Rhodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
asa, | ane RE EO = "E 
Vol. 17. February, 1915. No. 194. 
NOVEMBER FLOWERS. 
FRANK S. COLLINS. 
IN records of seasonal occurrence, it will be found that more atten- 
tion has been given to the beginning than to the end of the season. 
The finding of the first flower of the year of any species, the first hear- 
ing of the song of some bird, is an inspiring event, but after we have 
seen one and heard the other for months, the closing record is less 
interesting. Again, the latter is more difficult to obtain, and to be 
sure of the date of the fading of the last flower, the departure of the 
last bird of a species, is impossible. When you gather your first 
Hepatica, hear your first bluebird, you can make your record, and that 
is all there is to be done about it; but if you see a wild rose on the first 
of November, you must continue to watch for wild roses all through the 
month, and then feel that there were probably some that you did not 
see. But though no final date can be given with certainty, a list of 
species observed in some period at the close of the season, may show 
some interesting details. A list of this kind was made by the late 
Bradford Torrey, and will be found in his volume of pleasant and at 
the same time accurate nature studies, A Rambler's Lease, published 
in 1890. It appeared previously like most of the other essays in the 
volume in the Atlantic Monthly. It gives a list of plants that he 
found in bloom in the open in November, 1888, as also notes on butter- 
flies and birds observed during the month. I have often thought that 
it would be interesting to compare a similar list of flowers in November 
of some other year, and see in what proportion the species were the 
same. I had been unable to make up such a list, as in the case of a 
man whose occupation demands a day's work every week day, while’ 
