossoms. This variety is found on

the dry plain-lands, in grassy thickets, among the oak openings above

Rice lake, and eastward on the hills above the River Trent. This is most

likely the plant described by Gray; the soil alone being different. The

unfolded buds of this species are most beautiful, having the appearance

of slightly flattened globes of delicately-tinted primrose coloured

rice-paper.



The large sac-like inflated lip of our Moccasin flower is slightly

depressed in front, tinged with rosy pink and striped. The pale thin

petals and sepals, two of each, are whitish at first, but turn brown

when the flower is more advanced toward maturity. The sepals may be

distinguished from the petals; the former being longer than the latter,

and by being united at the back of the flower. The column on which the

stamens are placed, is three-lobed; the two anthers are placed one on

either side, under the two lobes; the central lobe is sterile, thick,

fleshy, and bent down--in our species it is somewhat blunt and

heart-shaped. The stigma is obscurely three-lobed. The root of the

Lady's Slipper is a bundle of white fleshy fibres.



One of the remarkable characteristics of the flowers of this genus, and

of many of the natural order to which it belongs, is the singular

arrangement of the organs of the blossom to the face of some animal or

insect. Thus the face of an Indian hound may be seen in the

Golden-flowered _Cypripdium pubscens_; that of a sheep or ram, with

the horns and ears, in C. arietnum; while our "SHOWY LADY'S SLIPPER,"

(_C. spectbile_,) displays the curious face and peering black eyes of

the ape.



One of the rarest and, at the same time, the most beautiful of these

flowers, is the "STEMLESS LADY'S SLIPPER," (_C. Acale_,) a figure of

which will appear in our second volume.



It is a matter of wonder and also of regret, that so few persons have

taken the trouble to seek out and cultivate the beautiful native plants

with which our country abounds, and which would fully reward them for

their pains, as ornaments to the garden-border, the shrubbery, the

rookery, or the greenhouse. Our orchidaceous plants alone would be

regarded by the foreign florist with great interest.



A time will come when these rare productions of our soil will disappear

from among us and can be found only on those waste and desolate places

where the foot of civilized man can hardly penetrate; where the flowers

of the wilderness flourish, bloom and decay unseen but by the

all-seeing eye of Him who adorns the lonely places of the earth, filling

them with, beauty and fragrance.



For whom are these solitary objects of beauty reserved? Shall we say

with Milton:--



    "Thousands of unseen beings walk this earth,

     Both while we wake and while we sleep:--

     And think though man were none,--

     That earth would want spectators--God want praise."









[Illustration: Plate VII]









NAT. ORD. ROSACE.



=Early Wild Rose.=



_Rsa Blnda._



    "Nor did I wonder at the lilies white,

     Nor praise the deep vermillion of the rose."



                         SHAKESPEARE.



    "The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem,

     For that sweet odour which in it doth live."



                         SHAKESPEARE.





Our Artist has given us in the present plate a charming specimen of one

of our native roses. The early flowering Rose (_Rsa blnda_) is hardly

so deeply tinted as our dwarf wild rose, _rsa lcida_, but both possess

attractions of colour and fragrance; qualities that have made the rose

to be the theme of many a poet's song. In the flowery language of the

East, beauty and the rose seem almost to be synonymous. The Italian

poets are full of allusions to the rose, especially to the red damask

rose, which they call "purpurea rsa."



A popular song in the days of Charles the 1st was that beginning with

the lines--



    "Gather your roses while you may,

         For time is still a flying,

     And that same flower that blooms to-day,

         To-morrow may be dying."



The leaves of rsa blnda are pale underneath; leaflets five to seven;

flowers blush-pink; stem not very prickly; fruit red and round; the bush

from one to three feet in height.



Another of our dwarf wild roses, _R. lcida_, is widely diffused over

Canada; it is found on all open plain-lands, but shuns the deep shade of

the forest.



The bark of this wild rose is of a bright red, and the young wood is

armed with bristly prickles of a greyish colour. When growing in shade,

the half opened flowers and buds are of a deep pink or carmine, but

where more exposed in sunny spots, the petals fade to a pale

blush-colour. This shrub becomes somewhat troublesome if encouraged in

the garden, from the running roots which send up many shoots. In its

wild state the dwarf rose seldom exceeds three feet in height; it is the

second and older wood that bears the flowers; the flower bearing

branches become almost smooth or only remotely thorny. The leaflets vary

in number from five to nine; they are sharply serrated at the edges, and

smooth on the surface; the globular scarlet fruit is flattened at the

eye; of a pleasant sub-acid taste.



This beautiful red-barked rose grows in great profusion on the

huckleberry plains above Rice Lake, clothing large tracts of hill and

dale, and scenting the evening air at dew-fall with its delicate

fragrance.



There is, or used to be, a delicate pale flowered briar rose, having

small foliage and numerous blossoms of a low branching habit growing in

the high oak-hills in the township of Rawdon. I have never seen the

flowers myself, but have heard the plant described as a rare species.

The SWAMP ROSE, _Rsa Carolna_, is not uncommon; it is often seen

growing at the margin of lakes and rivers, and at the edges of stony

islands; it will climb, by aid of supporting trees, to the height of

eight and ten feet. The flowers are of a somewhat purplish tinge of

pink. The leaves are whitish underneath; this rose is armed with rather

stout prickles below on the old woody stem, but smoother above; the

flowers are more clustered than in either of the other species.



The sweet briar is often found growing in waste places, and in thickets

near clearings--no doubt the seed has been carried thither by birds.



It is very possible that other varieties of the rose tribe may yet be

found native to Canadian soil, but the above named are our only known

species at present.









NAT. ORD. SCROPHULARIACE.



=Pentstmon Beard-Tongue.=



_Pentstmon pubscens._



    "Flowers spring up and die ungathered."





The wild Pentstmon is a slender, elegant branching plant, not unlike in

outline to the fox-glove. The flowers are delicately shaded from white

to pale azure-blue, sometimes varying to deeper blue. The corolla is an

inflated slender tube, somewhat flattened on the upper side, with a

rigid line passing from the base of the tube to the upper lip. There are

also two bearded lines within. The lower lip is three-cleft and slightly

projecting beyond the two-lobed upper lip; the stamens are five, but one

is sterile and thickly beset with fine white hairs (or bearded). The

name is derived from a Greek word signifying _five_. The root leaves are

broadly lanceolate and coarsely toothed; the upper or stem-leaves

narrower, and nearly clasping the stem. The flowers grow on long

branching stalks in a loose panicle.



The plant is perennial, from one to two feet in height; it seems

addicted to dry gravelly soil on river banks and dry pastures. The

Beard-tongue would be well worthy of cultivation; though less showy than

the garden varieties, it is not less beautiful and keeps in bloom a long

time, from July to September; it might be mixed with the red flowering

plants of the garden to great advantage.





[Illustration: Plate VIII]









GRAY.                                     NAT. ORD. NYMPHAC.



=Sweet Scented Water Lily.=



_Nympha Odorta._



    "Rocked gently there the beautiful Nympha

     Pillows her bright head."



                       CALENDER OF FLOWERS.





Pond-lily is the popular name by which this beautiful aquatic plant is

known, nor can we find it in our hearts to reject the name of LILY for

this ornament of our lakes. The White Nympha might indeed be termed

"Queen of the Lakes," for truly she sits in regal pride upon her watery

throne, a very queen among flowers.



Very lovely are the Water Lilies of England, but their fair sisters of

the New World excel them in size and fragrance.



Many of the tribe to which these plants belong are natives of the torrid

zone, but our White Pond-Lily (_Nympha odorata_,) and the Yellow,

(_Nphar dvena_,) and _Nphar Kalmiana_ only, are able to support the

cold winter of Canada. The depth of the water in which they grow enables

them to withstand the cold, the frost rarely penetrating to their roots,

which are rough and knotted, and often as thick as a man's wrist; white

and fleshy. The root-stock is horizontal, sending down fibrous slender

rootlets into the soft mud; the stocks that support the leaves and

blossoms are round, of an olive-green, containing open pores filled with

air, which cause them to be buoyed up in the water. These air-cells may

be distinctly seen by cutting the stems across.



The leaves of the Pond-Lily are of a full-green colour, deeply tinged

with red toward the fall of the year, so as to give a blood red tinge to

the water; they are of a large size, round kidney shaped, of leathery

texture, and highly polished surface; resisting the action of the water

as if coated with oil or varnish. Over these beds of water-lilies,

hundreds of dragon flies of every colour, blue, green, scarlet, and

bronze, may be seen like living gems flirting their pearly tinted wings

in all the enjoyment of their newly found existence; possibly enjoying

the delicious aroma from the odorous lemon scented flowers over which

they sport so gaily.



The flowers of the Pond-Lily grow singly at the summit of the round,

smooth, fleshy scape. Who that has ever floated upon one of our calm

inland lakes, on a warm July or August day, but has been tempted, at the

risk of upsetting the frail birch-bark canoe or shallow skiff, to put

forth a hand to snatch one of those matchless ivory cups that rest in

spotless purity upon the tranquil water, just rising and falling with

the movement of the stream; or have gazed with wishful and admiring eyes

into the still clear water, at the exquisite buds and half unfolded

blossoms that are springing upwards to the air and sun-light.



The hollow boat-shaped sepals of the calyx are four in number, of a

bright olive green, smooth and oily in texture. The flowers do not

expand fully until they reach the surface. The petals are numerous,

hollow (or concave), blunt, of a pure ivory white; very fragrant,

having the rich odour of freshly cut lemons; they are set round the

surface of the ovary (or seed-vessel) in regular rows, one above the

other, gradually lessening in size, till they change by imperceptible

gradation into the narrow fleshy petal-like lemon tinted anthers. The

pistil is without style, the stigma forming a flat rayed top to the

ovary, as in the poppy and many other plants.



On the approach of night our lovely water-nymph gradually closes her

petals, and slowly retires to rest within her watery bed, to rise on the

following day, to court the warmth and light so necessary for the

perfection of the embryo seed; and this continues till the fertilization

of the germ has been completed, when the petals shrink and wither, and

the seed-vessel sinks down to ripen the fruit in its secret chambers.

Thus silently and mysteriously does nature perform her wonderful work,

"sought out only by those who have pleasure therein."[4]



The roots of the Pond Lily contain a large quantity of fecula (flour),

which, after repeated washings, may be used for food; they are also made

use of in medicine, being cooling and softening; the fresh leaves are

used as good dressing for blisters.



The Lotus of Egypt belongs to this family, and not only furnishes

magnificent ornaments with which to crown the heads of their gods and

kings, but the seeds also served as food to the people in times of

scarcity. The Sacred Lotus (_Nelmbium speciosum_) was an object itself

of religious veneration to the ancient Egyptians.



The Chinese, in some places of that over-populated country, grow the

Water Lilies upon their lakes for the sake of the nourishment yielded by

the roots and seeds.



"Lotus-eaters," says that valuable writer on the Medical Botany of

America, Dr. Charles Lee, "not only abound in Egypt, but all over the

East." "The large fleshy roots of the _Nelmbium lteum_, or great

Yellow Water Lily, found in our North American lakes, resembles the

Sweet Potato (_Battas dulis_), and by some of the natives are esteemed

equally agreeable and wholesome," observes the same author, "being used

as food by the Indians, as well as some of the Tartar tribes."



As yet little value has been attached to this charming plant the White

Pond Lily, because its uses have been unknown. It is one of the

privileges of the botanist and naturalist to lay open the vegetable

treasures that are so lavishly bestowed upon us by the bountiful hand of

the Great Creator.









=Yellow Pond Lily.=



_Nphar dvena._



(SPATTER DOCK.)



    And there the bright Nympha loves to lave,

    And spreads her golden orbs along the dimpling wave.





The Yellow Pond Lily is often found growing in extensive beds, mingled

with the White, and though it is less graceful in form, there is yet

much to admire in its rich orange-coloured flowers, which appear at a

little distance like balls of gold floating on the still waters. The

large hollow petal-like sepals that surround the flower, are finely

clouded with dark red on the outer side, but of a deep yellow orange

within, as also are the strap-like petals and stamens: the stigma, or

summit of the pistil, is flat, and 12-24 rayed. The leaves are

dark-green, scarcely so large as those of the White Lily, floating on

long thick fleshy stalks, flattened on the inner side, and rounded

without. The botanical name Nphar is derived, says Gray, from the

Arabic word _Neufar_, signifying Pond Lily.



Our Artist has closely followed nature's own arrangements by grouping

these beautiful water plants together.



Where there is a deep deposit of mud in the shallows of still waters we

frequently find many different species of aquatics growing

promiscuously. The tall lance-like leaf and blue-spiked heads of the

stately Pontedria, keeping guard as it were above the graceful Nympha,

like a gallant knight with lance in rest, ready to defend his queen, and

around these the fair and delicate white flowers of the small arrow-head

rest their frail heads upon the water, looking as if the slightest

breeze that ruffled its surface would send them from their place of

rest.



Beyond this aquatic garden lie beds of wild rice [Ziznia aqutica] with

its floating leaves of emerald green, and waving grassy flowers of straw

colour and purple--while nearer to the shore the bright rosy tufts of

the Water Persicria, with its dark-green leaves and crimson stalks,

delight the eyes of the passer-by.





[Illustration: Plate IX]









NAT. ORD. SARRACENIACE.



=Pitcher Plant.=



(SOLDIER'S DRINKING CUP.)



_Sarracnia Purpurea._





Even the most casual observer can hardly pass a bed of these most

remarkable plants without being struck by their appearance, indeed, from

root to flower, it is every way worthy of our notice and admiration.



The Pitcher Plant is by no means one of those flowers found singly and

in inaccessible bogs and dense cedar-swamps, as are some of our rare and

lovely Orchids. In almost any grassy swamp, at the borders of low lying

lakes, and beaver-meadows, often in wet spongy meadows, it may be found

forming large beds of luxuriant growth.



When wet with recent showers or glistening with dew-drops, the rich

crimson veinings of the broadly scalloped lip of the tubular leaf (which

is thickly beset with fine stiff silvery hairs,) retaining the moisture,

shine and glisten in the sun-light.



The root is thick, solid, and fibrous. The tubular leaves are of a

reddish tinge on the outer and convex side, but of a delicate

light-green within. The texture is soft, smooth, and leathery; the base

of the leaf, at the root, is narrow and pipe-stem like, expanding into a

large hollow receptacle, capable of containing a wine-glass full of

liquid; even in dry seasons this cup is rarely found empty. The hollow

form of the leaves, and the broad ewer-like lips, have obtained for the

plant its local and wide spread-name of "Pitcher Plant," and "Soldier's

Drinking Cup." The last name I had from a poor old emigrant pensioner,

when he brought me a specimen of the plant from the banks of a half

dried up lake, near which he was located: "Many a draft of blessed water

have we poor soldiers had when in Egypt out of the leaves of a plant

like this, and we used to call them the 'Soldier's Drinking Cup.'"



Most probably the plant that afforded the _blessed water_ to the poor

thirsty soldiers was the _Nepenth distillari_, which plant is found in

Egypt and other parts of Africa. Perhaps there are but few among the

inhabitants of this well-watered country that have as fully appreciated

the value of the PITCHER PLANT as did our poor uneducated Irish

pensioner, who said that he always thought that God in His goodness had

created the plant to give drink to such as were athirst on a hot and

toilsome march; and so he looked with gratitude and admiration on its

representative in Canada. Many a lesson may we learn from the lips of

the poor and the lowly.



Along the inner portion of the leaf there is a wing or flap which adds

to its curious appearance: from this section of the leaf has arisen the

somewhat inappropriate name of "_Side-Saddle Flower_." The evident use

of this appendage is to contract the inner side of the leaf, and to

produce a corresponding rounding of the outer portion, which is thus

thrown back, and enables the moisture more readily to fill the cup.

Quantities of small flies, beetles, and other insects, enter the

pitcher, possibly for shelter, but are unable to effect a return, owing

to the reflexed bristly hairs that line the upper part of the tube and

lip, and thus find a watery grave in the moisture that fills the hollow

below.



The tall stately flower of the Pitcher Plant is not less worthy of our

attention than the curiously formed leaves. The smooth round simple

scape rises from the centre of the plant to the height of 18" 2'. The

flower is single and terminal, composed of 5 sepals, with three little

bracts; 5 blunt broad petals of a dull purplish-red colour, sometimes

red and light-yellowish green; and in one variety the petals are mostly

of a pale-green hue, and there is an absence of the crimson veins in the

leafage. The petals are incurved or bent downwards towards the centre.

The stamens are numerous. The ovary is 5-celled, and the style is

expanded at the summit into a 5 angled, 5 rayed umbrella-like hood,

which conceals beneath it 5 delicate rays, each terminating in a little

hooked stigma. The capsule or seed vessel is 5-celled and 5-valved;

seeds numerous.



I have been more minute in the description of this interesting plant,

because much of its peculiar organization is hidden from the eye, and

cannot be recognized in a drawing, unless a strictly botanical one, with

all its interior parts dissected, and because the Pitcher Plant has

lately attracted much attention by its reputed medicinal qualities in

cases of small-pox, that loathsome scourge of the human race. A

decoction from the root of this plant has been said to lessen all the

more violent symptoms of the disorder. If this be really so, its use and

application should be widely spread; fortunately, the remedy would be in

the power of every one; like many of our sanative herbs it is to be

found without difficulty, and being so remarkable in its appearance can

never be mistaken by the most ignorant of our country herbalists for any

injurious substitute.



       *       *       *       *       *



Note.--The figure represented in our plate, was supposed to be the

Pitcher Plant in _flower_, but unfortunately when it was too late to

alter it, we found a specimen in blossom. There are five brilliant

crimson petals surrounding the umbrella-like hood. The plate shows the

plant after they have dropped off. If our book reaches a second edition,

this mistake will be rectified.--A. F. G.





[Illustration: Plate X]









NAT. ORD. RANUNCULCE.



=Liver-Leaf Wind-Flower.=



(SHARP LOBED HEPTICA.)



_Heptica Acutloba._



    "Lodged in sunny clefts,

     Where the cold breeze come not, blooms alone

     The little Wind-flower, whose just opened eye

     Is blue, as the spring heaven it gazes at."



                             BRYANT.





The American poet, Bryant, has many happy allusions to the heptica

under the name of, "WIND-FLOWER," the more common name among our

Canadian settlers, is "SNOW-FLOWER," it being the first blossom that

appears directly after the melting off of the winter snows.



In the forest--in open grassy old woods, on banks and upturned roots of

trees, this sweet flower gladdens the eye with its cheerful starry

blossoms; every child knows it and fills its hands and bosom with its

flowers, pink, blue, deep azure and pure white. What the daisy is to

England, the Snow-flower or Liver-leaf is to Canada. It lingers long

within the forest shade, coyly retreating within its sheltering glades

from the open glare of the sun: though for a time it will not refuse to

bloom within the garden borders, when transplanted early in spring, and

doubtless if properly supplied with black mould from the woods and

partially sheltered by shrubs it would continue to grow and flourish

with us constantly.



We have two sorts _H. acutloba_, and _H. trloba_. A large variety has

been found on Long Island in Rice Lake; the leaves of which are _five

lobed_; the lobes much rounded, the leaf stalks stout, densely silky,

the flowers large, of a deep purple blue. This handsome plant throve

under careful cultivation and proved highly ornamental.



The small round closely folded buds of the heptica appear before the

white silky leaves unfold themselves, though many of the old leaves of

the former year remain persistent through the winter. The buds rise from

the centre of a silken bed of soft sheaths and young leaves, as if

nature kindly provided for the warmth and protection of these early

flowers with parental care.



Later in the season, the young leaves expand just before the flowers

drop off. The white flowered is the most common among our hepticas, but

varieties may be seen of many hues; waxen-pink; pale blue and azure blue

with intermediate shades and tints.



The Heptica belongs to the Nat. Ord. Ranunculce, the crow-foot

family, but possesses none of the acrid and poisonous qualities of the

Ranunculus proper being used in medicine, as a mild tonic, by the

American herb doctors in fevers and disorders of the liver.



It is very probable that its healing virtues in complaints of the liver

gave rise to its common name in old times, some assign the name to the

form of the lobed leaf.









=Bellwort.=



(WOOD DAFFODIL.)



_Uvulria Grandiflra._



        "Fair Daffodils we weep to see

          Thee haste away so soon,

        As yet the early rising sun

          Has not attained his noon.

        Stay, Stay!--

    Until the hasting day

          Has run,

        But to the evening song;

          When having prayed together we

        Will go with you along."                      HERRICK.





This slender drooping flower of early spring, is known by the name of

BELLWORT, from its pendant lily-like bells; and by some it is better

known as the _Wood-Daffodil_, to which its yellow blossoms bear some

remote resemblance.



The flowers of the Bellwort are of a pale greenish-yellow; the divisions

of the petal-like sepals are six, deeply divided, pointed and slightly

twisted or waved, drooping from slender thready pedicels terminating the

branches; the stem of the plant is divided into two portions, one of

which is barren of flowers. The leaves are of a pale green, smooth, and

in the largest species perfoliate, clasping the stem.



The root (or rhizome) is white, fleshy and tuberous. The Bellwort is

common in rich shady woods and grassy thickets, and on moist alluvial

soil on the banks of streams, where it attains to the height of 18"-20".

It is an elegant, but not very showy flower--remarkable more for its

graceful pendant straw-coloured or pale yellow blossoms, than for its

brilliancy. It belongs to a sub-order of the Lily Tribe. There are two

species in Canada--the large Bellwort--_Uvulria Grandiflra_ and _U.

Perfolita_--possibly we also possess the third, enumerated by Dr. Gray,

_U. Sessiliflia_.









NAT. ORD. RANUNCULCE.



=Wood Anemone.=



_Anemne Nemorsa._



    "Within the wood,

     Whose young and half transparent leaves,

     Scarce cast a shade; gay circles of anemnes,

     Danced on their stalks."



                             BRYANT.





The classical name ANEMONE is derived from a Greek word, which signifies

the _wind_, because it was thought that the flower opened out its

blossoms only when the wind was blowing. Whatever the habits of the

Anemne of the Grecian Isles may be, assuredly in their native haunts in

this country, the blossoms open alike in windy weather or in calm; in

shade or in sunshine. It is more likely that the wind acting upon the

downy seeds of some species and dispersing them abroad, has been the

origin of the idea, and has given birth to the popular name which poets

have made familiar to the ear with many sweet lines. Bryant, who is the

American poet of nature, for he seems to revel in all that is fair among

the flowers and streams and rocks and forest shades, has also given the

name of "_wind-flower_" to the blue heptica.



The subject of our plate, the little white pink-edged flower at the left

hand corner of the group, is Anemne Nemorsa, the smaller "WOOD

ANEMONE."



This pretty delicate species loves the moderate shade of groves and

thickets, it is often found in open pinelands of second growth, and

evidently prefers a light and somewhat sandy soil to any other; with

glimpses of sunshine stealing down upon it.



The Wood Anemne is from 4"-9" but seldom taller, the five rounded

sepals which form the flower are white, tinged with a purplish-red or

dull pink on the outside. The leaves are three parted, divided again in

three, toothed and sharply cut and somewhat coarse in texture; the three

upper stem leaves form an involucre about midway between the root and

the flower-cup.



Our Wood Anemne is a cheerful little flower gladdening us with its

blossoms early in the month of May. It is very abundant in the

neighbourhood of Toronto, on the grassy banks and piney-dells at Dover

Court, and elsewhere.



    "There thickly strewn in woodland bowers,

     Anemnes their stars unfold."



A somewhat taller species with very white starry flowers, is found on

gravelly banks under the shade of shrubs near the small lakes formed by

the Otonabee river, _N. Douro_, where also, we find the downy seeded

species known as "Thimble-weed" _Anemne cylndrica_ from the

cylindrical heads of fruit, the "Thimble-weed" is not very attractive

for beauty of colour; the flower is greenish-white, small, two of the

sepals being shorter and less conspicuous than the others, the plant is

from 1' 2' high the leaves of the cut and pointed involucre are coarse;

of a dull green, surrounding the several long flower-stalks. The soft

cottony seeds remain in close heads through the winter, till the spring

breezes disperse them.



The largest species of our native Anemnes is _A. Virginina_. "TALL

ANEMONE." This handsome plant loves the shores of lakes and streams;

damp rich ground suits it well, as it grows freely in such soil, and

under moderate shade when transferred to the garden.



The foliage of the tall Anemne is coarse, growing in whorls round the

stem, divisions of the leaf three parted, sharply pointed and toothed.

In this, as in all the species, the coloured sepals, (or calyx leaves)

form the flower. The outer surface of the flower is covered with minute

silky hairs, the round flattened silky buds rise singly on tall naked

stems, the upper series are supplied with two small leaflets embracing

the stalk. The central and largest flowers open first, the lateral or

outer ones as these fade away; thus a succession of blossoms is

produced, which continue to bloom for several weeks. The flowers of this

sort, under cultivation, become larger and handsomer than in their wild

state, ivory white, tinged with purple. The Anemne is always a

favourite flower wherever it may be seen, whether in British woods, on

Alpine heights, or in Canadian wilds; on banks of lonely lakes and

forest streams; or in the garden parterre, where it is rivalled by few

other flowers in grace of form or splendour of colour.









NAT. ORD. PORTULACACE.



=Spring Beauty.=



_Claytnia Virgnica._



    Where the fire had smoked and smouldered

    Saw the earliest flower of Spring time,

    Saw the beauty of the Spring time,

    Saw the Miskodeed[5] in blossom.



                                  HIAWATHA.





This simple, delicate little plant is one of our earliest April flowers.

In warm springs it is almost exclusively an April flower, but in cold

and backward seasons, it often delays its blossoming time till May.



Partially hidden beneath the shelter of old decaying timbers and fallen

boughs, its pretty pink buds peep shyly forth. It is often found in

partially cleared beech-woods, and in rich moist meadows.



In Canada, there are two species: one with few flowers, white, both

leaves and flowers larger than the more common form; the blossoms of the

latter are more numerous, smaller, and of a pale pink colour, veined

with lines of a deeper rose colour, forming a slender raceme; sometimes

the little pedicels or flower stalks are bent or twisted to one side, so

as to throw the flowers in one direction.



The scape springs from a small deep tuber, bearing a single pair of

soft, oily, succulent leaves. In the white flowered species, these

leaves are placed about midway up the stem, but in the pink (_C.

Virgnica_) the leaves lie closer to the ground and are smaller and of a

dark bluish green hue. Our SPRING BEAUTY well deserves its pretty

poetical name. It comes in with the Robin, and the song sparrow, the

heptica, and the first white violet; it lingers in shady spots, as if

unwilling to desert us till more sunny days have wakened up a wealth of

brighter blossoms to gladden the eye; yet the first, and the last, are

apt to be most prized by us, with flowers, as well as other treasures.



How infinitely wise and merciful are the arrangements of the Great

Creator. Let us instance the connection between BEES and FLOWERS. In

cold climates the former lie torpid, or nearly so during the long months

of Winter, until the genial rays of the sun and light have quickened

vegetation into activity, and buds and blossoms open, containing the

nutriment necessary for this busy insect tribe.



The BEES seem made for the Blossoms; the BLOSSOMS for the BEES.



On a bright March morning what sound can be more in harmony with the

sunshine and blue skies, than the murmuring of the honey-bees, in a

border of cloth of gold crocuses? what sight more cheerful to the eye?

But I forget. Canada has few of these sunny flowers, and no March days

like those that woo the hive bees from their winter dormitories. And

April is with us only a name. We have no April month of rainbow suns and

showers. We miss the deep blue skies, and silver throne-like clouds that

cast their fleeting shadows over the tender springing grass and corn;

we have no mossy lanes odorous with blue violets. One of our old poets

thus writes:



    "Ye violets that first appear,

     By your pure purple mantles known.

     Like the proud virgins of the year,

     As if the spring were all your own,

     What are ye when the rose is blown."[6]



We miss the turfy banks, studded with starry daisies, pale primroses and

azure blue-bells.



Our May is bright and sunny, more like to the English March: it is

indeed a month of promise--a month of many flowers. But too often its

fair buds and blossoms are nipped by frost, "and winter, lingering,

chills the lap of May."



In the warmth and shelter of the forest, vegetation appears. The black

leaf mould so light and rich, quickens the seedlings into rapid growth,

and green leaves and opening buds follow soon after the melting of the

snows of winter. The starry blossoms of the hepatica, blood-root,

bellwort, violets, white, yellow and blue, with the delicate coptis

(gold-thread), come forth and are followed by many a lovely flower,

increasing with the more genial seasons of May and June.



But our April flowers are but few, comparatively speaking, and so we

prize our early violets, hepaticas and Spring Beauty.





[Transcriber's Notes:



1. Typographical errors corrected: root-stork changed to root-stock;

   thristy changed to thirsty; feotid changed to foetid; organziation

   changed to organization



2. Abbreviations for inches and feet changed from ' and  to " and ']





FOOTNOTES:



[1] _Sepals_ are the leaves of the _calyx_; in liliaceous flowers the

calyx and corolla being not obviously distinguishable, the name

_perianth_ is often applied to the whole; but really there are three

sepals--the outer circle, and three petals--the inner circle--to call

them all sepals is incorrect.--PROF. HINCKS.



[2] The name Dogs-tooth refers to the shape of the small pointed white

bulbs of the common European species, so well known in English

gardens.--PROF. LAWSON.



[3] Professor Hincks.



[4] In that singular plant, the Eel or Tapegrass, a plant indigenous to

our slow flowing waters, the elastic flower-bearing stem uncoils to

reach the surface of the water, drawn thither by some mysterious hidden

attraction towards the pollen bearing flowers, which are produced at the

bottom of the water on very short scapes, and which united by the same

vegetable instinct break away from the confining bonds that hold them

and rise to the surface, where they expand and scatter their fertilizing

dust upon the fruit bearing flowers which float around them; these,

after a while, coil up again and draw the pod-like ovary down to the

bottom of the water, there to ripen and perfect the fruit; a curious

fact vouched for by Gray and many other creditable botanists.



[5] Miskodeed--Indian name for Spring Beauty.



[6] Sir Henry Wotton--written in 1631.





[End of _Canadian Wild Flowers_ by Catharine Parr Traill

and Agnes FitzGibbon]
