Milford chronicle., 1902-04-25
Delaware College Natural STUDY
Work.
THE SPRING FLOWERS.
SPRING FLOWERS 2.

THE SPRING FLOWERS.
SPRING FLOWERS 2.
One plant you may take up bv
the roots to see where the food
was laid away, but always remem-
Der that another spring is coming
and that other people if not your
self may again visit the spot and
be delighted by these forerunners
of summer, and should you tear
up the roots of many plants, YOU
would by so much reduce the
possibilities for the increase of this
none to plentiful plant.
A few days after finding your
first Hepaticas or if you are little
late in hunting for then, on the
same day and perhaps very close
at hand, you will find the dazzling
white blossoms of the Blood-root
In some of the plants you can see
how the one large, scalloped leaf
folds around and protects the flow
ers bud as they together push
through the rough soil. Look at
the underground parts and see how
the plant gets its name. In the
center of the flower you will not
find the cluster of istils which was
so conspicuous in the Hepatica
but a single large one which Won
will do well to cut acrosswise with
sharp knife, to see within the
embryo seeds or ovules. The two
green sepals you will find only bv
getting the bud, for as the flower
opens they drop off to be followed
very soon by tee petals themselves
which remain but two or three
days.
Comparison are odious." But
surely there is no prettier spring
flower than the Spring-beautv,
with its delicate light rose-colored
petals each with a few pink veins
to heighten the beauty of the bios
som. The botanical name of the
plant is Claytonia, not from John
H. Clayton, but from a Virginia
botanist named John Clayton. It's
two long narrow, thickish leaves
are born on a stem that springs
from little round tuber that may
be easily found not far below the
leafy covering through which the
racene of flowers has been pushed.
Who does hail with delight the
first bed of purple-spotted green
leaves dotted here and there with
the yellow bells of the Dog's -tooth
Violet; which by the way, is not
violet at all or even closely re-
lated to them. Since it hears not
even bit of resemblance to the
viOlets, but is an own cousin to the
lilies, it is difficult to see why il
should have to go through life
barring a name that is entirely un-
suited to it. It's other common
name, Adder's Tongue, while not
by any means free from objection,
has at least the saving grace of
not belonging to any other flower.
With your sharp knife cut the
central pistil crosswise about at
the middle of the thick lower part
or ovary. Note into how many
parts this ovary is divided and
compare the number with the mum
Der of st ems and number OF
sepals to find the numerical plan
| of the flowers. The number is
typical in the structure of the
flowers of the lily family to which
the plant belongs. If you are
patient, and have a good digging
tool at hand, you may succeed in
getting some of the bulbs from
which the Towering plants come.
Soon you will begin to find the
violets and if you keep your eyes
wide open and roam about the
fields much, you may find about
ten different kinds growing il
various places. Some you viii
fad only in wet lands, others il
dry gravelly soils, some in open
fields, and some only in shelterered
swamps. They may be white
yellow or blue, with long stems,
or short, stems, so short, in fact,
that they do not appear above
ground.
Then you will find the pretty
little Squirrel corn, Dentaria, Bell
wort, Golden Club, perhaps Win
ter Cress, Huckleberries, and by
this time the blossoms will be com
ing out so fast that you can canno
keep up with them; but do not be
cause of that lose interest. Study
what you can of them and perhap!
we will have another article upo1
the later flowers. w. H. BISHOP