VEGETATION IN THE DUNES 



the dunes is the wild rose, of which there are 

 at least two species. These fragrant single 

 roses seem to take on a deeper crimson in this 

 maritime region than farther inland, and their 

 changing foliage in autumn, and their red hips 

 that stand out in the snow are always attract- 

 ive. Shad bushes, with their early white blos- 

 soms, clumps of meadow-sweet and hardback 

 with their pink and rose-colored flowers, are 

 common in the dunes, and in one or two places 

 the hardy leather-leaf, named Cassandra, sur- 

 vives the winter with its evergreen leaves, 

 and with flower buds ready to open in the 

 spring. In the fall and winter the black alder 

 or winterberry bushes are aflame with their 

 crowded crimson berries. 



There is one bush that grows in two small 

 patches in the dunes whose discovery in bloom 

 is always a delight. 



" Rhodora, if the sages ask thee why, 



This charm is wasted on the earth and sky, 



Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing, 



Then Beauty is its own excuse for being: 



Why thou wert there, rival of the rose! 



I never thought to ask, I never knew: 



But, in my simple ignorance, suppose 



The self-same Power that brought me there brought you." 



83 



