The morning news., 1889-05-20

/
size and beauty of form and fragrance,
and withal it is as characteristic of our
waters as the lotus is of the Nile. 1t is our
most Curious summer flower. 1t almost
| gives us the colors of The flag. There are
pink pond lilies, and in few localities the
rare blue pond lily opens its
flowers. The golden-hearted white pond
| lily tempts every schoolboy
who ever rolled up his trouser legs and
pulled its floating pads and long winding
stems. No other country has lilly ike 1t.
| Whatever flower we choose 1t should be one
which belongs to America"
| One of the best known women journalists
thus expresses her opiniol:
"Why wouldn't the ox-eyed daisy, which
young ladies' call the Marguerite, be go0d
| A merican national 1owers
| ut crowds out everything else. Where
once 1t gets foothold it stays, and cannot
be dislodged 1t is all-conquering. 1t is not
over-particular where it grows or how, but
it always gets there. Finally 1T is thor
oughly practical and unpoetic, and it
spreads over all creation"
| ELIZA ARCHARD CONNER.
| The ex-president of Sorosls. who was
still presiding over the fortunes of the IA
nous woman's club at the recent ce.ebra-
| tion of coming of its a .e, writes as follows:
! I'm country so large and noble as the
| United States it is difficult to suggest any
| flower that would represent all the differ
ent sections il mere sectionalisn were to be
considered. know of no flower that does
not develop more beautifully in its proper
habitat in the United States than in any
other part of the known world, but to my
| mind the flower that would best represent
| the idea of our government, its Strength
| aud beauty and the sturdy and heroic char
acter # its people, would be the rhododen-
drenoor laurel. This grows upon the high
mountaias or In the valleys. 1t is always
! brave and cheerful, giving its beautiful
| flowers IN the early spring and its uufadtng
| green l1tps the winter, lt is sturdy, true,
| hopeful, and know Of no other part of the
world whore it loves SO we'll to develop as in
| the United States.
"The ancients recogniz ID its significance
and beauty by using 1t in their wreaths of
victory. If adopted as our national flower
! its decorative power would be an exquisite
addition in our artistic development.
NJ LOUISE THOMAS.
The yellow ribbon is the badge of the
woman suffragst, as the white OF the tenn
| perance crusaders. A woman suffrage
leader chooses the hue which stands for the
| reform:
THE golden rod should certainly be our
| national flower. 1t is beautiful and grace
full, lending itself effectively to decorations.
But above all it is really a national flower,
every state of the union. As al advocate
of equal suffrage its color, of course, is Il
recommendation, but artistically, also, its
| yellow tints are worthy of admiration"
LILLE DEvEREUX BLAKE.
The author of the powerful temperance
novel Environment VINO Is also one of
the best known members of the literary
circle of Hartford, believes that national
flower is desired by Americans. She
says:
"Your timely revival of the question,
which believe has been touched upon, in
effectually, ones or twice before in
| the history of our country, as
to tho selection of an emble-
matte flower, strikes me as most inter
esting topic. We have flag AMI bird,
why not a flowerp Why not, indeed2
Our Yational flower should be not pie
bia,, but of dignity and beauty com
mensurate with our status as people, aud
| yet so generally known as to answer to the
| feeling of Americans all over our vast terri
| tory. Again il should be indigenous to the
sofia native American. 1t is not an easy
| thing to decide. | think the fl st flower
that occurs to one as dstinctively native is
the Indian corn or maize. You remember
| Its tasSels are carved in stone upon the
columns of the capitol at Washington. Th9
| potato blo;som-a little lavender beauty
| and the to5acC flower also come to mind :;
| but the vugarity of the use of the noxi0us
wee1, and tue suggestion of food about the
/ other two, seem TO remove them from an
| aesthetic choice.
| Again, the flower chosen should be
easily drawn and painted OF carved, of an
artistic simplicity of form AID color that
will blend with all hues. | can think of no
one which so near answers all these require
ments as what is commonly known as the
| American mountain laurel. Its proper
| name is kalmIa latifOlia and it should not
| be confounded with the laurels Of European
| growth and celebrity. IL is Indigenous to
the soil, being found in a dozen or mora
states from Massachusetts, to Virginia and
| unless | am mistaken, in various localities
| upon the Pacific slope. the regal beauty
| of its white corymbs of flowers, just touched
with blushing pink and their set ing with
4 the firm, glossy leather-lik9 leaves of the
| deepest perennial green, nffording a glimpse
of vivid emsrald among the bare forest
| trees VIII ich is no less cheering seen rising
| from drifts OF snow, than when the full
| beauty of tle towering shrub adOrns the
woody hilsides with wondrous loveliness
in early summer, entities the kalmia to a
high placa in our consideration.
Other h1wers have their claims, but in
my opinion thu kalmia is best worthy of
the honor of the national flower of the
| United States of America"
FLORINE THAYER MCCRAY.
The following are suggestions from the
writer of the "WilhaA Henry Letters, -
"Bybury to Beacon street," and other de-
| lightfully favored tales.
ut is hard to decide when no h1wer is
| especially entitled to represent the country.
| The aster covers our pastures and way
sides here in New England. It is n lovely
flower and would work we'll III emolematic
designs. The Mayf1 1)wer-trailing arbutuS
is found in many places in the east and
around Washington and on ths banks of
the C0aneG icut, but have an idea it is not
| found in the wesbarn states, and, besides,
its blcs SONS, pictured out, would be- merely
pretty and perhaps sentraeatal, while our
| ''greate5t country on earth" should have
strong and strongly marked emblem |
II wonder has any one proposed the noun
tain laurel 1t is sturdy and large, and its
bright, glossy leaves are quite imposing.
| The Mayfl)wer has the advantage of being
of the same name with the Pilgrim vessel
aud Of Icing the flower of the pilgrims 1t
still abounds ia the pastures ami woods of
the old colony. especially in Plymouth, my
own home. The Plymouth people have a
tender attachment for the Mayfower Its
woody stems and tough roots and leaves,
aud its brave putting forth its blossoms
before the SHOWS have all melted might
represent endurance, and that is a term
we like to have associated with our coun-
| try.
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