Ever since the beginning of things there has been a wide range of temperament exhibited among the beauties of creation, and it is no less pronounced among flowers than it is peculiar to those who begin to betray it at sweet sixteen. So here 's to the Spring Beauty, may her tribe increase! Although apparently indifferent to the cold blasts of March and early April, and bold in her effort to be first among the debutantes at Nature's earliest social gathering, she becomes extremely sensitive if her whims happen to be opposed. She loves the glorious sun and courts and courtseys before his radiations with all the charming affectation her flushed, wide-spreading petals can command. She blushes as she greets him from rising to setting, turning as he travels from east to west, and then back again each morning to repeat the operation when he returns. But let him disappoint her, and she immediately pouts and droops, and refuses to be consoled until the clouds break away, and he reappears. If you chance to pluck this dainty miss, she promptly sulks, and no amount of coaxing will prevail to change her hopeless mood, without the endearing rays of her affinity. So much for the sun's influence upon the temperament of the Spring Beauty. During March, April, and May the starry flowers of the Claytonia are everywhere conspicuous in thin, moist woods, where they grow abundantly. They are found singly, and in thick clusters, but generally in colonies which are scattered over a considerable area, and slope after slope is often whitened with masses of their delicate blossoms. The single, slender, and juicy stalk springs from a small, deeply seated, tuberous root. It grows from six to twelve inches high, and is occasionally branched. It is light green in colour, and is stained with red. About midway from the ground, it bears two long, narrow, dark green, grass-like leaves which taper into short stems and unite oppositely with the stalk. They have a distinct midrib, a smooth edge, and are narrowed to a point. The stem and leaves are thick and rubbery in texture, and the entire plant becomes limp and forlorn almost as soon as it is picked. The weak stalk usually assumes a crooked or serpentine growth, and is frequently sprawled along the ground. It is rather tough, and is more apt to break at the root than above the ground when pulled. The newly exposed part when pulled up is quite white, and tapers toward the root. The nodding buds, which are enclosed in a two-parted calyx, are borne on short, slender stems in a loose terminal cluster, and open a few at a time. The flowers are less than an inch broad when fully expanded, and are known, botanically, as secund flowers - that is, they are all borne on one side of the stem. The five oval, fine-textured petals are notched at the apex. They are white with fine veinings of pink, or often a beautiful pink with darker pink lines. The petals are slightly united at the base, and near this point the veinings terminate with small dashes of yellow. There are five white stamens with pink anthers attached to the base of the petals. As the petals expand the stamens remain erect around the pistil, adding greatly to the effectiveness of the blossom. As the flower matures the stamens droop outward toward the petals and the tip of the pistil opens with three little hooks. There is a faint fragrance to the flowers when they first open, but it is not always constant. The Claytonia was named for an early American botanist, John Clayton of Virginia, who collected many plants and sent them to Gronovius, the editor of the "Flora Virginica." The Spring Beauty is found from Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territory and southward to Georgia and Texas. There is very little chance of confusing this flower with those of either of the Anemones. Just remember that the Spring Beauty has very long and narrow leaves shaped like grass blades, and the stems of the Anemones are thin and wiry.