The Topeka state journal., 1916-06-03
RIOT OF COLORS
Kansas Wild Flowers Blossom
Early and Late.
Redbud Tree Gladdens Heart Oh
the Jayhawker.
SEEN IN FAR-OFF TURKEY
Prairies in August Are a Car-
pet of Beauty
Everything Here Any Other
State Has-Almost.
SEEN IN FAR-OFF TURKEY

State HaS-AlmOSt.
california has nothing on Kansas
,,.+a, IL comes to native wlld ITO"
srs for Kansas can and does ooas1 u
beautiful flowers in bloom Iroli , ~. =.
- E1ebruarv until late in the lall- -.
various and beautiful NarieeieS 80 GOV
. --fde range and the pralrles are 80,
ared with a gorgeous carpet -t WLioi-
T-itb its riot of colors, makes d iiiO0'
rIeasing picture to the eye Mice
L-snsas flowers, as viewed by MIS- MIS-
Ala Tozier Pettyjohn in paper -
before the forestry department " re
Torelza Federation OF women
-scIo tba+ no matter from what iahu
-. ,,a1, come. if he be lover OF ma
- eTatification is to be tound III
ne Sunflower state. Followlns
Miss Pettyjohn's paper, read pel0i
the federation: -, ooyers all
1,sgetation since originally an "eIe ,es
wild. and every form of vegetatIoi lis's
some flower large or smaIl, eol
or modest, inviting or repeilalit5' -,
tanning in its nature, either Ig,Il
IDENTIFY or in conjunction Mo.odnction: VIZ fr
element, the power OF reProulu =.
an exhaustive study of the SUBJECT IL
the work of a lifetime. .,v
since Kansas has everything any
other state has (almost) anu IiiIlS ~.
things other states have not, anu .,s.9
in Greater perfection those things con
non to ali. so in her flora does sne
anjtor1ize that of all states conta1nlnS
~, ,sarne nhvsical characteristics. An
e-ba1stive study of 1.-The Wild FLOW
ers of kansas would preclude the
posi- sibility of any other employ iileii'
Seven in Number.
Vegetation being determined IN
and soil. and Kansas showing so saI sreaI
S-.rie+y of both. her flora offers equal
The eastern portion of the state re
sernbles the Mississippi valley larseN'
though in the southeastern corner is
saction in soil and plant life, showing
its relationship to its southern SISTERS
The great prairies of Kansas are gor-
eeous with the prairie flowers iouiu
Vherever prairie soil is found; Whlle
the western portion of the state CON
tains nearly all species of plants OF the
H,,erican desert. Thus even in her
flora Kansas occupies the center OF our
country. offering to the easterner, the
sOutherner, the westerner ana the
northerner the wild flowers tamlIlar 10
him in childhood.
THE plant societies are seven in
number:
/. Water plants
? Marsh plants
8. Woodland vegetation.
l. Prairie flowers.
s. Sandhin flowers.
6. Saltmarsh plants.
Z Plants of the plains.
In the first family We find the rare
white water-lily, the common yellow
pond-liIy, arrowhead, water-plantaln,
the aouarium plants, water-c -croWfoot,
and water-milfoil, lake cress, (similar
to the true or salad cress) water-hem-
lock, from which boys make squirt
guns, a yellow Towering water vine OF
the evening primrose family, and
water willow of the acanthus family.
The marsh plants include a large
number of grasses and sedges, so
much alike as to be of the little in
terest to anyone other than a scientist.
The pussy willow, however, belongs
to this family, is its earliest spring
heart. young or old.
The lead-paint, fragrant button-ban
bush. silky dogwood, horsetails or
securing rushes (whose large joints
form ready-made whistles) and the
joint reeds with their fragrant white
and pink spiked blossoms full of
honey, are familiar to many The
herbs found among the marsh plants
are not only useful, but many very
beautifully flowered The starry
campion, with it's white fringed bios
SONS, the swamp milkweed, in rose
and purple bloom, Indian hemp or
dogbane, the cardinal flower and the
great blue lobelia are among these.
Blossoms Appear Early.
The first blossoms to appear in
Kansas belong to the woodland family
and are found as catkins on the hazel
bushes in the thickets of eastern Kan
sas in February and March. The
blooming redbud tree seems a miracle
of lovelineSS in the April landscape.
A Kansas traveller marooned in Tur-
key, on account of the war, was great
ly cheered by the sight of this home
tree which grows in great profusion
on the hills surrounding Constantine
ople. The white maple and white and
red elm bloom in March, and the cot
tonwood in April Other April bloom
ers are the bladder-nut, paw-paw
common red plum and haw, whose
blossoms are most attractive and
whose branches make the very best
shilny-sticks; those of us fortunate
enough to have been brought up with
brothers know what it means to
shiny on your own side" The
wild crab-apple is. however, a sue
cessful rival of the haw-tree, owing to
the greater beauty and the heavenly
sweetness of its bloom, and for Ohio
ans, the dwarf buckeye adds its pur-
pie and yellow flowers to the April
bouquet
In May the red mulberry trees are in
bloom and the blackberry, the seven
varieties of oak, the five species of
hickory, the pecans (in southwestern
Kansas. black walnut, sycamore, wild