Autumn 



where, picking our way from hummock 

 to hummock, without appreciably dimin- 

 isliing the supply, we gathered one tall 

 cluster after another of the delicate, deep- 

 hued blossoms. In bud the fringed 

 petals are twisted one about the other. 

 When the day is cloudy, or even, I 

 should judge, if the wind is high, the 

 full-blown flower closes in the same fash- 

 ion. The individuals which grow in the 

 shade are even more attractive than those 

 which frequent the open. Their blue 

 is lighter, with a silvery tinge which I do 

 not recall in any other flower. Until 

 this year I have never encountered the 

 plant in my ordinary wanderings, but 

 during the past few days I have found it 

 bordering in abundance the Berkshire 

 lanes. Being a biennial, we cannot pre- 

 dict with certainty its whereabouts from 

 year to year, as its seeds may be washed to 

 some distance in the moist regions which 

 usually it favors. 



135 



