14 Rhodora [JANUARY 
latter otherwise a complete stranger to the region. At Phillips I have 
found Milium effusum in woods like these, though I have elsewhere 
found it only in rich woods on mountain slopes. 
The intervales have all been cleared, and are in grass-land or under 
cultivation. Their fertility is assured by occasional spring freshets, 
and the first farms settled were along the river. The cultivated fields 
bring forth the usual introduced weeds, but in the mowing-fields there 
are a few vigorous native species which compete successfully with 
herdsgrass and red-top. One of these is Rhus Toxicodendron, here a 
prostrate vine with yellowish-green foliage, which runs out from 
thickets and fence-rows everywhere, making the haying season a 
most dangerous time for the farmer who is not immune. This is the 
only form of poison ivy in the region. Asclepias syriaca, Equisetum 
arvense and Vicia Cracca are also very common in the grass. Onoclea 
sensibilis is everywhere, and is so vigorous that in a few years it will 
drive out the "English grass," even on the upland. After haying, 
when the first fronds have been cut, new fronds grow which are fre- 
quently to be classified as var. obtusilobata. This is the first plant to 
feel the frost, and on the morning afterward the air is everywhere fra- 
grant from the chilled fronds. In spring the moister places are yellow 
with Barbarea vulgaris. Sandy places bring forth Smilacina stellata, 
and at Farmington there is one good station for Pedicularis canaden- 
sis, which shuns the firmer soil of the upland. I have never seen it 
north of this place. 
The ox bows and cut-offs which the river has deserted are locally 
called “creeks.” They are full of moisture-loving species, but so 
many of these plants are found in wet places all over New England, 
that I shall mention only a few of the more interesting. Onoclea 
Struthiopteris fringes many of these creeks, and is often five feet tall. 
Glyceria is very well represented, by G. borealis and four other species. 
Zizania aquatica is at two places in Farmington, so near the railway 
as to suggest its introduction from the outside world. Carex retrorsa 
is very common, and in one place I found this summer several plants 
of var. Harti. This variety has smaller spikes than the type, with 
long drooping peduncles, and spreading perigynia. Prof. Fernald 
assures me that this plant is new to Maine, the nearest reported 
station being in western New Hampshire. At Strong there is a fine 
station for C. Tuckermani, and another for Scirpus debilis. S. Torreyi 
and S. pedicellatus are occasional, while S. atrocinctus, S. rubrotinctus, 
