Norwich bulletin., 1915-07-06
STUDY OF THE WELD
 FLOWERS or THIS COUNTRY
These Which Bloom by Doorway and Wayside From Spring Until Autumn Through All tf4s ststsG
Especial to me BuiIetIn.) ]

bloom by the doorway and wayside rom early spring until autumn by study of these flowers recentIy prepared for the National Geographic Society, In order that our Americans may develop as deep an interest and as complete an understanding for the lar1shly expended beauties Of their flora. as the FTenehnaa and the Ger- man have for theirs. The study was prepared for the Society In the spirit of the student of botanical personalf- ties; not only the scientist, but the artist and the lover of flowers speaks. A review of this study has been pre- pared by the Society for the orsss. and is given here fin the hope that ft may lead many to look with new eyes at Natures moods around them.
 | Among the stateIiest and proudest | of the members of Americas flower family none excel the larger blue flag, which also wears the names of blue Iris, and 3eur-de-1fs. Ruskfn calls 1t the flower of Chivalry, which has sword for its leaf and lily for It's heart Longfellow pronoInees 1t "a flower born in the purple. to Joy and pleasance.. It blooms in the wet | rich marsh and meadow, from May to | July, and finds it's home from New l foundland and Manitoba to Florida and Arkansas. The flag flower must look to the insect world entirely for its propagation, particularly to the bees as it's pollen1carriers So 1t puts forth flower that is blue tinted. for it's experience has taught 1t that a bee can be wooed with blue better than with any other color.
 The iris was long centuries ago | adopted by Louis VII. the gallant young crusader, as the emblem Of his | house. It became thereby the flower | of Louis which was corrupted into | 'Fleur-de-lis'. The iris is plant that fnsures Its fife. In it's large rootstock it lays up endowment insurance in the days of plenty, so that when the earth Is chill. cold and inhospitabIe it's saw ings will provide against need
 The great bindweed, a first-cousin to the morning glory, is a hobo among flowers. It has travelled up and down | the lanes of world trade for centuries, until 1t has come to claim most of the northern hemisphere for it's abiding place. It loves wayside hedges and thtckets. where 1t climbs over every thing in its fight for the survival of | the httest; but it knows no joy greater | than getting into a cornf1eld, where it | can use the stalks as a nature-bui1t trellis for its wanderfngs- It flowers from June until September It keeps solid hours. getting up with the ris- ing sun and going to bed when the | sun goes down, except on moonlight nights. when it keeps open house for the benefit of certain moths that are its especial friends.
 | The wild-pink, or catcf1hy, a dweller on dry graveIiy or sandy soil. giving color to many lonesome places from April to June with it's delicate pink petals, is among those flowers who believe in taking no chances when it comes to the question of fer | 1l1zation- The wild pfnks have devel- oped two sets of stamens, one above | the other. so that if one misses the transfer of its pollen, the other is likely to supply the resulting deici- ency. The wild pink finds it's cup
 board of sweets a fair mark for many tiny insects that are large enough to drain its cup of nectar and yet too small to bear away the flowers pol len to some distant mate So 1t has provided an effective lock and key tc it's pantry. This lock and key is a
 gummy, viscid fluid that the pink se-
 crets and spreads around the sticky
 stem below the flower. No fly that
 ever aIghted upon piece of man. made hy-paper was more certainly and surely brought to an untimeIy eEd
 than the ant that essays to sip the can see that the fy-paper idea is not
 mans invention at all. but an idea
 borrowed from a flower
 Fighting her way across the Amer
 ican continent. black-eyed susan has
 proven the master of the allied forces of man and nature. In the competi-
 ton of life she has been able to make a home wherever she sets her foot ] and neither the rivalries of the field nor the laws sand Iabors of man have been able to hold her in check Black | eyed susan loves dry fields and open
 sunny places. Its towering season is long, from May until September. Tt is one of the few vagrants tha
 has travelled from the west to the east
 In years gone by much clover seed Wal E-s h TGNrELr eyed susan hoboed her way along witi
 it. Most of the weeds of the field hav'
 followed the star of empire from th' east to the west, but black-eyed susaI has reversed the progress, and she hal
 now secured foothold in and Is nght- ing for the conquest of the fields o Europe
 Among the truly wild flowers, twt
 that ask of man only to be let alone il
 their native fastnesses are the may flower. or trailing arbutus, and thu
 twin berry, or partridge berry, the last named a member of the madder fam. fly. and a distant relative of the cof' fee tree. The mayfower is widest anf
 shyest of all No more is the eagle a , home in the farmyard or the cardina , in the cage than the mayhover in thu | garden. As the imprisoned cardina
 pines away and dies when the gildeC bars of a bird cage separate it from fri ! liberty, so the mayfiower sickens anC l witherS away in the garden.
 The moth mulIein for many a yea has been a rural mothbaH. It is member of the figwurt family. Among its relatives are the great mullein, tn
 blue toad-fiax. the small dragon the turtle-head, the beard-tongue, tn
 monkey flower. the lousewort and tn
 cow-wheat The country -dwellinl
 housewife uses it's leaves in packint
 away woolen garments of winter t' keep out the tiny cloth moths of sum } mer It is also believed to be a ban' | to cockroaches.
 "The showy lady's slipper, a sh-
 member of the orchid family, f1owerinl
 from June to September, never seek
 the haunts of man, but tries to re
 move itself as far from their coming and goings as it can, and it succeed
 so well that only the flower lover wh'
 is willing to take pains can approach it's dwelling place. Moreover. it is s' { persistent in it's efforts to be let alon' that it has come to have tiny gianduia
 hairs which contain an oil that | somewhat poisonous to the human
 skin, and it is said that a number O cases of dermatitis have followed tn