181 



yard, — rank pigweeds and sprawling barn-grass ; one for tlie 

 dripping rock-clitf, — delicate bluebells and hanging ferns and 

 grasses. Indefinitely might these categories be extended. AV"e all 

 known the plant societies, but we have not thought of them. 



In every plant society there is one dominant note. It is the indi- 

 viduality of one kind of plant which grows most abundantly or over- 

 tops the others. Certain plant forms come to mind when one thinks 

 of willows, others when he thiidvs of an apple orchard, still others 

 when he thinks of a beech forest. The farmer may associate 

 " ])ussly '' with cabbages and beets, but not with wheat and oats. lie 

 associates cockle witli wheat, but not with oats or corn. We all asso- 

 ciate dandelions with grassy areas, but not with l)urdocks or forests. 



It is impossible to open one's eyes out-of-doors, outside the paved 

 streets of cities, without seeing a ])lant society. A lawn is a })lanf 

 society. It may contain only grass, 

 or it may contain weeds hidden away 

 in the sward. AVhat weeds remain 

 in the lawn ? Only those which can 

 withstand the mowing. What are 

 they ? Let a bit of lawn grow as it 

 will for a month, and see what there 

 is in it. A swale, a dry hillside, a for- 

 est of beech, a forest of oak, a forest 

 of hemlock or pine, a weedy yard, a 

 tangled fence-row, a brook side, a 

 deep, quiet swamp, a lake shore, 

 a railroad, a river bank, a meadow, 

 a pasture, a dusty roadway, — each 

 has its charactei-istic plants. Even 97.— The wild grape covers the tree- 

 m the winter one may see these ^^^'' '*^'^ *^'^ children plat/ in 



societies, the tall plants still assert- 

 ing themselves, others of less aspir- 

 ing stature, and others snuggling just under the snow (Fig. 95). 



Often these societies are in the nature of overo^rowth and under- 

 growth — one society living beneath another. Of such are forest 

 societies. Few woods are so dark that some plants do not grow on 

 the ground, unless they are evergreen or coniferous woods. Even 



3§1 



the bower. The grape is 

 searching for light. 



