98 NATURE vSTUDY. 



Plant Hunting. 



To me, no part of mj- longed-for vacation is so pleasant as the op- 

 portunities afforded to make new and renew old acquaintances 

 among the flowers of the woods, the field and the lakeside. The 

 very first sight of the red-flowering raspberry from the car window, 

 before the actual climb to Eagle's Mere is begun, causes a shout of 

 joy ; and as the little narrow-gauge road winds in its upward climb 

 among ferns and along the tumbling brook, memor}' prompts a 

 watch for the wild bergamot that rivals in brilliance the cardinal 

 flower I have seen along Muncy Creek. And then the rhododen- 

 drons along the lakeside — with what pleasure we find that here on 

 the mountain top these regal flowers have waited for us until late 

 July! I cannot resist the drawings of the camera, and although I 

 have loudly declaimed against those who cut a single twig from 

 these rare old plants hanging over the water's edge, I cautiously 

 snip a half-dozen bloom heads, and flee to the place where my lens 

 may look at them. On the way there appears one in authority, 

 who, pointing the finger of reproach, calls to mind my fulmina- 

 tions against the vandals who ruthlessly cut and slash. My bene- 

 ficent purpose satisfies him, however, and I photograph in peace. 



One day there comes a trip along a lovely fern-bordered road, 

 four or five miles down the mountain. By a roadside spring we 

 stop all the family to drink the water and to get closer to a great 

 bank of billowy ferns, worth a dozen greenhouses full of tender 

 and pampered winter pets ! It is on the way home that I first real- 

 ize what a dainty little white bell precedes the aromatic red berries 

 of the familiar wintergreen, and find close by a few belated flowers, 

 just as dainty and most remarkably sweet, of the partridge vine or 

 Mitchella, with its scarlet fruits of last year close by and mingling 

 with the fresh green berries of the season. Another delicate white 

 blossom peeps out from the green moss, holding its fine flowers 

 above the round leaves. A careful look, and it proves to be an ad- 

 ditional new acquaintance — the dalibarda, without a common name. 



The Eagle's Mere woods show here and there a pair of shining 

 flat leaves, prone on the ground ; and these I am told are the great 

 habenaria, of which I may find a bloom — perhaps ! Sure enough> 

 one day I do find a great upshooting spike, crowned with odd 

 greenish white flowers. A rush is made for the camera and, with 

 tedious care, an "exposure" follows. Alas! when I develop, I 



