MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 95 



segments are seven, and the stamens seven, while the leaves 

 of the whorl also are usually seven in number, some being 

 large and some small. 



Bryant writes of the alpine meadows, 



" Where star-flowers strew the rivulet's side," 



but as a matter of fact it is generally in the shady woods, 

 near the foot of some large forest tree, that these dainty little 

 flowers are found. 



BUCKBEAN 



Menyanthes trifoliata. Gentian Family 



Rootstock thick, scaly, marked by the scars of bases of former petioles. 

 Leaves: trifoliate, leaflets oblong, entire, obtuse at the apex, narrowed to 

 the sessile base. Flowers: in a raceme borne on a long, scape-like, naked 

 peduncle; calyx short; corolla funnel-form, five-cleft, its lobes bearded 

 within. 



This is a perennial swamp herb whose lovely white flowers 

 and triple leaves are the glory of many a secluded mountain 

 marsh. The face of the five white or purplish-pink divisions 

 of the corolla are covered with soft hairs, which give the 

 flowers a dainty feathery appearance, and inside the tube are 

 placed the five stamens, while the style is long and projects 

 beyond them. 



ROMANZOFFIA 



Romanzoffia sitchensis. Water-leaf Family 



Steins: slender, scape-like, ascending or spreading. Leaves: round-reni- 

 form, three-to-seven lobed on slender petioles. Flowers: in a loose ter- 

 minal raceme ; corolla funnel-form, the broad lobes rounded. 



One of the most exquisite fragrant alpine plants, that grows 



" Where the sunlight fills the hours, 

 Dissolves the crust, displays the flowers." 



At high altitudes, when the warmth of July has melted 

 the snow and set the flowers free, you will find the creamy 



