Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1885-06-11
MONTANA'S WILD FLOW ERS.
The Great Variety and Beauty of Our
Wild Flowers.

All oI our 4aoiltstLd IioNeio are Idle II
the east. In fact, very few Of then
are to be found there at all.
We have many rare and beautiful
flowers here, and few cf them hav
other than scientific names.
Any observant person walking owe
the prairie in early spring is apt t.
see a pretty little yellow lily called
Fritellaria pudica, CT Chequered lily
It first appears in the coulees, Ths
stem is simple, bearing a solitary
orange yellow flower. The leaves arr
bright green, and the plant woult
form apleasing ornament to any flow
er garden There is also another
species, which is somewhat rarer, be
ing found only in the mountains.
False Solomons' Seal is very plenti
full. It also appears in the spring. 4
is not showy plant, but is neverthe
less pretty. Its flowers are small anC
white. The fruit is dark purple, fin
ally almost black.
Near the mountains we find Gallo
chartus Nuttallii. This is a very showy
plant, with long, slender, green leaves
It bears one large, white flower two
or three inches in diameter The pet
ais of these flowers are very thin and
are easily bruised. A species of this
same genus found in the mountains
exclusively is much prettier Inside
Of the flower are spots Of dark brown
and black which form a pleasing CON
trast with the ether coloring Of the
flower
All of the foregoing plants belong
to the Lily Family ana should be cul-
tivated fer their beauty
We have very few ferns in this part
of Montana and only one species is
really graceful. It is the Bladder
Fern, cistopleyis fragilis. This fern
has fronds from six inches to foot
high. They are delicate and graceful
and would make an excellent house
plant or the fronds would lock we'll in
a bouquet.
Everybody knows what Arnica is as
liniment, hut very few know the
plant in its native state We have
several species in this Territory. All
of them would look well in garden,
tecause of their bright yellow flowers
and soft, downy leaves.
A species Ct Blazing STAR is very
common here, that Is not found in the
east. The flowers Of this plant are on
spike and in color are rose-purple
Then we have several kinds Of ''Gold-
en-rod'' not found east of the Missis-
sippi.
Lark-spur is often found in gardens
in the east and we know of several
pelI tltS "uO St1Ib tttSt 1oi SStu. ut',t
could just as we'll have procured
young plants Of our Montana Lark
spur. It is quite as pretty as the g:r-
den varieties and being native here
it should claim the first attention from
all lovers Of flowers. This kind of
Lark spur begins to bloom when it is
only two or three inches cut of the
ground and continues to do so until
it is foot and half and sometimes
two feet in height. Tie flowers are
numerous and of fine blue-purple
color
The Golden or Missouri cu1rant is
abundant here, while in the east it is
totally unknown, except as an orna-
mental bush in gardens. It is a Ia
tive here, whereas in the east it is an
introduced plant. The many bright,
yellow flowers are borne on lax IA
GENES. The flowers are very fragrant.
Professor Wood remarks that it is "a
beautiful shrub six to ten feet high,
common in cultivation" The fruit
of this currant makes good sauce and
the juice boiled down with sugar and
strained make an excellent jelly of a
fine color.
We have another plant of the same
genus which also is good. It is a spe-
cies of goose-berry peculiar to the
west. In about two weeks or so from
this time its fruit will be lar enough
to pick. Last season the writer pick
ed about quart of these berries
while green and boiled them down
with sugar. The result was a rich
sauce of beautiful red color. Several
parties who saw the sauce and after
wards were shown some uncooked
berries, thought that some colorlng
matter had been added, because the
color was SO rich. However, such was
not tie case We would recommend
our friends to try these gooseber1ies.
They are common all along this river.
We have an Evening Primrose
which is very pretty and which has a
pleasant perfume The flowers are
about two inches in diameter, at first
white, latterly changing to pink.
In Montana there are fourteen spe-
cies or more of Artemisia or Worm