TREES, shrubbery, and flowers: all know how to distinguish them, and all know their value and importance in the adornment of homes of taste, and in the numberless ways in which they minister to the pleasures and comforts of life.

This chapter treats only of flowers—wild flowers—flowers which every American may meet in some part of the United States, and which, by their beauty, would probably attract the attention of the most indifferent to floral charms.

"Wild flower” has not the same significance in our country that it has in most others. In that, for instance, from which we derive our language— England—native flowers and wild flowers have much the same meaning, very few being cultivated, except such as are imported from other countries, or, as we would say, "exotics.”

Her territory embracing no greater area than some of our medium-sized States, the most showy of the wild flowers become well known to the inhabitants, and thus seem too common for cultivation.

Our wild flowers do not seem common to us; our country is too large for this idea. The beautiful flowers of Texas or Arkansas are as really exotics to the inhabitants of Maine as the Fuchsia of Peru or the Victoria Regia of Brazil; yet to a citizen of the United States they are "native plants ”—wild flowers—of his country. In a certain sense all flowers are wild flowers. When we speak of domestic animals as distinguished from wild animals, we understand a species of changed nature which they assume by the taming process.

The transfer of a wild rabbit to a cage would not cover our idea of domestication; though confined for a long term of years, it would be but a "wild" rabbit still. So most of the beautiful flowers that adorn our greenhouses and gardens are still but wild flowers that have been culled from the broad field of nature’s covering. Yet some flowers do undergo this taming process, and, as in the case of domestic animals when under skilful care and intelligent management, change their wild nature and assume forms and characters unknown to them in a wild state.  The Pansy, the Geranium, Fuchsia, Carnation, Rose, amongst many others, are instances of this changed character, most of them, in a wild state, being very insignificant weeds, or, at most, not particularly attractive wild flowers. Also, as in animals, there are many that cannot be tamed, so amongst flowers; but very few can be brought thus to change their nature by any skill thus far brought to bear on them. The sweet Mignionette, well known to all for its delicious fragrance, is yet the same, in every respect, as that growing wild in the south of Europe, though it has been under culture for many generations; it is, in reality, the same wild flower.

The difference in the meaning of this. term "wild,” as relatively applied to plants or animals, is pointed out because great numbers suppose a cultivated plant to be an improved wild flower; and it is often expressed, as a matter of astonishment, that such or such a wild flower is not cultivated, as it is quite as handsome as any in the gardens.” This difference is also pointed out to show that some wild flowers can be “domesticated” in the sense in which animals are; and it is hoped that those who have not hitherto been much attracted to our wild flowers, and who, on a perusal of these pages, may be induced to take an interest in them, perhaps may notice in some one flower a disposition to vary that has not yet been known to show this character, and thus a new race of cultivated plants be added to our collections.

These flowers that have been found to vary and become improved by cultivation are called florist’s flowers.” They are thus called because they owe their variations to the skill of florists, and not to the ordinary processes of nature. Some of our wild flowers have already been brought into this condition. The perennial Phlox is one of this class. There is about a dozen of different wild species growing in different parts of the United States from Canada to Florida, along river banks or in swamps or wet places.

The French and Belgians, having noticed in them a tendency to vary, have applied to them their "florist’s" skill, and have now many hundreds of different forms, many of them of great beauty, and all from twelve originals, so mean and uninviting in appearance that probably not one in a hundred of those who read these papers ever knew a wild Phlox, or had his attention in any way called to it, common everywhere though wild Phloxes be. Our Mountain Laurels (Rhododendrons) afford another instance. We have but four wild species—one of these, a little insignificant plant, growing on New England mountains, and another, a small bush, small-flowered, growing in Georgia.  The other two are known, one as the northern Mountain Laurel, (Rhododendron maximum;) the other as the Catawba Rose, (Rhododendron Catawbiense.)

From these two, English cultivators have raised hundreds of most beautiful and magnificent varieties, which are at once the pride and glory of English gardens.

They give a name to a class of plants which they distinguish particularly as "American plants,” mostly composed of these improved Rhododendrons, and poor, indeed, is that garden considered which has not a portion laid off as the "American ground.”

We will now turn to our “herbarium"—a collection of dried specimens of the plants of the United States east of the Mississippi, and point out to the friends who will go with us through the examination those wild flowers that are particularly worthy of attention for their beauty or for some peculiar attractiveness. The first collection comprises the Ranunculus, or butter-cup family, which embraces many very pretty varieties.

The snow is scarcely gone ere the Hepatica is in flower in the woods through the whole, except a few of the most southern, of the United States. It has small, three-lobed leaves of a thick texture, from which it takes its name of "Liverwort"—wort being an old Saxon name for "plant.” There are red, white, and blue varieties, wild; and cultivation has produced double varieties of all these colors; then the “wind flowers,” or Anemones—low-growing plants, which are well known by their leaves being borne on a single stem, and the single flower again arising, as it were, out of the nest of leaves. There are many pretty species: one, the "Pasque flower,” (A. Nuttalliana,) a large blue flower, is common in Illinois. The Carolina wind flower (A. Caroliniana) has a large, sweet-scented, rosy, white flower. The wood wind flower (A. nemorosa) is the pretty white one, seen everywhere in spring, and the Rue-leaved wind flower, (A. thalictroides,) growing with and much resembling the last. The Larkspur (Delphinium) belongs to this same “butter-cup ” family. We have four beautiful kinds, all with tallish stems, of blue flowers—one, the large blue, (D. azureum,) growing in Wisconsin and southward; another, the tall Larkspur, (D. exaltatum,) from the middle States southwest; the greenish white of North Carolina, (D. virescens,) and the three-spurred (D. tricorne) of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The Black Snake root (cimicifuga) is also a very pretty plant of this family.  There are also Aconites, several species with blue flowers, resembling monks’ hoods; the yellow marsh Marigolds (Calthas) of the swamps; Columbines, of which one (Aguilegia Canadensis) with crimson and yellow blossoms, growing among rocks, is one of the prettiest of the spring-blooming flowers; the Clematis and Ranunculus, or true “butter-cups;" all these embrace the most ornamental plants of the family. The family of Berberries has some interesting individuals. Unlike some other natural divisions of the vegetable kingdom, they have little striking resemblance to one another. The May apple, for instance, belongs to this class, as does the red berried plant well known as Berberry. One of these plants is interesting, from having been named by a botanist in honor of President Jefferson, (Jeffersonia diphylla.) It is commonly known as the “twin leaf,” has something of the appearance of the May apple, but not quite so coarse, and grows in the middle and southwestern States. In a systematic arrangement of plants several orders of aquatics come next. The yellow Pond Lily of the northern States is well known. In the streams of New Jersey and States north of it the white Water Lily attracts by its odor and beauty during July and August. This is the Nymphea odorata of botanists, or sweet-scented nymph, and is, by far, the most interesting of our wild flowers amongst aquatics.

Further south they increase in beauty. The Victoria Regia, of Brazil, is world renowned. Its flowers have measured twenty-two inches across, and the leaves six feet in diameter, when under cultivation in greenhouses in the north, and are often larger in its native river. The yellow Nelumbo (Nelumbium luteum) is an attractive curiosity, not so much for beauty as for the interest attached to it as the only American representative of the sacred Lotus of the Egyptians.

The pitcher plant family (Sarracenias) are very curious swamp plants; what would be the leaf stalks in other plants are in this swollen out, so as to form large hollow pitcher-like vessels. The flowers in shape are somewhat like the yellow Pond Lily, not so large or showy. The purple one (S. purpurea) is the only northern species; the others, of various shades of yellow and purple, extend through the swamps of the Atlantic States to Florida. The poppy family mostly belongs to Asia, but very few representatives being found in our country. The Bloodroot or Puccoon, (Sanguinaria Canadensis,) however, is very common over the whole of the United States. There is but one other true poppywort really indigenous to this country, and this is not very showy.  It is a low-growing, yellow-flowering, perennial plant, of western woods, known to botanists as Meconopsis diphylla.

The class of fumitories has one genus in which almost all its members are pretty. This is the Dicentra, commonly known as "Dutchman’s Brecches,” from a resemblance in the flower to some antique pattern of pantaloons. They are all northern plants; one white, (D. cucullaria,) one purple, (D. formosa,) and one white and purple, flowers very pretty, (D. bulbosa.) There is a pretty climbing plant, known in cultivation as the Alleghany vine. This is the Adlumia cirrhosa, and, though not common, is found on rocky hills in most parts of the Union.

The next tribe of plants to be noticed is a very large one—the cabbage tribe, or cruciferous, as it is most generally known. This is a very natural looking class; all the flowers consist of only four petals, arranged in the form of a cross, whence the name "cruciferous.” The wall flower, stock gilly, turnip, mustard, and candy tuft are some common things that we may name as serving to identify the class to the common observer. Though there are some seventy species, natives of the United States, very few are handsome enough to warrant notice here. Most of them are very common weeds; one of them (Draba verna) is the first flower to bloom in spring. It is a very small plant, with white flowers, and is abundant everywhere before the frost is fully away in spring.

The Violet family is the next in our arrangement that has anything of much interest, and these are well known. Most of the European kinds are sweet-scented.  Ours have not this advantage, but are more showy. There are eighteen species among our “ wild flowers,” nearly all of interest. The pansy of our gardens belongs to this family. Indeed, it is of this genus, a true viola—V. tricolor. The St. John’s Worts contain a few pretty things, mostly, however, insignificant weeds. Hypericum pyramidatum, or pyramidal St. John’s Wort, has large, yellow flowers, and grows on dry hills, generally, in the middle States. There are some of these shrubby, as H. prolificum, H. areum, and H. Kalmianium, which, for their beauty, are often kept in gardens.

The Pink family includes such plants as Carnations, Pinks, and Sweet Williams, which most of us know and love so well. Most of our wild kinds are, however, very insignificant weeds. Some few are beautiful. Silene virginica, for instance, has bright scarlet flowers. It grows in the middle States, extending southward. A white species (S. stettata,) with fringed white flowers and leaves in fours up the stem, is common everywhere in July, and is a very elegant plant.  With two or three other rare species, very seldom seen even by botanists, the whole list of beauties in the Pink Worts is exhausted.

There are a few pretty things in the Purslane family. The Claytonia is the best. This has fleshy leaves—generally only two—long and narrow, and has a few white pink-veined flowers, seemingly springing from these leaves.  In April and May these Claytonias are abundant everywhere. They go by the name of “Spring Beauty.”

The Mallow family has a few showy branches. The Althea or “Rose of Sharon” is well known. In the swamps, near large rivers, the surface is beautiful in August with the yellow flowers of the Hibiscus palustris, or American “Jute.” The Okra of our gardens belongs to this family, and is the Hibuscus esculentus. The cotton is also of the Mallow tribe, known to botanists as Gossypium herbaceum.

There are a few pretty plants in the Geranium family; only one, however, “G. maculatum,” would attract much attention. This is common in woods in early summer. The Wood Sorrels have but one pretty plant. This is the Oxalis violacea, and, though an humble plant, is very pretty indeed.

But the prettiest tribe of plants, to an American observer, is the butterfly-flowering, papilionaceous or leguminous. Like the cabbage-flowered tribe it is very natural, and its members are easily distinguished from other classes The Yellow Acacia is known as “Golden Prairie Flower” in Arkansas, (A. lutea.) The Yellow Cassia, a nearly allied plant, growing near all northern river banks, is known also as Wild Senna. The Yellow Baptisia is known everywhere as Wild Indigo. There are also many pretty peas, vetches, saintfoin, and clover, growing everywhere. The Tephrosia Virginica is particularly, handsome, and there is scarcely an insignificant plant in the whole family.

The Rose family is well known, but as they are mostly trees and shrubs they are without the limits we have marked out for this paper. There is one very pretty herbaceous plant, not to be forgotten, however. This is the Indian Physic, (Gillenia trifoliata.) This grows in rocky woods from New England to South Carolina; grows about eighteen inches high, and bears a profusion of pinkish white flowers.

The Melastoma tribe is the showiest of any family of plants, but they are mostly tropical, and to be seen only in our greenhouses. The Rhexias, or, as our people call them, Meadow Beauties,” comprise the only native genus; we have eight species, and all pretty as their foreign congeners. They grow mostly in wet meadows.

In the family of Evening Primroses the Œnothera is well known.  They are nearly all yellow or white.  In the Saxifrage family the Mitella diphylla is a delicate and very pretty plant. The flowers are small, pure white, and fringed around the edges. It grows abundantly in the woods of the northern and middle States. Of the Saxifrages proper, one is very common early in spring, growing everywhere, over dry rocks, and making the whole surface white with bloom. This is the S. virginiensis, or Early Saxifrage. The Umbelliferous family is a very numerous one. To this the carrot, parsnip, parsley, and celery belong. Yet in going through our herbarium we cannot note one that we can say is “a pretty wild flower.” We were ncar passing over the Madderwort family with its "cleavers,” and “bedstraws,” and “wadders —useful enough in the arts and sciences, but of little application to our subject. But we must not forget the little Partridge Berry, (Mitchella repens.) Its red berries peeping through the snow, with its shining green leaves in winter, and very sweet white flowers in spring, make it well known. Again, the “Bluets,” "Innocence,” "Dwarf Pink,” with, perhaps, some other common name, is one of the prettiest ornaments of our spring meadows. This is the Houstonia carulia of botanists.

The next family to be noticed is the composite. This has, by far, the largest list of flowering plants of any in the Union, but they all have a great sameness.  The Dandelion, Thistle, Aster, Golden Rod, or Sunflower, will give a good idea of the general character of this family. They are most common in the fall, and are usually yellow or white; occasionally blue, pink, or purple. There are very few of the beautiful varieties that are scarce, and as they are so showy and common as to attract general attention, we need not particularly point them out here.

In the order of Lobelias are several pretty varieties. The Cardinal Flower, (Lobelia cardinalis,) a scarlet flower growing in swamps and blooming late in the fall, may be considered, perhaps, the most showy of our wild flowers. A blue one (L. siphylitica) grows with it and is also beautiful. Then there are a few smaller flowering kinds, and blooming earlier; L. spicata, for instance, that all will think pretty.

We have now come to another order of plants that is very extensive, and contains a greater variety and more distinct types of beauty than any other American order. This is the Figworts, (Scrophularias.) There are about thirty genera of American plants, and in nearly every genus there are some handsome flowers. To give an idea of what plants compose this order, the Snap-Dragon may be named, the Mimulus or Monkey Flower, the Fox Glove, and the Mullein. The Mullein (Verbascum) has one very pretty species, the Moth Mullein or V. Blattania. There are white, purple, and yellow varieties.  Probably it is not truly indigenous, but originally introduced from Europe.  Another introduced plant, and very common, is the Yellow Toad-Flax, (Linaria vulgaris,) one of the prettiest as well as one of the most troublesome weeds to the farmer. The Turtle-Head (Chelone) is a very pretty wild flower, growing along streams. One of them, with white flowers, shaped like the back of a tortoise, (C. glabra,) is common in the northern States, and the other with purple flowers (C. Lyoni) is a southern plant. The Pentstemon, or "Bearded Tongue,” is another pretty tribe, extending from Canada to Brazil. The most common northern one is P. pubescens, a lilac and white flower, and very pretty.  P. dissectum, with curiously cut leaves, grows in North Carolina. One of the prettiest is P. grandiflorus, growing principally west toward the Rocky mountains.  P. digitalis is an Ohio plant, with an abundance of fine white flowers.  Of the “Monkey Flowers” a pretty blue species, growing on stems two feet high, grows in most wet places in the Union, flowering in the fall. This is M. Vingens. The well known musk plant is a Mimulus, but comes from the Pacific coast. The Veronica is a very pretty genus. There are some fourteen wild kinds, but mostly introduced from Europe. Three of the real Americans are worth knowing.  V. Virginica, a popular medical plant, known as "Culver’s Physic.” This has close spikes of bluish-white flowers, and grows up nearly two feet. It has not the usual “Speedwell ” look of the other Veronicas, V. spicata, the Blue-Spiked Speedwell, and V. gentianoides, the Gentian- Leaved Speedwell, are very pretty, low-growing kinds, with blue flowers. We have no true Fox Gloves indigenous, but Gerardia is a good substitute. Our people call these plants “Yellow Fox Glove.” Most of them are yellow.  G. Slava, G. quercifolia, and G. pedicularia, grow all over the Union; G. pectinata and G. integrifolia are scarce. They have all large, yellow flowers.  Another section of Gerardia are low of growth and mostly purple flowers.  The G. purpurea covers whole fields in the fall with its pretty purple flowers; there are eight or ten others, nearly allied and nearly as pretty, scattered over the Union. The "Painted Cup,” well known to children for its bright flowers, growing in wet swamps and flowering in June, is the Castilleja coccinea. We said flowers, but in reality it is the painted bracts or leaves surrounding the flower which are so prettily colored. One species, smaller than this, grows west; and another, prettier but yet smaller, is a northern Alpine plant. The “Louseworts”” (Peduicularis) are pretty. There are but two, P. Canadensis and P. lanceolata, common on most waste ground. The Labiate or lipped-flowered plants are as numerous as the figworts, but do not present 80 great a variety in form and color. Blue is the prevailing tint. They are easily distinguished from Figworts, which they much resemble at times, by their having always four naked seeds in their seed vessels, while Figworts have many small seeds in an enclosing capsule. The Sage, Lavender, Pennyroyal, and most of these square-stemmed, aromatic herbs will give a good idea of all the plants of this order.

The “Blue Curls,” (Trichostemma dichotoma,) growing about six inches high, abounds in most grain fields, blooming in August.  Ceranthera linearifolia is a pretty southern plant; of Salvias, or Sages, S. azurea, blue, and S. coccinea are two handsome southern kinds, and S. lyrata, a blue one, is common north and worth noticing. The “Mountain Mints," or “Bergamots,” (Monarda,) are all pretty.  M. didyma, with scarlet flowers, is a very fine variety.

The Scuttellaræ, or “skull caps,” so called from a little cap-like covering falling over the naked seed after flowering, are all more or less handsome.  There are also eleven wild species. Macbridea pulchra is a pretty swamp plant of Georgia.  Synandra grandifiora is a beautiful plant of Ohio.  Physostegia Virginiana, or Dracocephalum, is one of the prettiest of wild flowers.

The flowers stay where they are turned, as if hung on a swivel. There are some handsome varieties amongst Stackys, but they are mostly coarse.  Amongst the Borageworts are some genera of pretty flowering kinds. This family of plants is easily distinguished by its spikes of flowers being coiled backwards. The Heliotrope and "Forget-me-not” will give the idea. Only one genus of American plants is handsome—Mertewsia, or the "Lungwort.”  There are three species—M. Virginica, M. maritima, and M. paniculata— growing mostly in the northern States. The family of "Water Leafworts” (Hydrophyllacea) is altogether a pretty one. The Nemophyla Cosmantlius, Hydrolea, and Thacelia of our gardens are all our "wild flowers; ” and the true Hydrophyllums—H. Virginicum, H. Canadense, and H. macrophyllum— deserve to be as highly prized. The Phlox family (Polemoniacea) has been before alluded to. Besides the true Phloxes, the Greek Valerian,” (Polemonium reptans,) with blue flowers, is.one of the prettiest spring ornaments of our stream banks. The Convolvulus family is so well known as “Morning Glory" that nothing more need be said than that those seeking pretty wild flowers will be sure not to overlook them. The Solanum family includes the Jamestown weed—Stramonium—pretty enough if it were not so very common.  The potato, tomato, egg plant, ground cherry, capsicum pepper, tobacco, and other well known things, all belong to this family, so that it is at least useful, if not as ornamental as others. The Gentian family has many very pretty representatives. The Sabbattia and Erythrœa, ox American Centaureas, fifteen species at least, are all pretty; the true Gentians, mostly blooming just before frost with various shades of blue, and all pretty also.. The Milkweed family (Asclepiadeaæ) is a class of plants remarkable for the peculiarity of the structure as well as the beauty of the flowers of most of them. The common milkweed or wild cotton is well known by the cottony down that envelopes the seed, as in the true cotton. It wants, however, the barbulate property which gives the cohering power to the true cotton, and is therefore useless for any similar economic purpose. The most common kind is the Asclepias cornutii. The handsomest kind is the "Butterfly Weed,” (A. tuberosa.) This has bright, orange-colored flowers that are universally admired. A. variegata is a beautiful white, with rather large flowers, and a less coarse growth than some of the others.  A. mivea is still prettier, but is rather rare, even south, where it seems most at home. Of the purple varieties, A. purpurascens is the purple milkweed," so showy in almost every piece of uncultivated, wet ground in the fall. The A. rubra grows in very wet bogs, and is also a pretty purple. The A. Michauxii is a Georgia species, not very pretty, but very fragrant. These are the best, bat all the milk weeds, about twenty species, are more or less attractive.

We now come to a part of the herbarium which embraces plants that are mostly trees and shrubs, such as oaks, willows, poplars, that are not within our scope just now, or docks, sorrels, or spinages, that have no beauty or interest to our subject until we reach the curious Orchid family. This consists of those curious flowers that often look more like butterflies, bees, or other insects, than real, living flowers. They are so uncertain in their appearance, and seem to have so little affection for the cultivator of the soil, that we know of few so well known that we can refer to one and say this may be taken as the type of the family. Perhaps the "Ladies’ Tresses” is the most common kind. This is the white-flowered plant, common in meadows in the fall, that has its flowers arranged, like the thread of an auger, spirally along its dark green stem. Botanists call it Spiranthes tortilis. It may give some kind of an idea of what an orchid is like, but affords none of the rare beauty possessed by most kinds.  The "Ladies’ Slipper,” or Cypripedium, is perhaps the handsomest genus of orchideæ, but they are rather scarce. There are about fifty species, natives of the Union, any one of which will attract the attention of the student in search of beautiful wild flowers; of the bulbous-rooted plants, or plants of allied sections, we have many very pretty ones. In the Amaryllis family is the Atamasco lily of North Carolina, bearing pretty, rosy, purple cups. The Stargrass (Hypoxis) has yellow, star-like flowers, and is common in northern woods early in spring. Of the Iris, or Flower-de-Luce family, we have to name several interesting kinds. The Iris Virginica is quite as pretty as the Persian Iris, of which thousands are annually imported from abroad. It is of a beautiful blue. The most common blue flag, however, is the I. versicolor; this is a coarser and more water-loving plant than the Virginian. Another very pretty one is the Six-angled Iris of Georgia, of which we see blue, yellow, and white varieties. The Copper Iris (I. cuprea) is also a Georgian, and one of the best of the family. There are also two small growing kinds, but quite attractive—one, I. cristata, grows in pine barrens in North Carolina; and the other, I. vernata, flowers very early, and is a beautiful object on the Kentucky and Tennessee hills. The Blue Eye or Bermuda grass (Sisyrinchium) is a very common plant in every damp meadow; an allied, but much prettier, thing is the Nemastylis gemmiflora of Missouri and the west, with flowers four times the size, but as dark a blue as the common Bermuda grass. The Lily family is one of renowned beauty, and America has as pretty representatives as any country in the world, though the Japan species seem to have more fragrance and greater size. We have four true lilies, (Liliums)—L. Canadense grows in wet places all over the Union; L. superbum is common north, but does not extend far below Mason and Dixon’s line; the L. Philadelphicum extends north to Canada, while the L. Catesbei, a very beautiful plant, is the only one common south. The “Dog-tooth Violet,” (Erythronium,) with yellow drooping flowers and spoon-shaped leaves, so common in damp woods and meadows in spring, belongs also to the lily family.  There is a white variety, but quite uncommon. The Quamash or Western Squill, (Camassia esculenta,) with large, onion-like roots, is a pretty flowering western plant. The "Star of Bethlehem ” (Ornithogalum) whitens every spring meadow. A yellow species (O. croceum) is a native of Georgia.

We have now passed in review about all the handsome wild flowers of the United States. The object has been to call attention to them, and to say just so much about them as would direct towards them that spirit of inquiry that may lead to a better acquaintance. To point out each with precision, so that any one could be identified by the description above, would have necessitated the employment of technical terms, which it has been our study to avoid. It is our wish to see our pretty wild flowers popular, and this could be done only by treating an account of them in a popular manner. Works on American wild plants, of course, include all wild species, and the majority of these interest only the purely scientific student. Our work has been to separate the wheat from the chaff, for the benefit of those who desire only the grain of beauty.  To the ladies of the United States, particularly, we commend our task. On them, more than on the sterner sex, devolves all those little arts that render a tasteful home loveable and lovely. Plants and flowers enter largely into these delicate arrangements; and if our chapter shall, in any degree, aid in selecting for our wild plants the posts of honor awarded hitherto to foreign introductions, certainly no handsomer than they, we shall feel like the poet, who—