74 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



A. tricoccuni and more strongly scented. Like several of the 

 garden onions, it has the peculiarity of bearing numerous 

 small bulbs in its flower clusters. These bulbs are really 

 transformed flowers, just as the flower itself is a transformed 

 branch. 



The nodding garlic {Allium cernuuni) is easily the queen 

 of our native species and well worth a place in any flower 

 garden. It delights in moist meadows and springy banks 

 growing in dense colonies, which put up a perfect cloud of 

 blossoms. The flowers, on slender pedicels, are borne in 

 dense umbels at the top of a common flower-stalk which at 

 the summit turns abruptly downward and gives occasion 

 for the specific name. In color they range from pure white to 

 deep pink, the pure white being the rarest. It may be possible 

 that there are two forms of the white ones, one due to varia- 

 tions from the pink type, the other a pure albino. The flow- 

 ers furnish much honey to the bees and are quite fragrant, but 

 picked for a bouquet have the allium odor too well developed 

 to be desirable. In their native haunts, however, they are 

 among the finest of summer flowers and make the meadows 

 gay with color. " Our illustration will give an idea of the 

 appearance of the species when in flower. 



A TRIP TO MT. EQUINOX. 



ON a perfect day in early June we set out, in the early morn- 

 ing hours, for a fifteen mile drive to Mt. Equinox ; hav- 

 ing in mind a botanical exploration of a part of this interesting 

 mountain, by approaching it from the western side. Mt. 

 Equinox, one of the highest peaks of southern Vermont, lies in 

 the Taconic — a secondary range of the Green Mountains. 

 Its height as given in the U. S. Geological Survey is 3816 

 feet. On the western side it is approached by several ranges 

 of hills which gradually rise higher as they approach the main 

 peak. This is quite in contrast to the eastern side which is 



