The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1894-05-04
The Wild Flowers of NAY.

May brings 50 many Wlld HoWeI'
that the mere names would Ill all the
space | can have.
But the young flower-hunter must
get an idea of some of the flowers sure
to appear in May, and those who will
notice the habits of plants will soon
discover where these fair friends
dwell, and will learn which selects the
valley, which the hillside. finding
that as a general thing that they may
be looked for with a certainty of being
found in their respective haunts.
Botanical authorities have arranged
all known. plants in families, and
each plant belong to some floral fam
lily, the members Of which possess GER
tain qualities in common. making it
suitable to class them together for
instance, all the buttercups, ane-
mOnes, clematis, hepaticas, l%arkspur,
columbine, and many Others, belong
to the Crowfoot family-a large fam
lily, all possessing a colOrless but acrid
juice, which is, in some Of them, a
narcotic poison, as hellebore, aconite,
larkspur and monks hood. Others
are quite harmless, as the marsh-mar-
igold, so well known as cowslips. or
the greens" of early spring. Others
have a delicate beauty, as the ane-
mOncs, hepaticas, and Others.
Another family, the Poppy family,
takes in all the peoples, the bloodroot,
celandine, and Others. These have a
milky or colored juice, often used me.
dicinally, and from n species of pop
py opium is made.
The Crucilers, or Mustard family,
have cross-shaped flowers, and abound
in a pungent, biting juice, with which
we are familiar and thus we could 60
on enumerating the distinctive quail.
ties of 100 families.
In every month are to be found some
peculiarly rare and interesting flow.
ers, and May al show a fair array. In
cold boys and swamps of New England
the genial air awakens many a bios
som that seems too lovely for such dis
NAL surroundings. Both boys and
swamps and wet pastures are well
worth exploring, and are justly dear
to the botanical heart; for here,
springing from a bed of soft black
mud, may be seen the pink Arethusa,
fair as a rose leaf, the rare Calypso,
the singular trilliums, the graceful
adder's-tongue, and several species of
the remarkable Cypripedims, or lady,s
The beautiful spring orchis,
the only orchis blossoming early, of
most delicate white and purple tints,
fiourishes in damp, rich hooks, with
level sheets of bloom.
Niolets, more than twenty varieties,
come on in April, May and June; but
| can specify but one-a charming spe.
cles of pansy-like beauty, found at
harrington, Ct, with the two upper
of the finest violet tint, and of
softness. In moist woodlands
IN western Connecticut the staphylea
Or bladder-nut, attracts attention by
Us dropping racemes of white flowers,
and later in the season the rich brown
s~eed-VesSels are as handsome as the |
IN the spring. All around on
The rocky roadside banks and in dry
1elds the airy wild columbine and
corydalis blossoms nod in every
breeze, and the rayines on the hills
are fringed with the softcst frills of
exquisite leaves and odd flowers of the
acknowledgements and squirrel
corn, whitish and pinkish, and with
the scent of hyacinths.
One other must not be forgotten.
so well known as hardly need.
ing to be named. Who has not searched
in dim New England woods, under
pines, for the sweet, shy, wax
clusters of this dearest of all the
train, hiding under old rusty
leaves, but betraying itself by that in
1escribably delicious fragrance which
perfumes the wood paths Surely all
the young hands have been filed with
the pilgrims flower, the epigaea, the
trailing arbutus, the beloved May
of olden and of modern times.
In the Middle States many plants
ire found which New England does
not furnish. New Jersey is famed for
Woodland treasures; not only Orange
Mountains, but the pine barrens, show
many a charming blossom, and the
weller at the West finds on the flow
# tinted prairies a profusion which
he Eastern fields cannot approach.
IN the hills of Pennsylvania may be
cen the brilliant flame-colored azalea
md the North American pawpaw-a
elative of the tropical custard-apple
and the pink blossoms of the Judas.
rec, and several varieties of the
arkspur, and in low thickets are
0und the white adder's-tOngue and
ne dwarf white trillium. At the
Vest, the interesting anemone called
or basque flower, from it's bios
oming near Easter; and another
'eautiful Western flower Is the Amer.
can cowslip, called also the shooting
tar, which Is found in Pennsylvania
S we'll as on the Western prairies.