290 Some Plants of Danvers and Wenham. 



gentlemen interested in sylvan wonders, selected the 12th 

 of June, to visit several spots well known for their floral 

 riches, and sacred to the memory of the most enthusiastic 

 and zealous naturalist, the lamented Oakes. The day was 

 particularly favorable, sunny, pleasant, and cool, and the 

 scenery proved unusually attractive. Through the attention 

 of Messrs. S. P. Fowler, of Danvers, and of the venerable 

 Dr. Osgood of the same town, the party were successively 

 introduced to many of the rarer plants of this region and of 

 our count)'', of which some notice will be taken in the order 

 in which they were seen. 



The party met by previous appointment at a given spot, 

 and thence proceeded to the locality of Vaccinium Vitis-IdcB^a 

 (L.) of which Geo. B. Emerson, in his admirable Report on 

 the Woody Plants of Massachusetts, declares, to the best of 

 his knowledge, " occurs in only one spot in" this State, 

 "which is in a pasture in Danvers, where it was found by 

 Mr. Oakes in 1820, or before." This truly beautiful little 

 plant is familiarly known as the "cowberry," and in Maine 

 as the " mountain cranberry," affording to the inhabitants of 

 sections of that state an excellent article of wild fruit, scarcely 

 inferior to the common cranberry of our swamps and bogs. I 

 have specimens, gathered at Eastport and at Dennysville, while 

 visiting that region in September, 1844, and well recollect 

 the pleasant condiment, prepared from its berries, which was 

 served on the table. Those familiar with the plant are puz- 

 zled to know why it is described in Dr. Gray's " Botany of 

 Northern United States" p. 260, as "rather bitter, mealy, 

 and barely edible," or in Mr. Emerson's Report, above alluded 

 to, as " austere," the more especially as Mr. E. immediately 

 adds, " in the north of Europe, where it abounds, it is used 

 as the cranberry, but is inferior; formed into a jelly, it is 

 thought superior to currant jelly as a sauce for venison or 

 roast beef, or as a remedy for colds and sore throats." 



We were surprised to find this hardy denizen of our north- 

 ern rocky hills and eastern cliffs snugly nestling in a half- 

 shady spot, among some white birches, (i>etula populifolia 

 Ait.,) in an open pasture, and extending over a limited area 

 of perhaps half an acre of ground. Its average height 

 seemed to be two or three inches, although stems buried in 



