A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



character of the plant really give it a kind 

 of English feminine comeliness and bounce. 

 It looks like a Yorkshire housemaid. Still 

 another plant in my section, which I notice 

 has been widely distributed by the agency 

 of water, is the spiked loosestrife. It first 

 appeared many years ago along the Wall- 

 kill ; now it may be seen upon many of its 

 tributaries and all along its banks ; and in 

 many of the marshy bays and coves along 

 the Hudson, its great masses of purple-red 

 bloom in middle and late summer affording 

 a welcome relief to the traveler's eye. It 

 also belongs to the class of beautiful weeds. 

 It grows rank and tall, in dense communities, 

 and always presents to the eye a generous 

 mass of color. In places, the marshes and 

 creek banks are all aglow with it, its wand- 

 like spikes of flowers shooting up and unit- 

 ing in volumes or pyramids of still flame. 

 Its petals, when examined closely, present 

 a curious wrinkled or crumpled appearance, 

 like newly-washed linen ; but when massed 

 the effect is eminently pleasing. It also 

 came from abroad, probably first brought 

 to this country as a garden or ornamental 

 plant. 



As a curious illustration of how weeds 

 142 



