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NORTH AMERICAN
WILD FLOWEKS
NORTH AMERICAN
WILD FLOWERS
BY
Morris
MARY VAUX) WALCOTT
PUBLISHED BY
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
102
SMITHSON Ay
JUN 2 4 1985
LIBRARIES
FOREWORD
ILD FLOWERS were a joy and inspiration in the happy days of child-
hood when I was taught to observe and sketch them under the direc-
tion of a skilled artist. Years passed before a botanical friend at Glacier,
British Columbia, asked me to portray a rare and perishable alpine flower
so as to preserve its beauty, color, and graceful outline as a living thing.
During succeeding seasons I painted other rare specimens until many of the
‘living flowers that skirt the eternal frost’’ in the wildflower gardens of the
Canadian Rockies were transferred in color and form to the East, where
sketches of the native woodland and meadow blossoms soon began to join
them.
During the past ten years I have spent from three to four months each
season in the Canadian Rockies, where Dr.Walcott was carrying on geolog-
ical explorations, covering in all more than five thousand miles on the
mountain trails. This afforded me a wonderful opportunity for intimate
study of the flora, my aim being to collect and paint the finest specimens
obtainable, and to depict the natural grace and beauty of the plant without
conventional design. Many of the western sketches were made under trying
conditions. Often, on a mountain side or high pass, a fire was necessary to
warm stiffened fingers and body. In camp, the diffused light of the white
tent was a great handicap, and considerable ingenuity was required to obtain
a proper combination of light and shade. The paint box and pads found
safe conveyance on the back of the saddle, except in unusual storms of
rain or snow, and many times while waiting for the pack train to be made
ready, a sketch was begun or completed. The short lives of the blooming
plants definitely limit the number of sketches that can be made during a
single field season, for many hours of work are necessary to finish a single
sketch, and wild flowers wither quickly. A sharp frost in July or early
August will ruin them, or an unusually warm, dry season or a cold, wet one
will prevent flowering or kill the blossoms that have matured. For these
reasons desirable specimens of many of the fragile alpine flowers are difficult
to secure, and in some instances were seen in perfection but two or three
times during the many seasons on the trail. The limited habitat of others
made it necessary to take long rides and climb high above the timber line
to procure them, and frequently no trails were available. Our sure-footed
mountain ponies were a large factor in our success.
Both the bloom and the fruit of a few trees have been sketched with the
hope that these exquisite forms may be more observed and appreciated by
nature lovers. The illustrations of eastern plants have been made from
specimens collected as opportunity offered and from those contributed by
many friends. All the sketches are life size.
As time went on and the collection grew, botanists, artists, and others in-
terested in flowers began to urge that the water-color sketches should be per-
manently preserved and made available for students and lovers of the beau-
tiful in Nature, before the dust of time faded and browned them to the hues
of the pressed flowers of the herbaria. A survey of wild flower publications
led to the decision that there was need for a finely illustrated work that
would be of service pictorially to all professional and amateur botanists and
designers, and to the larger group of lovers of wild flowers and the great
out-of-doors. To many of these the living flowers are inaccessible, and their
real beauty is unknown. No attempt has been made to create a text book
with technical descriptions, or to illustrate all native American wild flowers,
and only native plants have been included.
The preparation of the work has been a labor of love and has been made
possible by the sympathetic interest and inspiration of Dr. Walcott, who
has been unfailing in his help and encouragement.
My sincere thanks are due to Dr. Frederick V. Coville, Dr. Edgar T.
Wherry, Mr. PaulC. Standley, and Dr. Paul Bartsch, who haveall given freely
of their time and knowledge.
Washington, D. C.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME |
Note: All sketches are life size. The system used in naming the plants is the American Code of Botanical
Nomenclature. Descriptions of the plants illustrated may be found in Gray's New Manual, Britton and
Brown’s Illustrated Flora, Small’s Flora of the Southeastern United States, or Rydberg’s Flora of the
Rocky Mountazns.
PLATE
is
Seer
a).
Zt.
22.
Mountain Ladyslipper. Cypripedium montanum DouGuas
Pussy-eats. Calochortus elegans LINDLEY
False Locoweed. Oxytropis gracilis (NELSON) JONES
Nodding Ladies-ttesses. Ibidium cernuum (Linnazus) House
Slender Ladies-tresses. Ibidium gracile (BicELOow) HousE
. Pink Fumeroot. Capnoides sempervirens (LINNAEUS) BoRKHAUSEN
. Sun-dial Lupine. Lupinus perennis LINNAEUS
. Big Whortlebetry. Vaccinium membranaceum DouGuas
. Pinebarren Gentian. Gentiana porphyrio GMELIN
. Skeletonflower. Lygodesmia juncea (Pursu) Don
. Lake Louise Arnica. Arnica louiseana FaRR
. Red Lily. Lilium montanum NELSON
. Cottongrass. Eriophorum chamissonis MEYER
. Vernal Iris. Iris verna LINNAEUS
. Anemonella. Syndesmon thalictroides (LINNAEUS) HoFFMANNSEGG
White Troutlily. Evythronium albidum NUTTALL
. Hazel Alder. Alnus rugosa (Du Rot) SPRENGEL
. Tarflower. Befaria racemosa VENTENAT
. Alpine Fir. Abies lasiocarpa (Hooker) NUTTALL
. Oconee-bells. Shortia galacifolia TORREY AND GRAY
Virginia Bluebells. Mertensia virginica (LINNAEUS) DE CANDOLLE
Burgess Milkvetch. Astragalus bourgoviz GRAY
Greendragon. Arisaema dracontium (LINNAEUS) SCHOTT
23. Toad Trillium. Trillcum sessele LINNAEUS
24. Southern Magnolia (flower). Magnolia grandiflora LINNAEUS
24a.Southern Magnolia (fruit). Magnolia grandiflora LINNAEUS
25. [rumpetleat. Sarracenia flava LINNAEUS
26. Redbud. Cercis canadensis LINNAEUS
27. Tall Larkspur. Delphinium elongatum RYDBERG
28. Rhodora. Rhodora canadensis LINNAEUS
29. Pickerelweed. Pontederia cordata LINNAEUS
30. Creeping Hollygrape. Berberis repens LINDLEY
31. Red Chokeberry (flower). Aronia arbutifolia (LINNAEUS FILIUS ) ELLIOTT
31a. Red Chokeberry (fruit). Aronia arbutifolia (LINNAEUS FILIUS) ELLIOTT
32. Devilsclub. Echinopanax horridum (SmitH) DECAISNE AND PLANCHON
33. Crested Iris. Iris cristata ATTON
34. Lily Twayblade. Liparis lilicfolia (LINNAEUS) RicHarpD
35. Missouri Pricklypear. Opuntia polyacantha HawortH
36. Butterflyweed. Asclepias tuberosa LINNAEUS
37. Skunkcabbage. Spathyema foetida (LINNAEUS) RAFINESQUE
38. Red-osier Dogwood. Cornus stolonifera Micuaux
39. Birdsfoot Violet. Viola pedata LINNAEUS
40. Virginia Spiderwort. Tradescantia virginiana LINNAEUS
At. Leatherflower. Clematis viorna LINNAEUS
42. Purple Saxiftage. Saxifraga oppositifolia LINNAEUS
43. Flame Azalea. Azalea lutea LINNAEUS |
44. Rabbitbean. Cracca virginiana LINNAEUS
45. Tuliptree. Lériodendron tulipifera LINNAEUS
46. Trumpet Honeysuckle. Lonicera sempervirens LINNAEUS
47. Red Buckeye. Aesculus pavia LINNAEUS
48. Rose Paintbrush. Castilleja pallida (Linnazus) Kuntu
49. Shootingstar. Dodecatheon meadia LINNAEUS
50. Prairie Pentstemon. Pentstemon erianthera Pursu
51. Wild Sweet Crab. Malus coronaria (LiInNazus ) MILLER
52. Pitcherplant. Sarracenia purpurea LINNAEUS
53. Prairie-smoke. Sieversia ciliata (PursH ) Don
54. Winterberry. Ilex verticillata (LINNAEUS ) GRAY
55. Sweet Azalea. Azalea arborescens PuRsH
56. Kruhsea (flower). Krubsea streptopordes (LEDEBOUR) KEARNEY
56a. Kruhsea (fruit). Krubsea streptopoides (LEDEBOUR) KEARNEY
57- Arethusa. Arethusa bulbosa LINNAEUS
58. Pale Ladyslipper. Cypripedium acaule AYTON
59. Quakerladies. Houstonia caerulea LINNAEUS
60. Bearberry Honeysuckle. Lonicera involucrata (RicHARDSON)) BANKS
61. Pink Fleabane. Erigeron caespitosus NUTTALL
62. Labrador-tea. Ledum groenlandicum OEDER
63. Northern Bedstraw. Galium boreale LINNAEUS
64. Bronzebells. Stenanthium occidentale GRAY
65. Roundleaf Orchis. Orchis rotundifolia Pursu
66. Prickly Currant (flower). Ribes lacustre (PERSOON ) PorrET
67. Prickly Currant (fruit). Rzbes lacustre (PERSOON ) PorRET
68. Glacierlily. Erythronium grandiflorum Pursu
69. Balsamroot. Balsamorhiza sagittata (Pursu) Nutra
70. Silverberry flower). Elaeagnus commutata BERNHARDI
71. Silverberry (fruit). Elaeagnus commutata BERNHARDI
72. Twinleaf. Jeffersonia diphylla (LiNNAEuS) PERSOON
73. Ivoty Baneberty. Actaea arguta NUTTALL
74. Pink Mountainheather. Phyllodoce empetriformis (Smita) Don
75. Rocky Mountain Cassiope. Cassiope mertensiana (BONGARD) Don
76. One-leaf Bog-orchid. Habenaria obtusata (PuRsH) RicHARDSON
77. Bush Cinquefoil. Potentilla fruticosa LINNAEUS
/78. Refer to plate 24a ©
S79: Refer to plate 31a
80. Refer to plate 56a.
MOUNTAIN LADYSLIPPER
Cypripedium montanum Douglas
One lovely morning in early summer we left camp near Radium
Hot Springs in the Columbia River Valley in British Columbia, our
two saddle horses harnessed to the buckboatd, the saddles securely tied
behind the seat. After a drive of seven miles the horses were saddled,
and we followed a disused trail four or five miles back into the range
on the eastern side of the valley. There were many flowers, the dense
growth of trees and shrubs keeping out the hot tays of the sun and
conserving the moisture. Just as we turned across a partially shaded
flat on the side of the little canyon we had been traversing, a won-
derful sight burst upon us. Scattered among the low-growing bushes
were great clumps of this splendid orchid in the perfection of bloom.
A beautiful plant about eighteen inches tall, with a delicate perfume
quite its own—no wonder that we quickly dismounted to pay hom-
age to this queen of the forest.
Never before had we seen such a flower, and no book upon the
plants of the Canadian Rockies mentioned its occurrence there. A
bunch cartied to camp survived many days, long after the sketch
was completed. 7
The mountain ladyslipper is frequently found in the mountains of
California, and northward along the coast as far as Vancouver, and
northeastward along the Rocky Mountains to Saskatchewan.
PLATE I
PUSSY-EARS
Calochortus elegans Lindley
We were following the old stage road, now replaced by a new
motor road, in the Columbia River Valley, twenty miles south of Canal
Flats, at an altitude of 2,500 feet. The marvelous larches and pines of
the primeval forest towered above us, and over the grassy forest floor
were scattered many flowers with which we wete familiar. Suddenly
we saw the grass dotted with a white lily, which was unknown to
us, and upon examination we quickly comprehended the reason for its
common name of “pussy-eats,” which our companion gave it. So
graceful was it that we could only wonder that a flower so beautiful
had not been enticed long ago to grow in our cultivated gardens.
Pussy-eats ranges from Utah and California to British Columbia
and Montana.
PLATE 2
FALSE LOCOW EED
Oxytropis gracilis (Nelson) Jones
This plant must not be confused with its relative, the true loco-
weed, that is so destructive to animals on the plains of the southwest-
ern United States; it seemed entirely harmless to our horses, who ate it
freely. In full sunshine its pale yellow or straw-colored flowers, borne
on stems six or eight inches tall, are wonderfully attractive against
their setting of sage-colored foliage. In limestone regions, where
moisture is limited, the blossoms develop well only if an abundance of
water is available at flowering time.
False locoweed is a member of the Pea Family. It ranges from
Idaho to South Dakota and northward into Alberta, Canada.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Ghost River on the
eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, twenty-five miles from Banff,
Alberta, at an altitude of 3,500 feet.
PLATE 3
NODDING LADIES-TRESSES
Ibidium cernuum (Linnaeus) House
SLENDER LADIES-TRESSES
Ibidium gracile Bigelow) House
These two fall-blooming members of the Orchid Family are
frequently found growing in the gtass of old pastures. Nodding
ladies-tresses usually chooses a wet situation, but the slender one
is more likely to be found in drier places. Both are inconspicuous
in their chosen habitats, for their leaves and stalks are so gtasslike
that they seem a part of the general herbage. The genus name has
arisen from the fancied resemblance of the anther to the head of
an. ibis.
Many botanists prefer to use the genus name Spiranthes, which
means spital-flower, but [bzdzum has prtiotity.
Slender ladies-tresses is notable for its green-centered lip, and for
the fact that its leaves, which are evergreen, wither away before
flowering time, the flower stallx bearing only inconspicuous bracts.
These two orchids have a similar range, occurring from Florida
northward and westward, extending into southernmost Canada.
The specimens sketched were found near Mount Kisco, New York.
PLATE 4
PINK FUMEROOT
Capnoides sempervirens (Linnaeus) Borkhausen
Pink fumeroot is a dainty wild beauty that loves rich rocky woods,
whete it grows in perfection. The leaves are a delicate shade of green,
and the pale pink flowers, with a yellow lip, poised on slender stems,
sway gently in the wind. The plant is a relative of the bleeding-heart
of our gardens, and of the European fumitory. Like the latter, its
roots exhale an intense nitrous odor, and the common name fume-
toot refers to this characteristic feature.
Pink fumeroot has a wide range, from North Carolina to Nova
Scotia and westward to British Columbia and Alaska.
We found it in the valley of the Kootenai River near the motor
toad between Banff and the Columbia River Valley, at an altitude of
4,000 feet.
PLATE §
SUN-DIAL LUPINE
Lupinus perennis Linnaeus
Sun-dial lupine in the East seldom equals in profusion of growth
its sisters of the West, which often cover the hillsides with a carpet of
bloom. Nevertheless, this common species of the Eastern States is as
beautiful as any of the others, and deserves a place of honor in our wild
gardens. In rich loam it will dwindle and die, but if planted in an acid,
sandy soil, will thrive in cultivation. Although usually bright blue,
the flowets are occasionally white or lavender, sometimes bordering
on purple.
In Texas, one of the lupines commonly called blue-bonnets has been
named the State flower.
The sun-dial lupine is found from Louisiana and Florida north to
Maine and Minnesota.
The specimen sketched grew near Washington, District of Co-
lumbia.
PLATE 6
BIG WHORTLEBERRY
Vaccinium membranaceum Douglas
Snow slides are not to be desited, but after they have mowed down
the forest of the mountain slopes, exposing the ground to the full sun-
light, a bushy growth springs up, three or four feet tall, with young
trees interspersed. Among these shrubs we find whortleberry bushes,
- Rocky Mountain rhododendron, and other plants that love similar
conditions of soil and exposure. Here in late summer a delightful
feast is spread for the traveler, for the big whortleberry bushes are
loaded with dark purple berries, some of them as large as small cherries.
A large quantity may be gathered in a short time. The black bears
also appreciate them, and often are met in these localities, sitting on
their haunches and sweeping the ripe fruit into their mouths with
their great paws. In autumn the leaves turn a deep red.
Big whortleberry is found occasionally in the Rockies, but reaches
greatest perfection in the Selkirk Mountains, and is especially abund-
ant at Rogers Pass and in the vicinity of Glacier House at Glacier.
It ranges from California, Wyoming, and Michigan to British
Columbia. |
The specimen sketched was obtained near Hector Station on
the Canadian Pacific Railway, British Columbia, at an altitude of
5,000 feet.
PLATE 7
PINEBARREN GENTIAN
Gentiana porphyrio Gmelin
Pinebatren gentian is a gtaceful and attractive plant. Its deep blue
corolla lobes, with peculiar ftinges between them, and the curious
yellow markings on the inside, make a pleasing color combination
seldom seen in flowers. It frequents moist pine barrens, teaching a
foot ot more in height, and although the flowers gtow singly on
the branches, a number of stems usually arise from each root, so that
the clumps are very showy.
This gentian blooms from late August into October, and can be
cultivated if given the moist, acid, peaty soil in which it thrives in
the wild state. It occurs in the Coastal Plain from Florida to
southern New Jetsey.
The specimen sketched was found neat Wilmington, North
Carolina.
PLATE 8
SKELETON FLOW ER
Lygodesmia juncea (Pursh) Don
This is a strange-looking plant, a foot tall, with pale pink, starlike
flowets that close in the afternoon, or vety soon after being gathered.
Unconsciously, the observer is likely to notice only the flowers, for
the rushlike stems and scalelike foliage are sage-green and inconspic-
uous. The plant belongs to the subdivision of the Aster Family that
includes the dandelion, wild lettuce, and hawkweed, and is chatacter-
ized by having all the flowers of the head furnished with petallike
rays, and by a bitter milky juice.
The skeletonflower is found from Nevada and New Mexico north
to Minnesota and Albetta. |
We found it growing on a dry bank, high above the Kootenai
River, near the junction of this stream with the Columbia River in
British Columbia, at an altitude of 2,800 feet, and marveled that it
could thrive in dusty soil, which remains damp only a short time
after the mountain showets cease.
PLATE 9
LAKE LOUISE ARNICA
Arnica louiseana Fatr
The hotses had traveled a hard and stony way, very steep in places,
for we were riding above timber line to visit an alpine lake tucked
away ina glaciated citque near the headwaters of the Clearwater River
in British Columbia. There had been no trail to follow, except for the
first half mile from camp, and we had reveled in the constant succes-
sion of wild gardens, filled with mountain flowers in the perfection of
bloom, through which we were passing. Many of the plants were
crushed by the feet of the ponies, and we wete continually on the
watch for new varieties. A lon g gtassy slope facing north was being
conquered, when several yellow flowers appeared, quite different from
any we had seen before in the mountains. Upon closer examination
they were recognized as the rate Lake Louise arnica, a composite found
only in the Canadian Rockies. The best specimens were carefully
gathered, carried to camp, and sketched without delay, but the thrill
of seeing them in their native habitat will always be recalled with
delight.
PLATE IO
RED AEs
Lilium montanum Nelson
Such hosts of red lilies are seen in the dry woods of the Canadian
Rockies in some sections in July, that the prodigality of nature seems
astounding. If perchance a richer soil and more sunlight are available,
the perfectly developed flowers and the stouter leaves and stems indi-
cate an appreciation of these favors. But the red lilies are tender things,
withering speedily when gathered, especially when exposed to sun
and wind, and they do not easily revive when placed in water.
The red lily is found in the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico
to British Columbia, and eastward in the foothills and valleys.
The specimen painted was gathered in Sinclair Canyon, not far from
Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia, at an altitude of 3,000 feet.
PLATE II
COTTONGRASS
Eriophorum chamissonis Meyer
In all parts of the Rocky Mountains of Canada one’s attention is
drawn in mid-July to the masses of sedge growing along the wet
borders of alpine lakes, oftentimes out of the water itself: If there have -
been a few dry days, the cottony heads are waving in the breeze, as it
fitfully blows over them. Farther away from the lake shote the plants
become scattered and lose much of the beauty that comes from a
massed effect. Buffeted by mountain showers and winds, they are in
their prime only a few days.
This species of cottongrass is found usually about timber line in the
Rockies. It is a circumpolar plant, occurring in northern Europe and
Asia as well as North America. On this continent it perhaps survived
the glacial period in Wyoming and adjoining States, where it still
gtows, but since the ice retreated it has spread far into Alaska, and
eastwatd across Canada to Ontario and even to New Brunswick.
The sketch was made from specimens gathered at Cotton grass
Lake, north of Ptarmigan Pass, ten miles north of Lake Louise Sta-
tion, Alberta, at an altitude of 7,000 feet.
PLATE 12
VERNAL IRIS
Iris verna Linnaeus
Although the vernal iris is not very well known, it is so lovely a
wildling that it should find a home in our wildflower gardens. In his
“Book of the Iris”, Dykes reports his inability to cultivate it, but this
was probably owing to his failure to recognize its peculiar soil requite-
ments. It usually grows on wooded hillsides, preferring a mediacid soil.
Though the whole plant is only about six inches tall, its violet-blue
flowers with yellow markings at the base of the petals cannot be easily
overlooked, for they ate very large in proportion tothe grasslike leaves.
In early spring the blossoms dot the barren fields of the Southern States,
where real blue violets do not occur, and are often called “violets.”
Curiously enough, their delicate fragrance adds to the deception, for it
closely resembles the scent of the garden violet.
This iris ranges over most of Alabama and Georgia and the states
adjoining them on the north, but farther northward it becomes tate,
occurring in but a few favored localities in Kentucky, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania.
The specimen painted was found near Beaufort, South Carolina.
PLATE 13
ANEMONELLA
Syndesmon thalictroides (Linnaeus) Hoffmannsegg
Anemonella, often called rue-anemone, frequents open woods,
whete it is found in company with hepatica and bloodroot when the
first warm days of spring call sleeping plants to awaken. The slender
stems, bearing the fragile green leaves and delicate pink or white flow-
ets, grow from a cluster of small tuberous roots. These hold so lightly
tothe soil that they ate easily pulled up, unless care is taken in plucking
the flowering stems. Anemonella, the only member of its genus, resem-
bles somewhat its relatives, the true anemones or windflowets, but
differs in havin g the flowers in clusters, and the leaves divided into
rounded leaflets. It yields readily to cultivation and is a teal desideratum
for the wildflower garden.
Anemonella is a wide-ranging species, extending from Florida to
New Hampshire and westward to Kansas and Minnesota.
The specimen sketched was found at Washington, Disttict of
Columbia.
PLATE 14
WHITE TROUTLILY
Erythronium albidum Nuttall
White troutlily is one of the daintiest of our early spring flowers,
and east of the Appalachian Mountains is much rarer than the yel-
low species, which it closely resembles in habit. The shining green
leaves are marked with pale mottlings of brownish purple, or in ex-
ceptional plants are entirely green. The flowers open only in bright
sunlight, and speedily close and wither when gathered. It is known in
some sections as dogtooth violet, but as it has no relation to the Violet
Family, the name troutlily, suggested by John Burroughs, seems most
appropriate. |
White troutlily is the common species in the Middle West, from
Texas to Minnesota, and eastward to the Appalachian Mountain region.
Here and there its seeds have chanced to cross the mountain barrier
and, carried down the streams, have lodged along the banks and estab-
lished colonies in the Piedmont regions from Georgia to northern
New Jetsey.
The specimen sketched was obtained in the Potomac Valley above
Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE I5
HAZEL ALDER
Alnus rugosa (Du Roi) Sprengel
The aldets are widespread shrubs known to all who welcome the
coming of spring. With the exception of the skunkcabbage, their
blooms are the earliest forerunnets of spring, and almost every swamp
and sheltered brook where the sun can penetrate is decorated with
numerous bushes, hung with purple and yellow pendent catkins. The
pollen, furnished by these in large quantities, is blown by the wind,
lighting on the little green or purplish knobs of pistillate flowers,
_ which grow into ripe cones in autumn. Several species of the genus
Alnus contain in their bark a coloring principle of value, dyeing either
yellow or orange. With copperas added, a good black may be made
from it. Before the coming of the white man with his commercial
colors, alder dye was frequently used by the Indians.
Thete ate several species of alder in the United States, the one here
tepresented ranging from Florida to Texas and from Maine to Min-
nesota.
The sketch was made from a specimen gathered near Washington,
District of Columbia.
PLATE 16
TARFLOW ER
Befaria racemosa Ventenat
While traveling through the South in June, whether by rail or
automobile, one finds the green fringe of low shrubbery by the road-
sides dotted here and there with the pink starlike blossoms of the
tatflower. These shrubs rarely occur in dense vegetation, but usually
in such places as will permit them to raise their flowery heads above
the gtass, weeds, and low shrubbery, to beckon the insect sponsors
necessary for their cross pollination.
The species ranges from southern Florida to southeastern Georgia.
The specimen here figured came from a woodland margin along
the tracks of the Florida East Coast Railroad near Jacksonville, Florida.
PLATE 17
ALPINE FIR
Abies lasiocarpa (Hooker) Nuttall
The alpine fir, commonly called balsam fir in the mountains, is the
tree best known to those who follow the trail in the Canadian Rock-
ies, for it is the substitute par excellence for a soft hair mattress, if the
bed is properly made, and nosleep is more restful than that obtained on
such an aromatic couch of “Rocky Mountain feathers”. From the
numerous blisters in the bark a thick juice may be collected which
makes an effective dressing for cuts and bruises. The Canada balsam
used by microscopists in mounting specimens is obtained from a te-
lated species, the balsam fir. By some of the Indian tribes the fir tree _
was called “cho-koh-tung”, meaning blisters. The wood is soft and
coatse-grained and,though it grows rather rapidly, is not of much value
commercially. In the lower valleys of the Canadian Rockies the tree
attains to some size, and at timber line holds the final outposts with ©
the Lyall latches, often affording a striking exhibit of nature’s adapta-
tion to advetse conditions of soil, temperature, and wind. 7
This fir has a wide range. It survived the glacial period in the
southern Rocky Mountains, in Northern Arizona and New Mexico,
and since the ice retreated has migrated northward along the coast
ranges to the Olympic Mountains of Washington, thence into Alaska,
and through the eastern Rockies into Alberta, Canada.
The specimen sketched was obtained north of Bow Pass, one day s
tide from the Saskatchewan River, at the foot of Pyramid Peak, at
6,000 feet elevation. |
PLATE 18
OCON EE-BELLS
Shortia galacifolia Totrey and Gray
This evergreen, ground-coveting plant was for many yeats one of
America’s “lost species”. It had been discovered by Michaux, the French
botanist, during his travels in the mountain wilderness of North Caro-
lina in 1788, but the exact spot where he found it long remained un-
known, and the dried specimen he had collected, preserved in Paris,
was the only proof that such a plant existed. In 1877 the plant was
rediscovered, and subsequently found to be fairly abundant in a few
testticted areas. I have not seen it in the wild, but Dr. Edgar T. Wherry
informs me that it thrives in acid soils on steep slopes along shaded
mountain brooks, and that the primroselike white flowers, starring the
mats of winter-bronzed foliage in March, produce a charmingly beauti-
ful effect. If transplanted into ordinary garden loam it soon dwindles
and dies, but if given acid humus soil it is not hard to grow in cultiva-
tion. Oconee-bells is known to the mountaineers as the one-flower
coltsfoot, but the common name has been given from its abundance
in the Oconee Valley.
Oconee-bells is known to grow only in the Blue Ridge and adjoin-
ing parts of the Piedmont region in North and South Carolina. A close
relative occurs in Japan, however, indicating that before the glacial
period the genus must have spread over both northeastern Asia and
northern North America. The ice advances no doubt exterminated
some of the species, but the two that chanced to migrate far enough
to the southward of the line reached by the ice sheets were preserved.
The specimen painted was grown by Dr. Frederick V. Coville, in
acid peat-sand soil, in a greenhouse of the United States Department
of Agriculture at Washington.
PLATE 19
VIRGINIA BLUEBELLS
Mertensia virginica (Linnaeus) De Candolle
The lovely Virginia bluebells, with their exquisite bright green
leaves, burst forth in unsuspected places in spring. Each year, after the
blooming and seeding season, the plants disappear before midsummer,
and not until another winter has passed and the spring sun and rains
have enticed them from their hiding places, do we again locate them
by their tender bronze-green shoots pushing through the moist earth.
They love the rich soil of river meadows or the banks of streams, and
cover the ground with their masses of bloom and tender green leaves.
Virginia bluebells yield easily to cultivation in a wildflower garden,
but they are not so well known as other members of the Borage Family,
the forget-me-nots and the heliotropes. In Europe they are much ap-
preciated in cultivated gardens.
Virginia bluebells may be found from Georgia northward to New
York and southern Ontario, and westward to Kansas and Minnesota.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 20
BURGESS MILKVETCH
Astragalus bourgovit Gray
Among the numerous members of the Pea Family this dainty plant
is one of the most appealing. A number of stems grow from a central
point and, falling carelessly all around, give the impression of a loose
bouquet, the flowers, on their delicate stems, projecting beyond the
leaves. The ponies like to eat them, and perfect specimens are difficult
to obtain where horses have had access to the colonies.
Burgess milkvetch has a rather restricted range in the northern
Rocky Mountains, from South Dakota and Montana to British Co-
lumbia. Usually it is found among partially disintegrated rocks.
This specimen was gathered at Burgess Pass, seven miles by trail
from Field, British Columbia, on a northwestern slope, at an eleva-
tion of 7,500 feet.
PLATE 21
GREENDRAGON
Arisaema dracontium (Linnaeus) Schott
Greendtagon is a vigorous plant and decidedly decorative, though
its flower lacks the handsomer coloring of the jack-in-the-pulpit, its
near relative. It is, however, of similar habit. Its deeply parted leaves
gtowing on a long stem from the solid globular bulb or corm, reach
a height of two feet or more. It loves the same rich, moist woods
ot low ground frequented by the jack-in-the-pulpit, but is rarely so
abundant. The betrylike fruits of the greendragon ate red-orange in
color, and are clustered in heads that become conspicuous in early
autumn. They are much more effective in calling attention to the
plant than its green flowers or its foliage.
The tange of the greendragon is rather wide, extending from Texas
to Florida and northward to Minnesota, Ontario, and Maine.
This specimen grew along the Potomac River above Washington,
District of Columbia.
PLATE 22
TOAD TRILLIUM
Trillium sessile Linnaeus
Unlike most other members of its group, this trilltum has a rather
pleasant odor, but it does not approach other species in attractive-
ness, for its curious sessile flowers are dull in color. Normally the
petals are of a deep maroon color, but in some plants, which ‘show
no differences, they are pale greenish yellow. It prefers deep, moist
woods, and is easily overlooked among the fresh growths of April
or May.
Toad trillium tsa typical member of the flora of the Middle Western
States, ranging from Mississippi to Florida, northward to Minnesota
and western New York; occasionally it crosses the Appalachian Moun-
tains and pushes down river valleys as far north as Maryland and south-
ernmost Pennsylvania. |
The specimen sketched grew on Plummers Island in the Potomac
River near Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE 23
SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA
Magnolia grandiflora Linnaeus
This stately magnolia is one of the most conspicuous trees of the
southern woods, occasionally attaining a height of seventy feet. It
proves hardy in cultivation as far north as Washington. The wonderful
creamy flowers, encircled by the large, glossy, evergreen leaves, spring
from the ends of almost every branch. Their delightful fragrance im-
mediately attracts attention when the tree is at the height of its glory
in June. Several species of beetles patronize the blossoms, enticed by
the abundant pollen and nectar.
Today the members of the Magnolia Family found in America ate
but a remnant of the numerous species that flourished in pre-glacial
times from the mid-continental plains to the Arctic Circle. The fossil-
ized trunks found at Amethyst Mountain in Yellowstone Park, with
specimens of both fruit and leaves, give an indication of their grandeur
and beauty in former ages.
Southern magnolia is native throughout the Southern States from
Texas to Florida and northward to Arkansas and southeastern North
Carolina. It has been officially adopted as the State flower of both
Louisiana and Mississippi. |
PLATE 24
SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA
Magnolia grandiflora Linnaeus
FRUIT OF PLATE 24
As early autumn approaches, the fruit of the southern magnolia be-
comes conspicuous, and as it ripens the outer envelope cracks over each
seed compartment and the crimson seeds protrude from their downy
coverings. At this stage the tree affords a striking contrast of red fruit
and glossy green leaves. As time passes, the seeds loosen from the shell,
but are still attached to the conelike fruit by a slender white thread
about an inch long, finally dropping to the ground when the wind
blows them loose.
Southern magnolia is found native throughout the Southern States,
from Texas to Florida, northward to Arkansas and southeastern North
Carolina.
The specimen painted was taken from the large tree just south of
the White House, and was given me by Mrs. Coolidge.
PLATE 24A
TRUMPETLEAF
Sarracenia flava Linnaeus
Anyone who has traveled through the South in spring and has been
delighted by the fresh verdute of ferns and trees, cannot fail to have
been attracted by the great numbers of these curious plants, which can
be observed ftom the car windows. The trumpetleaf is the largest
representative of the Pitcherplant Family, the yellow flowers measur-
ing as muchas five inches in diameter, and the yellowish-green tubular
leaves, ftequently veined with red on the pointed lid, growing two to
three feet high. The inside of the leaves neat the top has a very smooth
and slippery waxed surface, so that flies and other insects that ate at-
tracted by an exudation just above the waxed surface, lose their hold
and slide to their death in the digestive liquid which the pitchers
contain. All the members of this family have arrangements for utiliz-
ing the dead insects to their own advantage.
The trumpetleaf grows in damp acid soils, from northern Florida
to the southernmost counties of Virginia.
The specimen sketched was brought into flower by Dr. F. V. Coville
in a greenhouse of the Department of Agriculture in Washington.
These plants ate easy to cultivate if placed in a pot filled with acid soil
made from a mixture of peat and sand, and this put into another pot
of two inches greater diameter, the space between being filled with
sphagnum moss. They should be kept in a cool greenhouse.
PLATE 25
REDBUD
Cercis canadensis Linnaeus
When the dogwood buds are bursting into bloom in early spring,
a companion tree, the redbud, is seen throughout our southern woods,
its knotted branches covered with clusters of purplish-pink, pea-shaped
flowers. In favorable localities the tree attains a height of forty or fifty
feet, though usually much smaller. The leaves, which develop after the
flowers, ate heart-shaped—quite unlike those of most legumes—and
ate a glossy gteen, turning to yellow in autumn. The flowers are well
supplied with nectar, and are most attractive to bees, who visit them
in large numbers. In some regions the redbud is known as Judas-ttee,
a name properly applied to the Old World species, Cercas stlequastrum.
The tree has a wide range, from Texas to Florida and northward.
Though best developed in the South, it has been able to migrate north
as far as Minnesota and northern New Jersey, and even a short distance
into southern Ontario.
The specimen drawn was collected near Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 26
TALL LARKSPUR
Del phinium elongatum Rydberg
Tall larkspur is found in rich mountain valleys, where it loves to
grow among the willow clumps that partially shade the soil about its
roots. It is usually from two to four feet in height, and if free from
other plants has a striking clump of basal leaves, above which rise the
long spikes of rich purplish-blue flowers, swaying in the breezes. The
power to fertilize themselves having been lost, cross-pollination is
effected by bees and butterflies, whose tongues reach into the deep
recesses of the flowets whete the nectar is hidden. The name Delphi-
nium was given by Linnaeus, from a fancied resemblance of the parts
of the flower to a dolphin.
Tall larkspur has a narrow tange, being found only from Colorado
to Alberta.
The specimen drawn was collected on the Clearwater River, fifty
miles north of Lake Louise Station, Alberta, at an altitude of 4,500 feet.
PLATE 27
RHODORA
Rhodora canadensis Linnaeus
Rhodotra is sutrounded with romantic interest, because of the atten-
tion drawn to it by Emetson’s verses. It is the only plant of its genus.
The tosy-purple flowers, usually appearing before the leaves, burst sud-
denly into bloom and form masses of color on wet hillsides or along the
margins of acid swamps. Their shape suggests a relationship to the
thododendron, with which this plant is grouped by some botanists.
Rhodora bushes grow from one to three feet high, and are inconspic-
uous except when in flower. |
The range of rhodora is rather limited; presumably it survived the
glacial period near the margins of the ice sheets, and it now occupies
glaciated territory from northeastern Pennsylvania to Newfoundland.
The specimen sketched was collected at Pocono Manor, Pennsyl-
vania.
THE RHODORA
In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
_To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals, fallen in the pool,
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being:
Why thou were there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask, I never knew;
But in my simple ignorance suppose
The self-same Power that brought me there brought you.
RatpH WaLpDo EMERSON.
PLATE 28
PICKERELWEED
Pontederia cordata Linnaeus
On the flats bordering the Anacostia River in Washington, the rank
growths of the various marsh plants form a broad belt of vegetation
of striking appearance. Perhaps because of their color, the flowers of
pickerelweed are not so conspicuous as those of some other members
of the colony, but in spite of this its glossy green leaves, borne well
above the surface of the water, and its ragged spikes of small blue or
lavender flowers, continuing in bloom through most of the summer,
ateadelight to behold. Without a boat it is almost impossible to gather
the blooms, growing from the soft mud that supports the outer pha-
lanxes of aquatic plants. The flowers of the pickerelweed, which last
buta single day, are in three forms. They do not produce seeds without
the aid of insects, and it is an interesting study to examine them in
detail with a glass and note the complicated structure by which they
ate able to obtain the greatest amount of benefit from their insect
visitors. Giulio Pontedera, professor of botany at Padua about 1730,
is commemorated by the generic name.
Pickerelweed is found from Florida to Texas and northward to
Minnesota and Nova Scotia, and grows also in tropical America.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 29
CREEPING HOLLYGRAPE
Berberis repens Lindley
The shiny, prickly leaves of the hollygrape are so nearly like holly,
that upon first glance we may think we have found that tree, reduced
to a bush or low plant creeping over the ground. Closer inspection
reveals many differences, for the berties, growing in a bunch, are of a
lovely blue color—almost like small grapes—with plenty of bloom.
They are rather pungent and sour to the taste, but are good for jelly or
for making a refreshing drink, most welcome to quench the thirst
when climbing a mountain side. As autumn approaches, the leaves
change to red, either all over or around their borders, and are then most
attractive in coloring. They remain upon the plant all winter.
Creeping hollygrape is found from California and New Mexico to
Alberta and British Columbia. The Oregon hollygtape, Berberts aqus-
folium, often known as Oregon grape, has been designated the State
flower of Oregon, by vote of the legislature. Three species of holly-
gtape occur abundantly in the Pacific Northwest.
The specimen sketched was gathered in Sinclair Canyon, Columbia
River Valley in British Columbia, at an altitude of 3,500 feet.
PLATE 30
RED CHOKEBERRY
Aronia arbutifolia (Linnaeus filius) Elliott
The red chokeberry is a smallshrub found in low grounds, swamps,
and dry open woods, and though not particular as to moisture in choos-
ing a situation, usually prefers rather acid soils. The cymes and the
under surface of the leaves ate woolly, and in spring, when in full
bloom, it is a graceful and handsome plant.
Examination of the individual flowers will show them to resemble
those of the pear tree in structure, and the plant is referred by botanists
to that group of the Rose Family which includes the pear, apple, and
hawthorn.
Red chokeberry may be found from Louisiana and Florida to
Minnesota and Nova Scotia.
The flowetssketched grew neat Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE 31
RED CHOKEBERRY
Aronia arbutifolia (Linnaeus filius) Elliott
FRUIT OF PLATE 31
The fruit of the red chokeberry ripens in August or September, and
later in the season the whole bush becomes a gorgeous mass of orange
and scarlet color. The fruits are shaped like miniature pears, and this,
together with their bright coloring, often tempts the stranger to taste
them, but the result is sure to be a disappointment, for they ate exces-
sively sour as well as bitter. The birds do not seem to mind this feature,
however, and consume them greedily during the winter months. A
bush or two should be planted in the garden of every bird lover.
The ted chokeberry ranges throughout the eastern United States and
into southernmost Canada.
Like the flowers, the spray of berties sketched is from the vicinity of
Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE 31A
DEVILSCLUB
chino pana horridum (Smith) Decaisne and Planchon
The devilsclub is a sturdy shrub, rising above the ground four or
five feet on stout prickly stems. The maplelike leaves spread from
the stems about a foot below the red berries, and hide the ground, so
that one is not aware of its terrible spines until he tries to walk
through a thicket. No heavy woolen garment or leather shoe 1s stout
enough to withstand the bristling, hard, gray spines. Without the help
of an axe and a strong arm behind it, the thickets of devilsclub in
the Selkirk Mountains are often almost impenetrable. The scarlet
berries ate very showy in late summet.
This plant belongs to the Aralia Family, which includes other spiny
shrubs, such as the Herculesclub of the southeastern United States, as
~ wellas ginseng and wild-sarsaparilla.
The range of the devilsclub is from Oregon, Montana, and Michi-
gan to Alaska.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Field, British Columbia,
at an altitude of 4,000 feet.
PLATE 32
CRESTED IRIS
Iris cristata Aiton
The crested iris is dwarf in habit and its lance-shaped leaves of
bright green taper at each end. The flowers, which appear in May,
seem out of proportion to the size of the plant. Their broad outer divi-
sions or petals have yellow, raised flutings along the center, which give
rise to the name. This lovely plant yields easily to cultivation in a wild
- gatden, being telatively indifferent as to soil reaction, but requiring
plenty of humus and enough rocks to insure good drainage.
The crested iris may be found from Georgia to Maryland and west to
Missouri and southern Indiana.
This specimen was sketched at Plummets Island in the Potomac
River near Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE 33
LILY TWAY BLADE
Liparis lilitfolia (Linnaeus) Richard
This little orchid is inconspicuous whete it grows, on account of
its protective coloring, which blends so perfectly with its surround-
ings, though a fascinating plant when examined closely. It blooms in
May and has two rich green leaves that clasp the flower stem and grow
from a solid perennial bulb. It is the easiest to cultivate of all our native
orchids, not being particular as to the reaction of the soil, although it
ptefers an abundance of humus.
The lily twayblade extends from Missouri to Georgia and north-
watd, and since the ice of the glacial period retreated has succeeded in
migtating as far north as Minnesota and Maine.
The specimen sketched grew on High Island in the Potomac River
neat Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE 3 4
MISSOURI PRICKLYPEAR
Opuntia polyacantha Haworth
The Missouri pricklypear is one of the commonest of the cactuses.
The flowers ate so beautiful that one forgets the wicked spines and the
still more dangerous spicules, which are found on the thick stems of
flat joints, until one endeavors to gather them. In the bright sunshine
of eatly morning thedry prairies in some sections are dotted with masses
of pale sulphut-yellow flowers, turning salmon in the late afternoon as
they fade. The sensitive stamens ate sometimes yellow and sometimes
ted, while the stigma-lobes, in the center, are always green. The irritable
stamens ate one of the provisions which nature makes to bring about
cross-pollination. Bees visit the cactus flowers to obtain the nectar.
When one of them settles upon the stamens, which spread widely apart
in bright sunlight, these at once turn inward and downwatd, covering
the insect and depositing the pollen on its back, legs, and head. This
pollen is then carried by the insect to the next flower and dropped upon
its stigma-lobes. Below the bright-colored petals is the spiny ovary,
which ripens into a dry, many-seeded fruit, this pricklypear being
one of the few which are not juicy.
The Missouri pricklypear may be found in dry places from New
Mexico, Missouri, and Wisconsin to Alberta and British Columbia.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Medicine Hat, Alberta,
Canada, at an altitude of 3,500 feet, a locality near the northern range
of this species and also near the northern limit of the Cactus Family. —
PLATE 35
BUTTERFLY WEED
Asclepias tuberosa Linnaeus
The butterflyweed is probably our most beautiful orange-colored
wild flower. Growing in poor sandy soil, it forms masses of brilliant
color wherever it finds a congenial foothold. The plants are visited by
hosts of butterflies, some of them especially adapted to the ctoss-
pollination of the flowers, which have entirely lost the ability to fer-
tilize themselves. Only insects with long tongues can reach the nectar
hidden in the deep recesses of the complicated blossoms, whose sttuc-
ture definitely places the plant in the Milkweed Family. Curiously
enough, however, its juice is not milky. The Indians are said to
have used the long roots of this and other milkweeds as a remedy
for vatious maladies, and herb doctors of a later day use them under
the name of pleurisy-root. Linnaeus dedicated the family to Aes-
culapius on account of its alleged healing qualites, though the name,
as he spelled it, is a Latinized corruption. The plant yields easily to
cultivation, provided it is planted in dry, sterile soil, and should be
grown in every wildflower garden with bright sunny exposure.
Butterfly weed hasa wide range, extending from Florida to northern
Mexico and north to Maine, Ontario, Minnesota, and Colorado.
The specimen sketched was found neat Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 36
SKUNKCABBAGE
Spathyema foetida (Linnaeus) Rafinesque
This first plant to flower in spring is easily found in swampy places,
where the richly colored, hooded spathe is seen pushing its way through
the moist earth, sometimes before the ground is free of snow. When
one peeps inside the hood, the small flowers are found dotting the
spadix more or less regularly. The rank insistent odor attracts many
flesh flies. The leaves come through the earth before the flower has
faded, and grow rapidly into showy, light green clumps, from one to
three feet high. At this time the odor is very strong. The fruit ripens in
September.
Like most of the members of the Arum Family, the skunkcabbage
is rather southern in its distribution, ranging from Missouri to Florida
and northward, locally reaching Minnesota and Maine, or even Nova
Scotia. |
The specimen sketched was found along Piney Branch, Washing-
ton, District of Columbia.
PLATE 37
RED-OSIER DOGWOOD
Cornus stolontfera Michaux
The red-osier dogwood is an attractive shrub, not only when in
bloom but also in the early fall, when its bunches of bluish-white bet-
ties ate borne in abundance, and the leaves change in color to scarlet,
purple, ot gold. The Indians used the scraped inner bark for smoking
purposes, and preferred it to any other plant, giving it the name ‘kinni-
kinnick”. In winter the slender, graceful, purplish-red stems are con-
spicuous and distinctive.
Red-osier dogwood may be found from Virginia to Newfoundland,
and from Mexico to Alaska, and at many places in the interior of the
continent.
The specimen sketched grew at Radium Hot Springs, in the Co-
lumbia River Valley, British Columbia, at 3,000 feet elevation.
PLATE 38 ©
BIRDSFOOT VIOLET
Viola pedata Linnaeus
The birdsfoot violet is one of the most beautiful members of the
Violet Family. The velvety purple color of the two upper petals,
combined with the pale blue-violet shade of the three lower ones,
contrasted with the bright orange anthers nestling in the center, im-
mediately attracts the attention of all who love wild flowers. Bumble-
bees, also yellow butterflies, visit the flowers and partake of the sweets
prepared for their enjoyment. When soil and exposure are favorable,
the ground is purple with the lovely blossoms, the absence of scent
being the only flaw in their perfection.
This plant prefers a dry situation where the soil is poor, sterile, and
acid, and should not be transferred to a wildflower garden unless satis-
fied in this respect, for in ordinary rich loam it will promptly die. It will
thrive best if planted in coarse gravel richly charged with decaying
wood and so rendered thoroughly acid. The small bulblike rootstock
is so poorly anchored in the soil and so easily lifted from its moor-
ings, that frequently it comes up when one attempts to pick the
flowers. Great care should therefore be taken in gathering them.
This violet is found from Louisiana to Florida, Minnesota, and
Massachusetts, the dark purple variety being much more frequent
in the southern portion of the range.
The specimen sketched was obtained neat Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 39
VIRGINIA SPIDERWORT
Tradescantia virginiana Linnaeus
The Virginia spiderwort loves the rich bordersof woods and thickets,
and is loveliest in the morning, when its blue petals open wide, showing
the golden anthers in sharp contrast. The plant continues in bloom for
some time, new flowets opening each morning, and enticing the bees
to a fresh feast of nectar. These insect visitors ate necessary to ctoss-
fertilization, and carry from one blossom to the next a heavy load of
pollen.
The genus is named for John Tradescant, gardener to King Charles I
of England, and belongs in the same family as the dayflower. [his and
the Pickerelweed Family are closely related.
The Virginia spiderwort may be found from Virginia to Arkansas,
northward to South Dakota and southern New York.
Thespecimen sketched grew neat Washington, Districtof Columbia.
PLATE 40
LEATHERFLOWER
Clematis viorna Linnaeus
The leatherflower is not so showy as the other membets of the
clematis group, nevertheless its graceful stems and leaves and reddish
purple blossoms are not uninteresting. The sepals are remarkable in
being a sixteenth of an inch thick, as if made of leather instead of the
delicate tissue usual in flowers in which petals are lacking and the sepals
ate required to take their place. The feathery fruit, more attractive than
the flowers, is erect and silky, each individual “seed” possessing a tail
almost two inches long, by means of which it may be carried by the
wind, when ripe, to a favorable situation.
This scrambling vine may be found in thickets where the soil 1s
rocky but rather rich, from Alabama and Georgia northward to Ohio
and Pennsylvania. |
The sketch was made from a specimen gathered near Washington,
District of Columbia.
PLATE 41
PURPLE SAXIFRAGE
Saxifraga oppositifolia Linnaeus
The putple saxiftage ts truly an alpine plant. In the Canadian Rock-
ies itis found above ttee line near the melting snows on southern slopes,
where it comes quickly into bloom in the long days of early summer,
and as quickly is past, leaving the matted rosettes of tiny, bright green
leaves, dotted with dull red seed capsules, to reward our search, if, per-
chance, we ate a few days too late to find it in bloom. It delights in
disintegrated limestone, often growing in cracks between the tocks.
Though plentiful in its chosen situation, it is not often seen by visi-
tors, who must make a hard climb to reach its haunts. In Alaska and
near the Arctic Circle it finds the most favorable conditions for perfect
development, growing into large mats.
The purple saxifrage is typical of Arctic regions throughout the
world, and no doubt survived the glacial period close to the margins of
the great ice sheets. W hen these withdrew, it followed back on the bate ©
rock surfaces. It is now found occasionally in the northern United
States, from Wyoming to Vermont, and more abundantly northward.
The specimen sketched grew on the slopes of Fossil Mountain neat
Baker Lake, seven miles northeast of Lake Louise Station, Albetta,
at an altitude of 8,000 feet.
PLATE 42
FLAME AZALEA
Azalea lutea Linnaeus
The flame azalea is the most conspicuous of the native membets of
this genus. Its brilliant orange or yellow coloring, frequently suffused
with ted, attracts attention even from a distance, and when the
mountain sides are flecked with it, the effect is particularly striking.
The green leaves, which ate well developed before the flowers open,
add greatly to the beauty of the plant. It yields easily to cultivation and
under favorable conditions, when grown with other plants requir-
ing an acid soil, is one of the loveliest native shrubs for planting.
_ Flame azalea is a typical member of the flora of our Southern
Appalachians, ranging from the uplands of Georgia northward, and
being abundant as far as West Virginia. In the mountains of Pennsyl-
vania it is rate,and though reported many years ago to grow in south-
ern New York State, it has long since disappeared from there as a
native plant.
The sketch was made from a specimen obtained near Linville,
North Carolina.
PLATE 43
RABBITBEAN
Cracca virginiana Linnaeus
The gray-green foliage of the rabbitbean makes a delightful back-
ground fot its straw-colored, pea-shaped flowets, touched with red, and
ctowded at the end of a stiff stem. The plant blooms in early summer
and is to be found in dry, sandy, acid soil. Should you wish to gather
a bunch, you will find the stems and the unusually long roots sur-
ptisingly tough, and a serviceable substitute for twine, if necessity
demands. It is, indeed, commonly known in the South as devil's shoe-
string.
The seeds are in bean-shaped pods, which are frequently rifled by
weevils, so that few of them ever teach maturity.
The Indians used a tropical American species of this genus as fish
poison in the same manner in which they employed many other plants,
throwing the macerated stems into quiet streams or ponds, with the
result that the fish became stupefied and floated on the surface of the
water, so that they were easily taken.
Rabbitbean ranges from Texas to Florida and northward to Mani-
toba and Ontario.
The specimen sketched was collected near Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 44
TULIPTREE
Liriodendron tulipifera Linnaeus
This beautiful tree is a joy to behold at any season of the year. Its bare
gtay branches outlined against the winter sky impress one with theit
vigor of growth and sturdy health, and when the warmer days and
Aprilshowers swell the buds, and the tiny young leaves appear, the tree
bursts into its supreme glory. If in a sunny situation, it is soon covered
with green tulip-shaped flowers, each cup beautifully decorated with
a brilliant orange bar, to entice the visiting bees. In autumn the leaves
are a mass of orange and gold.
The tuliptree is the only member of the genus Liriodendron in
America, though a closely related species flourishes in central China,
these two being the sole survivals of the Cretaceous Period, when
members of the genus were widely distributed in America and Europe.
Though it reaches its greatest size in the lower Ohio Basin, sometimes
growing almost 200 feet high, it is found in the eastern United States
from Louisiana to Florida and northward to Michigan and southern
Vermont.
The wood has avariety of commercial uses, while the bark, especially
that of the roots, yields a tonic and heart stimulant. The blossom of the
tuliptree is the State flower of Indiana.
The specimen sketched was obtained at Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 49
TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE
Lonicera sempervirens Linnaeus
While tramping through open woods or along streams in low
ground, the attention may be attracted toa bit of red color quite in con-
trast to the brown leaves and gray tree trunks or low-growing bushes.
Closer inspection reveals the gray stems that lead to the leafy shoots
above, whete the delicate trumpet-shaped flowers are clustered at the
ends of the branches. Few vines ate more attractive; the plant seems
to poise itself in the most graceful way as it climbs from one support-
ing shrub to another.
The flower is a great favorite with humming birds, which fre-
quently ate seen probing the trumpets to obtain the delicious nectar
to be found in them.
The fruit is a brilliant scarlet berry. The plant is a great addition
to any wild garden.
Trumpet honeysuckle ranges from Texas to Florida, and north-
watd to Nebraska, its northern limit being reached in New York
and southern New England.
The specimen sketched was collected at Yemassee, South Carolina.
PLATE 46
RED BUCKEYE
Aesculus pavia Linnaeus
The red buckeye is a straggling, inconspicuous shrub in the south-
ern woods until it comes into bloom, when it immediately attracts
attention by its bright red flowers which ate borne in a loose spike.
The stems of the new growths also ate red at bloomin g time, and the
tender green leaves with their red stems make an appropriate setting
for the flower spikes. It is usually a shrub three or four feet high,
but in favorable situations it sometimes attains tree size, although
nevet approaching the stature of its relatives, the Ohio buckeye and
the horsechestnut.
Red buckeye is a southern species, ranging from Texas to Florida,
and extending northward as far as southern Missouri and southeastern
Virginia. |
The specimen sketched was collected near Beaufort, South Carolina.
PLATE 47
ROSE PAINTBRUSH
Castilleja pallida (Linnaeus) Kunth
Crossing alpine meadows above tree line and on high passes in the
Canadian Rockies, one often finds the drier ground covered with masses
of tose paintbrush, growing in company with saxifrages and forget-
me-nots, wherever soil resulting from the disintegrating rock has been
deposited. The rose paintbrush varies from two to eight inches in
height, according to altitude and local conditions. The leafy bracts,
often mistaken for petals, range in color from greenish-white or pale
yellow to various shades of mulberry or dull pink. The actual flowers
have a dull-colored corolla, and are concealed between the bracts. The
plant belongs to the Figwort Family.
Rose paintbrush grows from Alberta and British Columbia to
Alaska, and also in Siberia.
The specimen sketched was obtained on the Clearwater River thirty
miles north of Lake Louise Station in British Columbia, at an altitude
of 8,000 feet.
PLATE 48
SHOOTINGSTAR
Dodecatheon meadia Linnaeus
Shootingstar is not particular in choosing a habitat, for it is found
in open woods, on moist hillsides, or where the meadows broaden
into prairies. It belongs to the Primrose Family, and is distantly related
to the Asiatic cyclamen familiar in cultivation, being in fact some-
times called wild cyclamen. It thrives in rich garden soil, where the
flowers often become larger than in the wild state, and it should find
a place in our gardens. |
This species of shootingstar has a rather wide distribution, ranging
through the prairies, where the flowers are often red, from Texas to
Georgia, and northward into Manitoba; it also extends eastward
through the Appalachians, reaching the Piedmont from North Cato-
lina to Pennsylvania. The genus Dodecatheon is best represented in
the West, where many species occur.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 49
PRAIRIE PENTSTEMON
Pentstemon erizanthera Pursh
Praitie pentstemon is one of a large genus of plants, embracing
about one hundred and forty species, all of which ate natives of North _
America. Wherever present they are likely to be found in great
numbers, especially in the West, where they are very conspicuous. [his
species grows in small clumps on dry hillsides. Its large flowers are
wonderfully varied in coloration, ranging from blue, through various
shades of dull purple, to pale pink. They belong in the Figwort Family.
The ptaitie pentstemon may be found from Nevada, Nebraska, and
North Dakota to British Columbia and Washington.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Sinclair Hot Springs, in
the Columbia River Valley, British Columbia, at an elevation of 2,500
feet:
PLATE 5O
WILD SWEET CRAB
Malus coronaria (Linnaeus) Miller
What sweeter blossoms are to be found in spring than those of the
wild sweet crab? Itis usually a low bushy tree, growing perhaps twenty
feet high, with tangled branches making a flat top, quite inconspicuous
in its wild surroundings. But when early spring is past, and the bushes
are masses of tender green, the pink buds appear, and soon the whole ts
covered with lovely flowers, whose sweet scent is wafted far on every
breeze. The fruit, also, is sweet-scented, and can be made into elegant
delicious jelly.
The wild sweet crab is a native of the Central States, extending from
Louisiana and Alabama northward to Michigan and Ontario, but in
cultivation over a much wider range.
This specimen was collected near Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE §1
PITCHERPLANT
Sarracenia purpurea Linnaeus
The pitcherplant is found in peat bogs, where the acid soil provides
ideal conditions for its successful growth. The pitcher-shaped leaves
gtow from a central crown, and ate partially filled with water and a
digestive substance. The inner surfaces of the leaves ate lined with
bristles which project downward, and these prevent many small insects
that slide into the water from escaping. Thus they ate trapped, drowned,
and digested. These dead insects are also used as food by the larvae of
sevetal species of sarcophagous flies, which are instrumental in the
cross-pollination of the flower, and ate always found where the pitchet-
plant grows.
The flowers are borne on a stem from six inches to two feet tall
a vigorous plant often yielding seven or eight blossoms. .
A cool greenhouse is necessary for successful indoor cultivation. It
is well to place the plant in a flower pot filled with acid soil made from
a mixture of peat and sand, and to set this pot inside another of two
inches greater diameter, the space between the two being filled with
sphagnum moss, which should be kept moist.
The pitcherplant is one of the plants that was pushed southward by
the ice cap during glacial times. Since the great ice sheet retreated it has
been gradually moving northward, and now tanges from Florida to
Kentucky and lowa, and north to Labrador and Manitoba.
The specimen sketched was collected in eastern Maryland.
PLATE §2
PRAIRIE-SMOKE
Szeversia ciliata (Pursh) Don
This pretty and graceful plant grows in grassy meadows, where its
ted flowers, which resemble buds, its ctimson stems, and plumed fruit
immediately attract attention. In late summer the silky fruit heads
give to dense patches of the plants dispersed over the plains, a purplish
hazy appearance, when viewed from a distance.
The plant belongs to that group of the Rose Family which in-
cludes the cinquefoils and barren-strawbetries,and is most nearly related
to the geums, being in fact listed in some books as Geam triflorum.
As its name suggests, this plant is typical of the prairie region of the
- United States, ranging from New Mexico to Missouri and northward.
It extends well up into the eastern valleys of the Rocky Mountains, as
far north as Alberta, and has also migrated across southern Canada and
the northern United States as far as Maine.
The specimen sketched was collected near Banff, Alberta, Canada,
at an altitude of 4,000 feet.
PLATE 53
WINTERBERRY
Lex verticillata (Linnaeus) Gray
In spring, when all nature is awakening, we easily overlook this
inconspicuous shrub, from four to six feet tall, with tender leaves
and tiny flowers, growing indamp acid ground among the other dent-
zens of neglected places. But when autumn passes and the stems ate
stripped of their leaves, the fine red berries come into their own, and
lend a delightful touch of color to the winter landscape. The whole
top of the bush is covered with berries, and it then vies with its cousin,
the holly, in beauty and interest, and in radiating Christmas cheer
and good will.
The berries stay on the branches till late winter, and are rarely eaten
by birds. A form with yellow fruit has been found in New England.
Another member of the genus Ilex 1s the well-known shrub, maté,
whose leavesare largely used in South America for making a beverage
similar to Chinese tea. From yaupon, an Lex of our Southern States,
the Indians make a stimulating drink, and it is now being placed on
the market, under the name Cassina, as a substitute for tea.
Winterberry ranges from Missouri to Florida, and northward to
Wisconsin and Nova Scotia.
The specimen sketched was collected near Washington, District
of Columbia.
PLATE 54
SWEET AZALEA
Azalea arborescens Pursh
The sweet azalea is one of the contributions to our flora from the
Appalachian Mountains, where so many attractive plants were found
by the early botanists. Its delightfully fragrant, spicy, white flowers
appear in June when the leaves are well developed and afford a fine
- green background for the blossoms. The foliage often turns brilliant
red in late autumn.
The plant loves a well drained, deep, moist, acid soil, and under
favorable conditions becomes a spreading clump, which blooms freely.
Itis perhaps the largest of our native azaleas, occasionally attaining a
height of twenty feet.
Sweet azalea occurs in the mountains from Georgia northward
into Pennsylvania.
The sketch was made from a plant found in the vicinity of Linville,
North Carolina, at the foot of Grandfather Mountain.
PLATE 55
KRUHSEA
Kruhsea streptopoides (Ledebour) Kearney
Anyone who has visited Glacier House, and walked to the foot of
the Ilecillewaet Glacier, may have noticed beds of shiny green-leaved
plants suggestive of a small Solomonseal. The tiny greenish, bell-
shaped flowers hang from the under side of the stem, however, and are
usually missed by the transient visitor, whose efforts ate centered merely
on climbing the trail to reach the edge of the ice. This tare member
of the Lily-of-the-valley Family has a somewhat restricted range, and
is especially interesting because it is one of those plants common to
both the American and Asiatic shores of the Pacific Ocean.
It may be found from northern Washington tosouthern Alaska and
in the Selkirks of British Columbia; also in Japan and Siberia.
The specimen sketched gtew at Glacier, British Columbia, at an
elevation of 3,500 feet.
PLATE 56
KRUHSEA
Kruhsea streptopotdes (Ledebour) Kearney
. FRUIT OF PLATE 56
The change wrought in vegetation during a few weeks of growing
weather is very great in mountain regions at the latitude of Glacier
House, and when autumn approaches,the tiny green flowersof Kruhsea
have developed rapidly into large, pulpy, red berries, which contrast
strikingly with the yellow leaves and soon fall to the ground.
On this continent Kruhsea grows from northern Washington to
southern Alaska, and in Asia it is recorded from both Japan and Siberia.
The specimen sketched was obtained at the same locality as the
flowets shown in the preceding plate, at Glacier, British Columbia, at
3,500 feet elevation. |
PLATE 56A
ARETHUSA
Arethusa bulbosa Linnaeus
The arethusa has a single large, one-sided flower with a delicate
scent like that of fresh red raspberries. The recurved lip, with its
fringes, forms a capital landing platform for visiting insects. As with
many other orchids, the bees ate frequent visitors to this plant. The
flower is so constructed that the bee, in raising his head to depart after
sipping the nectar, comes in contact with a few soft pellets of pollen,
which ate deposited upon his head from the helmet-shaped anther.
Some of this pollen may be transferred to the stigmas of the next flower
that he visits, although more often it is brushed off by other parts of
the flower. Because of the infrequency of cross-pollination seeds rarely
Matutfe.
The name was given to the plant by Linnaeus, who tecalled the
myth of the nymph Arethusa, changed by Diana into a fountain, in
order to protect her from the river god Alphaeus, who fell deeply in
love with her on seeing her at her bath.
Owing to the great demand for this orchid by European collectors,
it has been nearly exterminated in many sphagnum bogs whete it
formerly grew in great abundance.
Arethusa may be found from North Carolina ere to Maine
and Newfoundland, and westward to Indiana and Minnesota.
The specimen sketched was obtained fromaswampa few miles east
of Washington, District of Columbia, where the plant is extremely rare.
PLATE 57
PALE LA DYSLIPPER.
Cypripedium acaule Aiton
The pale ladyslipper is even lovelier than the common form of
this beautiful orchid, which has pink flowers. The pale form is fre-
quent in the North, but one whoisso fortunate as to find it in the more
southern part of its range, experiences a thrill that is not likely to be
- forgotten. If the soil is kept strongly acid, the plant will readily yield to
culture in a wildflower garden, and will flourish in either dry or moist
situations, and in sun or shade. A dressing of pine needles or oak leaves
will help to conserve the moisture, as well as the acidity of the soil.
No attempt should be made, however, to cultivate it in seer garden
soil, for there it is sute to die.
The pale ladyslipper may be found from North Carolina and
Tennessee northward to Manitoba and Newfoundland.
The specimen sketched grew near Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE 58
QUAKERLADIES
Houstonia caerulea Linnaeus
Quakerladies, sometimes called bluets and innocence, are among
our earliest spring flowers, and delight flower lovers by their dainty
growth and faint, sweet odor. Occurring plentifully in moist meadows
and wayside places, they sometimes completely carpet the ground. They
may be gathered freely, without fear of extermination. They continue
blooming into early summer, and frequently put forth a second bloom
in late fall. No wildflower garden would be complete without them,
a tather sterile and acid soil and a fair amount of sunshine being all that
they ask.
Linnaeus named this plant in honor of Dr. William Houston, a
young English botanist, who died in South America after an exhaust-
ing collecting trip around the Gulf of Mexico in 1733.
Quakerladies are widely distributed, being found from Georgia and
Alabama northward to eastern Canada and Michigan.
The plant sketched grew at Washington, District of Columbia.
PLATE $9
BEARBERRY HONEYSUCKLE
Lonicera involucrata (Richardson) Banks
Beatberry honeysuckle is a plant that is conspicuous in July when
the fruit ripens. The coarse, hairy leaves are of a dark rich green, and
the twin berries, glossy black in color, ate surrounded by a red frill, a
combination which makes the bush very decorative. The unpreten-
tious sttaw-colored flowers may sometimes be found on the younger
branches along with the fruit produced by those that come into bloom
earlier. If the bush 1s shaken, the ripe fruit falls easily. Its disagreeable
flavor has gained for it the name of skunkberry in some regions.
Bearberry honeysuckle may be found from Quebec to Michigan,
New Mexico, and California, and northward to Alaska.
The specimen sketched was collected near Hector, British Colum-
bia, at an elevation af 4,000 feet.
PLATE 60
PINK FLEABANE
Erigeron caespitosus Nuttall
The pink fleabane may be seen in great perfection in June in the
upper Columbia River Valley. It seems to delight in dry, sandy soils,
and especially after a shower, its graceful clumps of daisylike flowers,
vatiously shaded from white to pink or pale purple, ate a delight to the
eye. It is a member of a group of plants widely distributed in North
America, and represented in the Rocky Mountains by a hundred or more
Species. |
Pink fleabane ranges from Colorado and Utah to the Yukon.
The specimen drawn was collected in the Saskatchewan River
Valley, fifty miles north of Lake Louise, Alberta, at an altitude of
3,500 feet.
PLATE 61
LABRADOR-TEA
Ledum groenlandicum Oeder
Who that has traveled by the Canadian Pacific Railway in June,
along the north shore of Lake Superior and across the boggy country
traversed by that railroad, has not noticed the masses of low bushes
covered with feathery heads of white flowers? When the mountains
ate reached we still find the shrub growing luxuriantly in full sun-
shine or adapting itself to more shaded situations, provided the ground
is sufficiently wet. The margins of the leaves are rolled, and their
under surface is coveted with brown wool.
The leaves have an aromatic fragrance, and were used by the early
settlers as a substitute for tea, but the beverage is rather too much like
turpentine to be palatable.
Labradot-tea is one of the members of the Heath Family and 1s
at home in northern regions. During the glacial period it probably
sutvived near the margins of the ice sheets, and when these melted
back, followed them closely and became widespread in the glaciated
territory, wherever acid soils developed. It now grows from the high-
lands of New Jetsey northward and westward far into the Rocky
Mountains and the Arctic regions. It was in fact given the specific
name groenlandicum because it was first discovered in Greenland.
The specimen sketched came from the White Mountains in New
Hampshite.
PLATE 62
NORTHERN BEDSTRAW
Galium boreale Linnaeus
In many parts of North America northern bedstraw 1s a familiar
plant. Although essentially northern in its distribution, as its name
implies, it is not an Arctic plant, but seems to thrive best in regions
of only moderately cold climate. In the central and southern Rockies
it is abundant at middle and high altitudes, but farther north it
frequents the foothills, extending out upon the plains. The plant
sometimes forms dense clumps which afford a bouquet of feathery
white flower sprays that ate delicately scented. In the Rockies the
name wild heliotrope is occasionally applied to the plant, although
its fragrance is scarcely suggestive of our garden heliotrope.
Northern bedstraw grows in a great variety of situations, on open
banks among rocks and grasses, in aspen thickets, or along streams,
whete the abundant moisture develops luxuriant plants that are
sometimes two feet high. The species ranges from Pennsylvania,
Missouri, and southern California, northward over the greater part of
Canada and Alaska, and is widely distributed also in northern Europe
and Asia.
This plant is one of a large group of the Madder Family, some
members of which produce, in their roots, a red or purple dye. Most
of our American bedstraws ate unattractive plants, with weak rough
stems and insignificant flowers.
The sketch was made from a specimen found near Banff, Alberta,
Canada.
PLATE 63
BRONZEBELLS
Stenanthium occidentale Gray
Bronzebells is so delicate and graceful a lily, and has such a modest
coloring of green and dark maroon, that it is almost hidden among
the vegetation of the moist rich woods, where it prefers to grow.
Flowering in company with Rocky Mountain rhododendron and
menziesia, it is always a delight to the lover of the beautiful who
has eyes to see the variety in nature’s handiwork, and will search for
her hidden treasutes.
Bronzebells ranges from Montana and Oregon to Alberta and
British Columbia.
The specimen sketched was obtained in the Yoho Valley, ten
miles from Field, British Columbia, at an altitude of 4,500 feet.
PLATE 64
ROUNDLEAF ORCHIS
Orchis rotundifolza Pursh
The roundleaf orchis loves the wet shores of alpine lakes and
frequently grows in sphagnum moss along the borders of mountain
brooks in partially shaded, wet places. Where conditions ate favorable
it occurs in abundance, though often overlooked by the flower lover
because of larger and tanker plants surrounding it. The single rounded
leaf is a distinguishing characteristic, and the sweet scent of the
flowets is so pervasive that 1t sometimes attracts attention before the
bloom 1s discovered. Except for a single Alaskan species, it is the only
American member of a group tepresented in Europe and Asia by
eighty species or more.
The roundleaf orchis is a plant of northern range and is not known
to grow south of the limits reached by the ice sheets of the glacial
period. It must have survived close to the edge of the ice, and
migtated back rapidly when this retreated. Although it died out from
the places where it survived glaciation, 1t has subsequently spread
across the continent, from northern Maine to British Columbia and
northward to Greenland and Alaska.
The specimen sketched grew at Emerald Lake, seven miles from
Field, British Columbia, at an altitude of 3,800 feet.
PLATE 65
PRICKLY CURRANT
Ribes lacustre (Persoon) Poiret
The prickly currant is a beautiful bush when in bloom. Its graceful
branches are then ornamented with dainty racemes of yellowish flow-
ets, shaded with red, and the delicate green leaves are of a tint best
suited to show them off to perfection. When growing on asteep slope,
with full exposure to the sun, the plant is so pleasing that one wonders
why it has not been transplanted to cultivated gardens.
Prickly currant is found from Pennsylvania to Newfoundland and
from California to Alaska.
The specimen sketched was collected on the slopes of Mt. Wapta,
ten miles by trail from Field, British Columbia, at an altitude of 7,000
feet.
PLATE 66
PRICKLY CURRANT
Ribes lacustre (Persoon) Poiret
FRUIT OF PLATE 66
Though never very abundant, the prickly currant is found in some
tegions of the Rocky Mountains in sufficient quantity to furnish a
delightful dish. When stewed and eaten with venison or wild mut-
ton, it makes a deliciously spicy sauce. When raw, the berries are rather
sour, and are eaten only for want of something better.
Prickly currant may be found from Pennsylvania to Newfoundland
and from California to Alaska.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Glacier Lake, on the
headwaters of the Saskatchewan River, fifty miles north of Lake
Louise, British Columbia, at an altitude of 6,000 feet.
PLATE 67
GLACIERLILY
Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh
The glacierlily seems to radiate the spirit of the high places, and with
bright sunshine and pure air helps to entice the lover of nature to the
mountain tops. Along the edges of the melting snow the pointed,
green, daggerlike leaves push upward, often through the snow itself,
and soon the flower bursts into bloom, exhaling a delicious fragrance
quite distinct from any other we experienced in the mountains. Car-
peting the ground with gold, the plant may be found even in mid-
summer, along with springbeauties, yellow violets, and buttercups,
whete the spring avalanches have lodged their load of snow and thus
held the early flowers in cold storage. The name avalanche lily is often
applied to it because of this fact. At lower altitudes it grows in
gteater numbers and with longer stems, but always with the same
lovely coloring of brilliant green and gold. It is rarely found below an
elevation of 4,000 feet.
The glacierlily is evidently adapted to grow in regions of heavy
snowfall, and no doubt survived the glacial period close to the edge of
the ice from Wyoming to Washington, having since pushed north-
watd into the mountains of British Columbia and Alberta.
The specimen sketched was obtained on the slopes of Mt. Wapta,
above Emerald Lake near Field, in the Canadian Rockies, at an altitude
of 6,000 feet.
PLATE 68
BALSAMROOT
Balsamorhiza sagittata (Pursh) Nuttall
Wherever it is found, balsamroot is a striking plant. The arrow-
shaped leaves, blue-green on the upper surface and white on the under
side, ate borne on stalks five ot six inches long, above which the
handsome yellow flowets are poised on still longer stems. When in
bloom these plants brighten whole mountain sides with gold. The
plant prefers moist situations on partially shaded, steep slopes, but in
the lower valleys it frequents the borders of swampy land, among
coarse grass and alder and willow bushes. The hotses love to feed upon
it, and will never pass a fine clump in perfection of leaf and bloom,
unless urged on. The large fleshy roots are eaten by the Indians, and in
Utah they are commonly called Mormon biscuit, because of their use
by the early immigrants in times of scarcity.
Balsamroot is distributed from Colorado and California to British
Columbia and South Dakota.
The specimen sketched was obtained near Radium Hot Springs,
British Columbia, at an altitude of 3,500 feet.
PLATE 69
SILVERBERRY
Elaeagnus commutata Bernhardi
After crossing the plains and coming into the foothill country, the
traveler will observe many thickets of silvery-gray shrubs. In June,
on approaching these clumps he is greeted by the peculiar sweet
scent of the greenish funnel-shaped bells, with yellow petals, that
hang from the under sides of the branches. The leaves, when exam-
ined under a lens, are seen to be covered with silvery scales. Similar
scales covering the fruit have given the plant the name silverberry.
It is nearly related to the buffaloberry, and often grows with it. Both
are members of the group of plants known as the Oleaster Family,
which is considered by botanists to belong in the same order as the
loosestrifes and evening primroses.
Silverberry is found from Quebec to Minnesota and from Utah
to the Yukon.
The specimen sketched was collected near Ghost Rivet, twenty-
five miles northeast of Banff, Alberta, at an altitude of 4,000 feet.
PLATE 70
SILVERBERRY
Elaeagnus commutata Bernhard
FRUIT OF PLATE 70
We had known the silverberry for yeats and had enjoyed its sweet
fragrance, but had never seen fruit on the bushes until one occasion
when we wete traveling down the Kootenai River Valley, in the be-
ginning of September. Here all the plants were growing in great per-
fection, and in riding across a flat, through which a mountain stream
meandered, we came actoss some superb silverberry bushes, which
wete higher than our horses’ heads and loaded with fruit. They were
so beautiful that we carried a great bunch of them back to camp, tied
to the pommel of the saddle. Since then we have learned that the
berries are, in a sense, edible, though too dry and mealy to appeal to the
taste of most people, and so the prairie chickens and other birds ate
allowed to enjoy them in peace, throughout their broad range from
Quebec to Minnesota and Utah, and north to the Yukon.
The specimen sketched was obtained in the Kootenai River Valley,
British Columbia, at an altitude of 3,000 feet.
PLATE 71
TWINLEAF
Jeffersonia diphylla (Linnaeus) Persoon
Jeffersonia, commonly called twinleaf, is one of the earliest of
spring flowers. It blooms before the leaves are fully developed, and
is somewhat like a bloodroot in appearance. The long-stemmed leaf
blades ate parted nearly to the base, and as they are blown about by
the wind, remind one of a group of green butterflies, though they
lose this resemblance when fully developed, for they are then rather
stiff, This plant, which was named for Thomas Jefferson, can be
easily cultivated in a wildflower garden under the same conditions
that will render the bloodroot happy
Jeffersonia is most abundant west of the Appalachian Mountains,
from Tennessee northward to Minnesota, Ontario, and central New
York; locally, however, it has crossed the mountain barrier and pushed
down the river valleys, notably along the Potomac River in Virginia
and Maryland.
The sketch was made from a beautiful clump growing on Plum-
mets Island in the Potomac River near Washington, District of
Columbia.
PLATE 72
IVORY BANEBERRY
Actaea arguta Nuttall
Ivory baneberry is a white-fruited form of the red-fruited western
baneberty, Actaea arguta. \t prefers shady situations, near the borders
of mountain streams, where the soil is rich and the air damp. The
flowers, which have a sweet, sickish odor, appear in spring in racemes
two inches long at the ends of the slender stems. The white petals and
sepals soon fall, and the raceme lengthens. When the berries develop
and become heavy, the stems beating them appear almost too weak to
catty the load, and the fruits soon drop when ripe. The berries are said
to be poisonous, like the seeds of many other members of the But-
tercup Family, to which the plant belongs.
Ivory baneberty is found from Utah and Colorado to Alberta and
British Columbia.
The specimen sketched was collected near Vermilion Pass on the
motor road between Banff and the Columbia River Valley, at an alti-
tude of 4,000 feet.
PLATE 73
PINK MOUNTAINHEATHER
Phyllodoce empetriformis (Smith) Don
The mountainheathers of the Canadian Rockies are an inspiration
and a delight to those who climb to the higher places. They are found
near tree line and on the bare slopes just above it, and cover the moun-
tain sides with their deep green foliage. In blossom time they make a
wonderful carpet of color—pink, ted, and white. Among them all, the
pink mountainheather 1s in many respects the most beautiful.
On Burgess Pass, seven miles by trail from Field, British Columbia,
whete this specimen was gathered at an altitude of 7,000 feet, the color-
ing was almost like that of an India shawl. The seed-pods are deep red
and coveted with golden dots of resin.
Pink mountainheather ranges ftom California to Colorado and
northward to Alaska.
PLATE 74
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CASSIOPE
Cassiope mertensiana (Bongard) Don
With the exception of the rare orchids, the Rocky Mountain
cassiope is perhaps the most romantic of American mountain flowers.
It is found in perfection about tree line in the Canadian Rockies,
which is usually at an altitude of 6,500 to 7,500 feet. Here, in favor-
able localities, it frequently forms dense, thick mats, and when in full
bloom the plants are literally covered with delicate white bells. The
tiny stems holding the blossoms may be either green or red, and when
the flowers fall the seed capsules are usually red in color, becoming
brown as the season advances. Growth in a single season is rather
limited, and the stiff, woody stems underneath bear silent witness to
the vicissitudes of plants at high altitudes. To the camper a bed of
cassiope is most satisfying, for in addition to its springiness it
possesses an elusive fragrance that persists even when the plants are
quite dried out. The ted, pink, and white mountainheathers ate fre-
quently found growing with the cassiope, and add color to the wild-
flower carpet on the mountain sides.
Rocky Mountain cassiope is to be found from Montana to northern
California and Alaska.
The specimen sketched was obtained at Burgess Pass near Field,
British Columbia, Canada.
PLATE 75
ONE-LEAF BOG-ORCHID
Habenaria obtusata (Putrsh) Richardson
This orchid is exceptional in having but a single basal leaf: The
plant grows on the mossy banks of streams or in boggy places, de-
lighting in the peaty soil, where other members of the genus Habe-
natia flourish. Its green color renders it inconspicuous and easily
overlooked, especially when the larger, white, sweet-scented varieties
are its near neighbors. |
This species ranges from Maine, New York, and Colorado and
northward to Newfoundland and Alaska. |
This specimen was found at Hillsdale, eleven miles northwest of
Banff, Alberta, at an altitude of 4,000 feet.
PLATE 76
BUSH CINQUEFOIL >
Potentilla fruticosa Linnaeus
Bush cinquefoil is one of the showiest plants of the Canadian
Rockies, where it seems to find congenial surroundings almost evety-
where, flourishing in alpine meadows or on mountain slopes,and some-
times at high elevations, struggling against the mountain winds and
other advetse conditions to obtain a foothold. In midsummer it is
covered with clear yellow flowers, which appear to greater advantage
by reason of the silver-gray foliage that forms their background. In
moist limestone soils in New England it is classed as a weed, because of ©
its invasion of idle fields and pastutes.
This member of the Rose Family is found from California, New
Mexico, and New Jetsey northward to Alaska, central Canada, and
Labrador, as well as in Europe and Asia.
The specimen sketched was collected on the trail below Burgess
Pass, six miles from Field, British Columbia, at an altitude of 5,000 feet.
PLATE 77
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