It is now early in April, and this plant is at the zenith of its beauty. Often, as I wander along through the woods in which it is found, I wish that some of my friends in Britain - any lover of herbaceous plants, like Mr Niven of Hull, or Mr Sutherland - could be with me to enjoy so rich a treat as that which is afforded by a quantity of this in full flower. I have referred to it as a forest plant, but I may add that it stands exposure well. I got ample proof of this the other day. In a little garden in the vicinity of Lexington I saw a bed of it in full bloom, as healthy as could be, and quite open to the sun during the whole day. And this is not by any means a small plant. It rises 2 feet above the ground, and is therefore, when other things are taken into account, admirably adapted for a mixed border, and would look glorious anywhere. I am not certain that it would care about much shifting - a practice I have heard lauded without stint. The leaves have all the delicacy of tint of Funkia grandiflora, and they are quite as large as those of that plant. The stem, bearing at its summit the raceme of flowers, has foliage all the way up. I feel certain that I cannot do anything like justice to the corolla.

It is about 1 inch long, and comparatively narrow for the greater part of its length; it widens towards the mouth, and ultimately becomes a quarter of an inch across, and cup-shaped, whilst throughout it is almost transparent, and of an exquisite blue or pink colour. In conclusion, I believe that this must be a scarce plant in England, and it was not in Kew Gardens in 1870. I need hardly add that, being a native of Kentucky, it is certain to be quite hardy in any part of Great Britain.

When Viola cucullata begins to decline, Viola striata starts to expand its cream-coloured blossoms. The stem of the former species never rises above the ground, but it is otherwise with the stem of this one. Though not so gay, nor yet so capable of producing a large quantity of flowers as the earlier kind already referred to, still it well deserves attention wherever a pleasing variety is maintained by means of well-marked species. In short, no lover of good hardy herbaceous plants can afford to be without this. The same may be said of Viola pubescens, which is produced sparingly hereabouts, and may be known immediately from any other American Viola by its yellow corolla, reminding one of a small form of Viola lutea. The two species now under consideration have not yet been found by me out of woods in which the soil is a rich loam, as deep as you like, and without a stone. One evening, early in April, I went out on a short botanical excursion, and was rewarded by finding any quantity of Trillium sessile, and a considerable amount of Phlox divaricata, and both in full blossom, and growing in a wood without much shade; although I have observed that the vitality was by far the greatest where protection most abounded, and indeed I have not been able to meet with these plants on cleared lands.

Trillium sessile, like all the members of the curious and beautiful genus to which it belongs, has first three leaves in a whorl, then three sepals, next three pistils, afterwards come six stamens, and finally three carpels forming the pistil. The flowers, the leaves, the sepals, and the petals of this species are all sessile; and hence the trivial name is sound, inasmuch as it is descriptive. The leaves of this, in addition to being sessile, are ovate, and very often marked with large black spots, such as occur on Arum maculatum. The petals grow erect, or nearly so, are lanceolate, about an inch long and of a dark purplish colour, and this last is also true of the inner side of the sepals, the outer side of these being nearly green. The specimens which I saw were never above 7 inches high.

Well deserving of every attention as Trillium sessile is, it is not nearly so lovely a plant as Phlox divaricata. This was a great favourite with me, even when I knew it endeavouring to grow in a pot half full of drainage, and having the soil dried off in the winter-time. It is, however, an undeniable fact, that to be admired as it deserves, it should be seen springing freely and faultless from its native soil, and surrounded by, and mixed with, its appropriate associates. What a gem this would make for a rockwork ! It should have a nook into which the extremely intense rays of the mid-day sun never go, and it could hardly fail to do admirably if set out in a plantation, and cared for until it took root. It is not a tall plant, as I have not observed any above 1 foot high. It may be known from any other perennial American Phlox by the corolla, the lobes of which are notched at the end, and by the leaves being remote. The corolla is of a pale lilac or bluish purple colour, and about as large as that of the common Texan annual Phlox Drummondii. John Duncan.

Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.