. Strolls by starlight and sunshine;. Natural history. 132 STARLIGHT AND SUNSHINE. of flowers, quite distinct from all the other food plants, and new to me. I simply noted it as an exception, and lowered my but- terfly a peg in my esteem. Not until years later, in the more serious pursuit of botanical study, did I dis- cover what a rare lesson in botany the As- terias had wasted upon me; that the little unknown plant was in truth a distinct um- belwort like the rest—the water-pennywort. In this plant we have an example which none but a careful botanist would identify as belonging to this fam-
. Strolls by starlight and sunshine;. Natural history. 132 STARLIGHT AND SUNSHINE. of flowers, quite distinct from all the other food plants, and new to me. I simply noted it as an exception, and lowered my but- terfly a peg in my esteem. Not until years later, in the more serious pursuit of botanical study, did I dis- cover what a rare lesson in botany the As- terias had wasted upon me; that the little unknown plant was in truth a distinct um- belwort like the rest—the water-pennywort. In this plant we have an example which none but a careful botanist would identify as belonging to this fam- ily, the habit being entirely ex- ceptional, the leaf totally dis- similar to any other species, having more the resem- blance, indeed, to a mallow, or geranium, or Trop<zolum, and bearing a flower and seed so peculiar and incon- spicuous that only a keen, analytic eye could trace their botanical characters. Thus we have cited two prime au- thorities on Urticacecz and Umbellifercz. In the lead of the little white but- . terfly of our gardens {Pie- ris oleraced) we may be introduced to an entirely new tribe of vegetation, in- dicated by the insects' spe- cific name—the cabbage or potherb butterfly—a member of a small tribe of unimpeachable experts on the Mustard family. For it matters not whether in the form of candy-tuft or sweet-alyssum,. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Gibson, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton), 1850-1896. New York, Harper & brothers
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