THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 37 



found closely clinging- to the stones where the current is 

 swift. Generally its thick matted branches are full of par- 

 ticles of sand and bits of sawdust and it needs a thorough 

 cleaning before going into the vasculum. At the first glance 

 this plant might be taken for a cryptogam but such is not the 

 case for a closer examination will show it to be a flowering 

 plant. In similar places may sometimes be found the alga 

 (Batrachospermum moniliforme) also clinging to the peb- 

 bles in the bed of the stream. When first removed from the 

 water it has a jelly-like appearance but this disappears upon 

 drying. 



The sand and gravel bars running out from the bank are 

 always good hunting ground being usually well covered with 

 sedges — Cy perns, Eleocharis, Scirpus an'd' the like; While the 

 Scirpus-Wko^ rush {Juncus scirpoides) may often be found. 

 On such a bar I sometimes find the small bedstraw {Galium 

 triUdum) intermingled with dwarfish Bidens. Such places 

 are also the favorite habitats of the sand cherry (Prumus 

 piimila) which more resembles a dwarf willow than the plums 

 and cherries to Which it is allied. 



If the month be August, looking up or down the stream 

 one may catch a gleam of brilliant color. A flash of purest 

 cardinal red which is not difficult to identify as the cardinal 

 flower {Lobelia cardinalis) — the most brilliant of our north- 

 ern blossoms. Where a brook enters the main stream is a 

 favorable place to search for that more humble relative of the 

 cardinal flower, the brook lobelia {Lobelia Kalmii). 



On the bank and perhaps leaning out so that it is re- 

 flected in still water, will be the great St. John's-wort {Hy- 

 pericum ascyron) a plant well worthy of cultivation for its 

 great flowers of pure yellow. Many other St. John's-worts 

 may be found without difficulty as they are a numerous aridl 

 hardy race, liking well the neighborhood of lakes and 

 streams. 



