DECEMBER OUT-OF-DOORS. 61 
florets were not yet perfected. Such witch- 
hazel blossoms as can be gathered in Decem- 
ber are of course nothing but belated speci- 
mens. I remarked a few on the 2d, and 
again on the 10th; and on the afternoon of 
Christmas, happening to look into a hama- 
melis-tree, I saw what looked like a flower 
near the top. The tree was too small for 
climbing and almost too large for bending, 
but I managed to get it down; and sure 
enough, the bit of yellow was indeed a per- 
fectly fresh blossom. How did it know I 
was to pass that way on Christmas afternoon, 
and by what sort of freemasonry did it at- 
tract my attention? I loved it and left it 
on the stalk, in the true Emersonian spirit, 
and here I do my little best to embalm its 
memory. 
One of the groundsels (Senecio viscosus) 
is a recent immigrant from Europe, but has 
been thoroughly established in the Back 
Bay lands of Boston — where I now found it, 
in perfect condition, December 4th — for at 
least half a dozen years. In Gray’s “Flora 
of North America” it is said to grow there 
and in the vicinity of Providence; but since 
that account was written it has made its ap- 
