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- 



