PINK 



white to pure white." He says that in southern Connecticut it 

 may be found by the 20th of June, but that the White Moun- 

 tains rarely afford it before July. It is due in the Berkshires, 

 Mass., late in June. 



It grows in peat-bogs, and its height and foliage strongly sug- 

 gest the false hellebore. 



This flower is one of a species whose life is threatened owing 

 to the oft-lamented ruthlessness of the " flower-picker." 



Near Lenox, Mass., there is one locality where the showy 

 lady's slipper can be found. Fortunately, one would suppose, 

 this spot is known only to a few; but as one of the few who pos- 

 sess the secret is a country boy who uproots these plants and sells 

 them by the dozen in Lenox and Pittsfield, the time is not distant 

 when the flower will no longer be found in the shadowy silences 

 of her native haunts, but only, robbed of half her charm, 

 languishing in stiff rows along the garden-path. 



AMERICAN CRANBERRY. 



[PI. XCVII 



Vaccinium macrocarpon. Heath Family. 



Stems. — Slender; trailing; one to four feet long. Leaves. — Oblong; 

 obtuse; whitened beneath. Flcnvers. — Pale pink; nodding. Calyx. — With 

 short teeth. Corolla. — Four-parted. Stamens. — Eight or ten ; protruding. 

 Fruit. — A large, acid, red berry. 



In the peat-bogs of our Northeastern States we may look in 

 June for the pink nodding flowers, and in late summer for the 

 large red berries of this well-known and useful plant. 



The small cranberry, V. oxycoccus, bears a much smaller 

 fruit. Its ovate, acute leaves have strongly revolute margins 

 and are whitish beneath. The acid berries are edible when 

 cooked. 



The mountain cranberry, V. Vitis-Idcea, is found along the 

 coast and mountains of New England, inland to Lake Superior 

 and far northward. Its smooth, shining, obovate leaves also 

 have revolute margins. Below they are dotted with black, 



215 



