The Crucifers, or Mustard family, have cross-shaped flowers, and abound in a pungent, biting juice, with which we are familiar; and thus we could go on enumerating the distinctive qualities of one hundred and thirty families.
In every month are to be found some peculiarly rare and interesting plants, and May can show a fair array. In cold bogs and swamps of New England the genial airs awaken many a blossom that seems too lovely for such dismal surroundings. But bogs and swamps and wet pastures are well worth exploring, and are justly dear to the botanical heart; for here, springing from a bed of soft black mud, may be seen the pink Arethusa, fair as a rose leaf, the rare Calypso, the singular trilliums, the graceful adder's-tongue, and several species of the remarkable Cypripediums, or lady's-slipper. The beautiful spring orchis, the only orchis blossoming early, of most delicate white and purple tints, flourishes in damp, rich woods, and the Cornus, or dogwood, lights up the shady nooks with level sheets of bloom.
Violets, more than twenty varieties, come on in April, May, and June; but I can specify but one—a charming species of pansy-like beauty, found at Farmington, Connecticut, with the two upper petals of the finest violet tint, and of velvet softness. In moist woodlands in Western Connecticut the staphylea, or bladder-nut, attracts attention by its drooping racemes of white flowers, and later in the season the rich brown seed-vessels are as handsome as the flowers in the spring. All around on the rocky road-side banks and in dry fields the airy wild columbine and pretty corydalis blossoms nod in every breeze, and the ravines on the hills are fringed with the softest frills of exquisite leaves and odd flowers of the Dutchman's-breeches and squirrel-corn, whitish and pinkish, and with the scent of hyacinths.
One other must not be forgotten, though so well known as hardly needing to be named. Who has not searched in dim New England woods, under solemn pines, for the sweet, shy, waxen clusters of this dearest of all the flowery train, hiding under old rusty leaves, but betraying itself by that indescribably delicious fragrance which perfumes the wood paths? Surely all the young hands have been filled with the pilgrim's-flower, the epigæa, the trailing arbutus, the beloved May-flower of olden and of modern time.
In the Middle States many plants are found which New England does not furnish. New Jersey is famed for woodland treasures; not only Orange Mountains, but the pine-barrens, show many a charming blossom, and the dweller at the West finds on the flower-tinted prairies a profusion which the Eastern fields can not approach. On the hills of Pennsylvania may be seen the brilliant flame-colored azalea and the North American papaw—a relative of the tropical custard-apple—and the pink blossoms of the Judas-tree, and several varieties of larkspur, and in low thickets are found the white adder's-tongue and the dwarf white trillium. At the West, the interesting anemone called Easter or Pasque flower, from its blossoming near Easter; and another beautiful Western flower is the American cowslip, called also the shooting-star, which is found in Pennsylvania as well as on Western prairies. The following is a list of some of the flowers of May, with the localities in which they are most abundant:
FLOWERS OF MAY.
| COMMON NAME. | COLOR. | LOCALITY, ETC. |
| Adder's-tongue | Bluish-white | Thickets, banks; N. Y., Pa., West. |
| Adder's-tongue | Light yellow | Low copses and fields; New England. |
| American cowslip | Pink, white, violet | Rich woods; Pa., Western prairies. |
| Arbutus, May-flower. | Pink, white | Rocky banks, under pines; New Eng. |
| Arethusa | Bright rose | Cold bogs; Maine, N. J., South. |
| Azalea | Flame-colored | Pennsylvania mountains, and South. |
| Azure larkspur | Uplands; Pa. and West. | |
| Barberry | Yellow | Open fields, dry banks; New England. |
| Bellwort | Pale yellow | Damp woods; New England, West. |
| Bladder-nut | White | Western Conn.; woods. Rare. |
| Blue cohosh | Deep, rich woods; West. | |
| Bulbous buttercup. | Bright yellow | Pastures, meadows; New England and elsewhere. |
| Calypso | Purple, pink, yellow | Swamps, bogs; Northern New England. Rare. |
| Chickweed | White | Fields, door-yards; everywhere. |
| Columbine | Scarlet, yellow | Dry, sunny, rocky banks. Common. |
| Common buttercup | Golden yellow | Hills, fields. Common everywhere. |
| Dandelion | Bright yellow | Fields, road-sides; everywhere. |
| Dark purple clematis | Rich soil; Middle States, Southwest. | |
| Dwarf trillium | White | Shaded woods; West. Rare. |
| Easter flower | Pale purple | Western prairies. |
| Flowering dogwood | White | Rocky, open woods; Middle States. |
| Fly honeysuckle | Greenish-yellow | Rocky woods; Mass., Pa. |
| Gay wings | Rose purple | Light soil; New England and South. |
| Golden corydalis | Rocky banks; Vt., Pa. Rare. | |
| Gold-thread | White | Bogs; throughout the States. |
| Green hellebore | Green | Damp places; Long Island. Rare. |
| Ivory plum | Bright white | Cold bogs; Maine woods. Rare. |
| Jack-in-pulpit | Stripes of green and white | Rich woods; North and South. |
| Jersey tea, red-root | White | Woods and groves; N. J. and South. |
| Judas-tree, redbud | Purplish-red | Rich woods; N. Y., Pa., and South. |
| Lady's-slipper | Greenish-white | Bogs and swamps; N. Y., Pa. Rare. |
| Large climbing clematis | Light purple | Rocky New England hills. Rare. |
| Meadow-rue | Yellowish | Fields and woods; Northward. |
| Mountain heath | Drooping purple | Rocky hills; White Mountains, Vt. |
| Mountain holly | White | Damp, cold woods; North and West. |
| Mount. honeysuckle | Yellowish | Mountain woods and bogs; Mass., West. |
| N. American papaw | Lurid purple | Banks of streams; Pa. and South. |
| Pepper-root | White | Rich woods; Middle States. Rare. |
| Puccoon | Yellow | Shady woods; N. Y. and West. |
| Red bane-berry | Rocky woods. Common Northward. | |
| Red sandwort | Sandy fields; sea-coast. Common. | |
| Rheumatism-root | White | Low woods; Middle States, West. |
| Rhodora | Rose-color | Damp, cold New England woods. |
| Scarlet corydalis | Dry woods and fields; Northeast and West. Common. | |
| Sea sandwort | White | Atlantic coast, N. J. to Labrador. |
| Small buttercup | White | Under water; Maine to Texas. |
| Small honeysuckle | Dull purple | Rocky banks; Northward. |
| Spring beauty | Pink with deeper lines | Sheltered fields; Middle States. |
| Spring orchis | White, purple | Rich woods; New Eng., West, South. |
| Squirrel-corn | White, purplish | Rocky woods; Canada to Ky. Common. |
| Star flower | White | Damp, shady New England woods. |
| Straw lily | Straw-color | Cold swamps; Me. to Pa. Common. |
| Sweet viburnum | White | Cold swamps; New England woods. |
| Trillium | Dull purple | Rich woods; Northward. Common. |
| Tulip-tree | Yellow, green | Southern New England, Middle States, West. |
| Umbrella-leaf | White | Wet pastures; West and South. |
| Violets (many) | Blue, white, yellow | Fields, meadows, hills; Me. to Fla. |
| Wayfaring-tree | White | Cold swamps; New England woods. |
| White bane-berry | Rich soil; North and West. | |
| Wild pink | Red, with white spots | Sandy plains; N. J., West, and South. |
| Wild hyacinth | Pale blue | River-banks, moist prairies; West. |
| Withe-rod | White | Cold swamps; New England woods. |
| Wood-rush | Straw-color and brown | Dry fields and woods. Common. |
| Wild strawberry | White | Fields, meadows; Maine to Texas. |
| Yellowish clematis | River-banks; Pa., N. Y. Rare. | |
| Yellow-root | Dark purple | River-banks; N. Y., Pa., and West. |