Part 2

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.

[1] Miskodeed—Indian name for Spring Beauty.

[2] Sir Henry Wotton—written in 1651.

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3 AQUILEGIA CANADENSIS (Wild Columbine)

2 TRILLIUM GRANDIFLORUM (Large white Trillium)

1 ERYTHRONIUM AMERICANUM (Yellow adders tongue)

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NAT. ORD. LILIACEÆ.

ADDERS-TONGUE. (DOG-TOOTHED VIOLET.) _Erythronium Americanum._

“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, 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 is 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.[3]

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 _Erythronium albidum_ of Gray.

[3] 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.

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SUB ORD. TRILLIACEÆ.—(TRILLIUM FAMILY.)

WHITE TRILLIUM. (DEATH FLOWER.) _Trillium Grandiflorum._

“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, or 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. nivale_, _T. cernum_ (nodding Trillium) and _T. grandiflorum_, 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. recurvatum_, 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 duplicate 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 grandiflorum_ is the largest and most showy of the white species. _Trillium nivale_ or “lesser snowy Trillium,” is the smallest; the 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. nivale_; 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.

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NAT. ORD. RANUNCULEÆ.

ROCK COLUMBINE. _Aquilegia Canadensis._

“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[4] 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.

[4] If two sepals with a petal be separated from the rest of the flower, they will be found to resemble a _dove_ flying, hence the name Columbine, from the Latin _columba_, a dove.—DR. BELL.

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4 TRIENTALIS AMERICANA (Star flower Chickweed)

2 TRILLIUM ERECTUM (Purple trillium)

3 GERANIUM MACULATUM (Wild Cranes-bill)

1 DICENTRA CANADENSIS (Squirrel Corn)

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NAT. ORD. FUMARIACEÆ.—(FUMITORY FAMILY.)

SQUIRREL CORN. _Dicentra Canadensis._

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. cucullaria_ 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 right hand flower of the plate.

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PURPLE TRILLIUM. (DEATH-FLOWER.—BIRTH-ROOT.) _Trillium erectum._

“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. erectum_) 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. erectum_ 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. erectum_ 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. nivale_, 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.

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NAT. ORD. GERANIACEÆ.

WOOD GERANIUM. (CRANES-BILL.) _Geranium maculatum._

THERE are but few flowers of the Cranes-bill family in Canada. The one most worthy of notice is the Wood Geranium (_Geranium maculatum_). 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 stigma. 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 (_maculatum_) 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. Robertianum_ or fœtid 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 species, with pale insignificant blossoms is also common as a weed by road sides and in open woods, probably this is _G. pusilum_, 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.

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NAT. ORD. PRIMULACEÆ.

CHICKWEED WINTERGREEN. _Trientalis Americana._

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.

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4 VERONICA AMERICANA (American Brooklime)

3 RUBUS ODORATUS (Purple flowering Raspberry)

2 MONESES UNIFLORA (One flowered Pyrola)

1 PYROLA ELLIPTICA (Shin Leaf)

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NAT. ORD. ERICACEÆ.—SUB. ORD. PYROLEÆ.

SWEET WINTERGREEN. _Pyrola elliptica._

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. elliptica_ 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. rotundifolia_, _P. elliptica_, _P. incarnata_ and _P. minor_.