o36 Plants seen about the Region of the Notch. 



relinquish its pursuit for trifles. Be not alarmed, my reader, 

 for the Major enjoyed no other military qualities than his 

 repugnance to bears and wildcats ; and dog as he was, could 

 distinguish between a well-meant action and an intended 

 affront. The presence and company of never so humble a 

 friend can be appreciated by any who have tracked the soli- 

 tudes of the forests ; and of Major's social qualities, it needed 

 but a slight acquaintance to be fully persuaded. 



The most striking plant we noticed was ^'ster acuminatus, 

 (Mx.,) which grows with the greatest perfection in the cool 

 rich woods of Northern New England. Its pointed, strong 

 leaves, — its simple and low stem, crowned with its panicled 

 corymb of purplish tinted white flowers, — render it always 

 conspicuous. This purplish tint is sometimes very observable, 

 and adds greatly to the beauty of the flower. I am of the 

 opinion that cultivation would make it a desirable perennial 

 for our gardens. The showy Solidago squarrosus, or large- 

 spiked Golden rod, commanded our notice ; belonging to a 

 group of autumnal flowers, out of which some very showy 

 ones could be selected. There grew, also, Platanthera orbic- 

 ulata, (LiNDLEY,) a curious species of the Orchis tribe. The 

 delicate O'xalis acetosella was springing up among the dead 

 leaves; past, indeed, in floAvering, but freshly green in its 

 trifoliate leaves. Pyrola secunda was there, a pretty denizen 

 of rich Avoods. Thalictrum cornuti, (L.,) the congener and 

 cospecies of T. dioicum, whose earlier and dwarfer form 

 constitutes one of the favorites of my cultivation ; and of 

 the pure, white, filamentous flowers of the first named, I have 

 heard much admiration expressed. Nor was the Chelone 

 glabra (L.) wanting in a place so meet for its presence: 

 while, if the names of plants really indicated their virtues, 

 any mortal injury to limb might have been alleviated by 

 finding in Prunella vulgaris an "All Heal." The curiously 

 suspended scarlet berries of Streptopus distortus (Mx.) con- 

 trasted with the pale green and large leaves of the plant, and 

 we were induced to try their flavor, which, in lieu of better 

 fruit, was passable. The dry and insipid crimson fruit of 

 Trillium erectum was close at hand, but did not invite par- 



