io6 THE PLANT WORLD. 



turn) was in blossom, while in the thickets the Mountain Shad 

 {Amelauchier oligocarpd) blossomed and the Wild Currant {Ribes 

 palustre) hung its racemes in graceful fashion. On the rocks below 

 the Nose, Ledum latifoliuin^ or Labrador Tea, bore white buds, sprays 

 of which placed in water blossomed after a few days. 



From a visit to Mt. Mansfield on June 8, 1897, my father brought 

 me a hand-breadth of Diapensia in blossom, the first I had ever seen. 

 I was charmed with the little plant and wished to find it for myself. 

 " It grows almost on the highest point of the Chin," my father told 

 me, and with these directions I set out on the way to the Chin, taking 

 the right hand whenever there was a choice of paths. It had rained 

 the day before and was going to rain the next day. The vegetation 

 that clothes the rocks was completely water-soaked, and the traveler 

 soon became so, too. At intervals clouds settled down upon the moun- 

 tain, completing the work of saturation. In spite of the water, which 

 never hurts a botanist unless too deep, the walk of a mile and a half 

 along the crest of Vermont was a most interesting one, with the won- 

 derful scenery lying below on either hand, now clear in the sunshine 

 and now hidden by clouds. Along the way stunted Mountain Alders 

 grew, bearing little catkins and young leaves, and Fir Balsams bore 

 soft cones covered with violet velvet. Under foot Coptis trifolia blos- 

 somed, its gold-thread roots binding the scanty soil, and Potcntilla 

 tridentata^ growing with it, was budded. 



In the bogs were matted vines — Snowberry {CJiiogenes)., Crow- 

 berry {Empetruin), Cowberry and Cranberry {Vaccinium Vitis-Idcca) 

 and Oxycoccus, and with them grew Blueberries [Vaccinium Pennsyl- 

 vanicum and V. uliginosuiii), the two latter and Vitis-Idcca in blossom. 

 I thought it might be early enough forEmpetrum blossoms, but failed 

 to find any, perhaps through ignorance of what to look for. A most 

 faithful search was rewarded only by two little green berries. After 

 crossing the Lips the ascent of the Chin begins. At this point a ledge 

 rises on the left of the path, at its foot a large crevice partly filled 

 with its inevitable pool of water. The Alders standing in the crevice 

 were just unfolding their leaf -buds. Spring was evidently a recent 

 visitor here. 



Another stiff climb after this, and to my joy I came upon a patch 

 of Diapensia — flower of the cold — that blossoms only on the heights in 

 our latitude. For yards the rocks were covered with close-set tufts of 

 this courageous little plant with its stiff, shining, dark green leaves 

 and beautiful white flowers looking up into the sky. The blossoms at 

 this time were a little past their prime, many of the corollas falling off 

 upon the removal of the plants. June 8 was a more favorable date 

 for Diapensia. Dried and pressed specimens give one no idea of the 



