ODOR OF THE EVERLASTING. 109 



are the factors which cause the gloom of pes- 

 simism to enthrall my soul this morn. 



Adown the valley, where the main tributary 

 of the woodland stream winds its way, the iron 

 weeds, springing tall and rank from the alluvial 

 soil, outstrip all other herbaceous vegetation. 

 Their purple cymes furnish on this dull August 

 morn the only bit of color that enlivens the 

 green and brown of the scene before me. 



The most lasting and the most fragrant odor 

 of these blue-grass pastures at this season is 

 that of the sweet or fragrant life everlasting, 28 

 a member of the family Composite, bearing 

 slender lanceolate leaves and creamy white 

 flowers. It grows in profusion from poor soil in 

 rather bare places on sunny slopes, and reaches 

 a height of two feet or less. When plucked, its 

 flowers dry without shrivelling and retain their 

 fragrance for months. The odor is peculiar, 

 differing from that of any other of our wild 

 plants, and is to me most pleasing, both in itself 

 and for the memories of other days which it 

 calls forth. Holmes, in his Autocrat, has well 



**Gncnphalium obtusifolium L. 



