484 Some of the Rarer Plants of Vermont. 



of Mount Annance he found covered with trees, principally 

 Thuja occidentalis and Cupressus thyoides, as far upward as 

 the 600 feet just mentioned. There was scarcely a rock or 

 boulder to be seen. The surface consists of a rich black 

 soil, and cold ; and he found those plants which usually occur 

 in such soils. The specimens were of unusual size and lux- 

 uriance ; Clintonm borealis, with leaves four to six times as 

 large as are common, and with scapes having two and even 

 four umbels. The beautiful mosses, viz., Hypnum splendens 

 and Hypnum crista castrensis, were of great extent. Passing 

 these and arriving at the open field, nearly destitute of stones 

 and grassy sod, the area was covered with flowers of almost 

 innumerable kinds and colors. The declivity on which the 

 " Garden " lies is much less than that of the rest of the 

 mountain, and above it towers the precipice of naked rock, 

 projecting in some places twenty or thirty feet, and affording 

 by this feature, and by its crumbling character, both shelter 

 and richness to the sea of flowers which grow at its base. 



The region had been explored some years previous by Mr. 

 Wood, a botanist of merit, and through whose remarkable dis- 

 coveries there, our tourist was induced to visit the spot. Here 

 Mr. Frost detected again the ^edysarum boreale, (Nutt.,) 

 not known to exist in any other locality in the United States, 

 and which Prof. Gray calls a "fine discovery;" also, >S^axifraga 

 oppositifolia and >S'axifraga aizoides ! Here, likewise, he col- 

 lected the rare Primula mistassinica. (Mx.,) a veritable Pri- 

 mula, reader, bringing in a co-species, "the primrose by the 

 river's brim" of Old England into a pleasant proximity with 

 its representative of our dear New England. Would not 

 some of our florists delight to have them growing together 

 on some rich border of their gardens ? Here, also, grew 

 two Sedges of some variety, viz., Carex scirpoidea, (found 

 likewise on the Alpine summits of the White Mountains,) 

 and Carex eburnea, which we had previously noticed on thev 

 picturesque and rocky limestone banks of the Winooski. 

 Here, lastly, among other treasures beside, occurred the very 

 rare Wo6ds?« glabella, a tiny fern of the arctic regions, — 

 though found once before on the rocks about Little Falls, 

 New York, as we learn through Gray's Botany, &c., p. 630. 



