The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-09
CoUNTERFEIr BLOSSOMS.

When the dogwood is in bloom in
the spring woods that would be a.
very unobservant traveller who did
not know it; yet it is questionable if
one out of fifty of the multitude
OF people who come home from their
country walks with arms full of the
snowy branches has ever seen the
real flowers of this beautiful little
tree. As matter of fact, what are
commonly regarded as the petals of
the dogwood are no part of the floral
structure at all, but merely four large
white leaves, which during the win
ter served as protective wrappers to
the flower buds. The real flowers
are about the size of shoe-pegs, of
greenish color and are punched sev-
eral together in a small cluster in the
midst of the four white leaves, and if
noticed at all by the average wild
flower gatherer are mistaken for sta
mems.
So, too, with the flowers Of the
pretty spainted cup" which when
in blossom in May frequently makes
whole meadows rosy with brilliant
color. Picking one, we may think
we are looking at a spike of gorgeous,
fame-colord flowers, while the fact
is that the striking effect is produced
entirely by numerous reddeued leaves
intermingled with the real flowers,
which are as, plain as Cinderella's
sisters and practically hidden from
sight.
Indeed, so foid is Mother Nature
of befooling her unobservant devo-
tees that she has caused one whole
family of plants to be given over to
this make believe habit of Towering.
To it belong that favorite little
preacher of the April woods-Jack-
in-the-pupit; the arrow arum that
shares muddy margins of shallow
streams the skunk cabbage, and
that aristocrat of the greenhouse the
immaculate Gala lily. OF all these
the flowers are unrecognizable in
themselves as such except by the in
itiated, being minute and crowded on
Aeshy spike which is more or less
closely swathed about by funnel
shaped leaf, and this, being graceful
in shape and pronounced in color,
naturally passes for the flower itself.
Another gay deceiver is the poin-
settia of the hothouse. In this case
it is a circlet of scarlet. leaves which
popular estimation rates as the flower,
while the poor little real blossom clus-
tered in the midst of these robbers of
their good name live and die unap-
preciated by all but select few.
Relatives of the poinsettia are the
wild spurges of our sandy fields.
The flowers of many of these, incon
spicuous in themselves, are similarly
provided with relatively snowy ap-
pendages, deceiving all but students.
Some particularly interested exam
pies of counterfeit Towering are fur
nished by the ferns. These graceful
plants never produce genuine flowers,
but some species develop their spores
in clusters that bear superficial re-
semblance to punches of tiny flowers.
Best known of these are the species
of the genus called by botanists the
osmundas. One of them is popularity
known as the Towering fern and is
common in wet woods and shady
swamps. The mock flowers are
borne in panicles at the summit OF
the leaves, and turn gradually IN
color from rich green to brown. In
a kindred species the "flowering'
takes place not at the tips, but in the
middle of the frond; while another
variety, the cinnamon fern, equally
common, sends up from its roots sep
arate fronds devoted exclusively to
spore bearing and resembling slender
spires of warm reddish brown bios
SONS. They are to be looked for in
May just before the appearance of the
ordinary green fronds of this fern.
They wither and disappear within a
few weeks. PHILADELPHIA Record.