Autumn 



knotweed, a patch of which reminded 

 Thoreau of ^ ' a peach orchard in bloom. ' ' 

 The bright-hued, leafless stems of the 

 glasswort define the borders of the road. 

 Only a close examination convinces us of 

 the existence of the minute flowers of this 

 odd-looking plant, for they are so sunken 

 in its thickened upper joints as to be al- 

 most invisible. 



Now and then we come across an even- 

 ing primrose with blossoms so wide open, 

 delicate and fragrant, and with leaf and 

 stem so lacking their usual rankness, that 

 we can hardly connect it with the great, 

 coarse plants whose brown, flowerless 

 spikes are crowding the edge of the high- 

 way. In this neighborhood the brilliant 

 flowers and fleshy leaves of the seaside 

 golden-rod are everywhere conspicuous, 

 while farther inland the so-called blue- 

 stemmed species, bearing its clustered 

 heads in the leaf- angles along the stem, 

 begins to predominate. On the moun- 

 140 



