MOUNTAIN FL()\\I:KS ,^j 



bald hills at his;h alliuidcs. It is a most uiuannv plant. 'Ihc 

 tiny, pale i;Tccn, juicy leaves, crowded on the thick short 

 stems, are, like human tiesh. easily bruisetl ; and each of the 

 brii;ht \ ellow Howers, which -row in dense clusters, has four 

 or five narrow pointed petals. There are ten stamens, the 

 alternate ones bein-- attached to the ])etals. The five erect 

 carpels are tipped with Ion- conspicuous and diveri^^ent stvles. 

 crowned by fat sti-mas. 



The smooth clammy folia-e of the Stonecrop reminds the 

 traveller forcibly of the narrow -ap which lies between the 

 Animal and the W^g-etable Kin-xloms, for the touch of its 

 fleshy leaves is most repulsixe, resemblin-- that of some cold 

 moist body. Fortunately, however, it is redeemed from bein;.; 

 entirely objectionable by the twinklini;- little -olden blossoms, 

 which are as health)- and natural in their appearance as the 

 foliage is the very reverse. 



'• Flower in the crannied wall, 

 I pluck you out of the crannies. 

 I hold you here, root and all. in niv hand. 

 Little flower — but //' I could understand 

 What you are, root and all, and all in all. 

 I .should know what Cod and man i.s." 



*'N() decider thou-ht was e\er uttered b\ poet," sa\s b^.m 

 Fiske, in his beautiful work, TJiroiigh Xatior to (iod ; "tor 

 in this world of j^lants, which, with its ma-ici;ui, chloroph\ll, 

 conjurin-- with sunbeams, is ceaselessh- at woik bi-in-in-- life 

 out of death — in this cjuiet \e-etal)le woiid we ma\- hnd the 

 elemtnitarv principles of wW life in almost \isible oj)eration." 



Care must be taken not to confuse the \'ellow Sa.xifra-'e 

 with the Stonecrop. The former has tiin, ihin, ordinar\ Icaxes, 

 while the latter hiis Icaxes that are thick, flesln, and \ei\- 

 juicy. This peculiar tolia-e of the Stonecroj) enables it to 

 retain a quantitx of moisture durin,-- the drx season, an attri- 

 bute which proxes e.xtremeh useful, since it -rows in crexices 



