20 FLORA OF WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. 



The Rock Creek region is divided, as far as the designation of locali- 

 ites is concerned, into six sections. The first, embracing the series of 

 groves from Gtorgetown to Woodley Park, on the right bank of the 

 <ireek, is called Woodley. This section embraces several interesting 

 ravines, and in it are found many plants rare elsewhere, such as Chamce- 

 lirium Carolinianum, Cypripedium puhescens, Hesperis matronaUs, and 

 Liparis LceseKL In it is also a grove of the Hercules' Club (Aralia 

 ■spinosa). On the left bank of the creek lie the Kalorama Heights 

 and some fine open woodland. The Woodley Park section extends to 

 the ravine which comes down opposite the old brick mill ruin, known as 

 the Adams Mill. The timber here has been thinned out recently by the 

 proprietors, but not cleared off, and the vegetation has undergone a 

 marked change. Several interesting plants have been found in Woodley 

 Park, including the rare Obolaria Virginica and the beautiful Spircea 

 Aruncus. Above this the timber is heaviest on the left bank, and some 

 very fine ravines occur, at the head of one of which is a magnolia and 

 sphagnum swamp where Veratrum viride and Symplocarpus fcetidiis 

 keep company with Gonolohus ohliqmis and Pirus arbufifoUa. Here, too, 

 though well up towards the Ford, has been found Polemonium reptans, 

 not seen elsewhere. 



This third section terminates at Piney Branch, and from here to 

 Pierce's mill, and as far above as the mouth of Broad Branch, the fourth 

 section extends. This section is well wooded on both sides, and in- 

 cludes the enchanting Cascade Eun, which leaps down over the most 

 Tomantic rocks. 



ifear Pierce's mill are many trees and shrubs, jilanted there years 

 "before, but now well naturalized. Among these are Aralia spinosa, 

 Xanthoxylum Americanum, Acer saccharinum, Pinus Strohus, and Garya 

 alba. Below the mill, on the creek bottom, is a long- abandoned nursery 

 *of Populus alba and Acer dasycarpum. 



Prom Broad Branch to the Military Road is the fifth and perhaps 

 most interesting section of the Rock Creek Region. On the left bank lie 

 the once noted Crystal Springs, and though the buildings are removed, 

 the springs remain unchanged. Here have been found OpMoglossum 

 vulgatum, Anychia dichotoma, and Perilla ocimoides, as well as Tipularia 

 discolor. On the right bank, and above Blagden's Mill, is a bold bluff in 

 .a short bend of the creek, forming a sort of promontory, upon which 



«uch parts as are traversed by roads is wholly insufficient to afford an adequate idea 

 of its merits from this point of view. For the greater part of the distance mentioned 

 above, this region is accessible only to footmen. 



