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from the summit. The view from the summit is magnificent. 

 Dense forests, sparkling lakes, rolling hills, and towns half hidden 

 among the trees, offer a restful picture to the eye. The plants 



found on the hoary head of the old mountain scarcely exceed a 

 foot in height. The prominent feature consists o{ Jiincus trifidus, 

 which grows in small, dense, tough patches between the rocks, and 

 was In good fruiting condition when T gathered it. I was obliged 

 to use my trowel as a hatchet, to hack out pieces of the hard, dry 

 sod. Poa serotina^ which varies so much in different localities, 

 formed a turf several feet square, by a small pool of surface water, 

 within a few yards of the very summit. The grass, which was of 

 special interest to me, however, and which I met for the first time, 

 at this spot, was Poa nemoralis, \Poa ctesia, var. strictior of the 

 Gray Manual, 5th edition]. It formed a dense sod of several 

 square feet, in a few spots, between the massive boulders. I feasted 

 my eyes upon this interesting grass, which is certainly not com- 

 mon, and stretched out at full length upon it to eat my lunch. 

 The pretty Arenaria Grceiilandica was in full flower and grew 

 some distance down the mountain side, forming small patches of 

 snowy white. Solidago Virga-aurca, var. alpina was very abun. 

 dant, in full bloom, growing here and there in profusion. The 

 plants were from 2 to 6 inches in height and the radical leaves 

 were fully developed. These leaves varied very much in shape, 

 from almost orbicular with margined petioles to narrowly spatulatc 

 and pointed. On the damp slopes about the summit, Rhodora 

 was abundant in fruit and, by a clear, cool spring of crystal water, 

 but a minute^s scramble down the rocks, I found Ledtirn latifolinm, 

 Carcx canescens, var. alpicola was growing from the mountain top 

 to nearly as far down as the Mountain House, while Potentilla 

 tridentata was very abundant on the rocks everywhere, in full 

 flower. I found this plant growing abundantly in an open 

 meadow in Jaff"rey, N. H., on August i ith, the fruit having fully 

 matured. Creeping up very close to the summit and just per- 

 fecting its bright red berries, was Vaccinitun Vitis-Id(£a. It is 

 called Mountain Cranberry and certainly makes an excellent 

 sauce. Expertus dico. A small form of Eriophortim gracile was 

 growing among rich sphagnum by a small pool. 



These were the phsenogamous features of the top of the moun- 



