122 THE KALMIA. 



gles and scalloped edges. " At the circumference of the 

 disk on the inside," says Darwin, " are ten depressions 

 or pits, accompanied with corresponding prominences on 

 the outside. In these depressions the anthers are found 

 lodged at the time when the flower expands. The stamens 

 grow from the base of the corolla, and bend outwardly, so 

 as to lodge the anthers in the cells of the corolla. From 

 this confinement they liberate themselves, during the 

 period of flowering, and strike against the sides of the 

 stigma." This curious internal arrangement of parts 

 renders the flower very beautiful on close examination. 

 The flowers are arranged in flat circular clusters at the 

 terminations of the branches. 



We seldom meet anything in the forest more attractive 

 than the groups of Mountain Laurel, which often cover 

 extensive slopes, generally appearing on the edge of a 

 wood, and becoming more scarce as they extend into the 

 interior or wander outwardly from the border. But if we 

 meet with an opening in the wood where the soil is fa- 

 vorable, some little sunny dell or declivity, another 

 still more beautiful group opens on the sight, sometimes 

 occupying the whole space. The Mountain Laurel does 

 not constitute the undergrowth of any family of trees, 

 but avails itself of the protection of a wood where it 

 can flourish without being overshadowed by it. In the 

 groups on the outside of the wood, the flowers are usual- 

 ly of a fine rose-color, fading as they are more shaded, 

 until in the deep forest we find them, and the buds like- 

 wise, of a pure white. I am not acquainted with another 

 plant that is so sensitive to the action of light upon the 

 color of its flowers. The buds, except in the dark shade, 

 before they expand, are of a deeper red than the flowers, 

 and hardly less beautiful. 



The Mountain Laurel delights in wet places, in 

 springy lands on rocky declivities where there is an ac- 



