nandria diandria_; are
described with some little variation by Pursh, who, however, likens the
face of the latter to that of a sheep: if a sheep sat for the picture,
methinks it must have been the most mischievous of the flock.

There is a curious aquatic plant that grows in shallow, stagnant, or
slow-flowing waters; it will contain a full wine-glass of water. A poor
soldier brought it to me, and told me it resembled a plant he used to
see in Egypt, that the soldiers called the "Soldier's drinking-cup" and
many a good draught of pure water, he said, I have drank from them.

Another specimen was presented me by a gentleman who knew my
predilection for strange plants; he very aptly gave it the name of
"Pitcher-plant;" it very probably belongs to the tribe that bear that
name.

The flowers that afford the most decided perfumes are our wild roses,
which possess a delicious scent: the milk-weed, which gives out a smell
not-unlike the night-blowing stock; the purple monarda, which is
fragrance itself from the root to the flower, and even after months'
exposure to the wintry atmosphere; its dried leaves and seed-vessels are
so sweet as to impart perfume to your hands or clothes. All our Mints
are strong scented: the lily of the valley is remarkable for its fine
smell; then there is my queen of the lakes, and her consort, the water-
king, with many other flowers I cannot now enumerate. Certain it is that
among such a vast assemblage of flowers, there are, comparatively, very
few that are gifted with fragrant scents. Some of our forest-trees give
out a fine perfume. I have often paused in my walks to inhale the
fragrance from a cedar swamp on some sunny day while the boughs were
still wet with the dew-drops or recently fallen shower.

Nor is the balsam-poplar, or tacamahac, less delightfully fragrant,
especially while the gummy buds are just beginning to unfold; this is an
elegant growing tree, where it has room to expand into boughs. It grows
chiefly on the shores of the lakes and in open swamps, but it also forms
one of the attractions of our plains, with its silver bark and waving
foliage; it emits a resinous clear gum in transparent globules on the
bark, and the buds are covered with a highly aromatic gummy fluid.

Our Grasses are highly interesting; there are varieties that are wholly
new to me, and when dried form the most elegant ornaments to our
chimney-pieces, and would look very graceful on a lady's head; only
fas