It is a matter of surprise that this lovely flower is not more common in American gardens. It is not much in love with the common flower garden, but loves to take care of itself in woods or thickets, or other places where it can go on for years without being disturbed. The yellow flowers are prettier than any buttercup, and are open frequently before the snow has wholly gone away. It is so generally known by its common name that one is not likely to get something else when ordering it, but it is well to say that its botanical name is Eranthus hyemalis. Thomas Noel has some pretty lines on the Winter Aconite which we here reproduce :

Flower, that foretell'st a Spring thou ne'er shalt see,

Yet smilest still upon thy wintry-day,

Content with thy joy-giving destiny,

Nor envying fairer flowers their festal May, -

O golden-chaliced Aconite ! I'll lay

To heart the lesson that thou teachest me;

I, too, contented with my times will be,

And still a placid aspect will display

In tempest-troubled seasons, - nor repine

That others, coming after, shall enjoy

A calmer day, a sunnier sky than mine;

To speed the present, be my sweet employ;

To cast into a stormy world my mite

Of cheer, like thee, gloom-gilding Aconite !