150 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICTLTURAL SOCIETY. [1892. 



England road-making ; not at all conducive to that unity of land- 

 scape, the effect of which is so restful to a wornoWt spirit. 



To give a true account of our flora, one must speak of the 

 grass meadow, the peat meadow, the swamp, the rocky declivity, 

 the open oak wood, the dry hill pasture, the dark pinery, the 

 pond and the brookside ; for each of these has its characteristic 

 plants ; here, delicate and shy ; there, rank and obtrusive ; here, 

 loving the water and shade ; there, seeking warmth and sun- 

 shine ; but always in harmony, and combining to lend a special 

 charm to New England scenery. The little brook which gurgles 

 through the meadow is bordered with sedges, coarse and fine, 

 and these are as graceful as anything in nature. Elodes, lysima- 

 chia, skullcap and turtle-head drop their petals into the water; 

 and lost, down among the taller herbage, are myriads of hooded 

 violets, sweet-scented violets and blue-eyed grass. Here and 

 there, at a later season, the water stands in a thin sheet, skirted 

 on every side by tall cat-tails and the flower-de-luce ; while pur- 

 ple cranberry vines fill the intervening spaces. Carex buUata 

 growing upon tussocks will bye-and-bye go to neighboring barns, 

 to be fed out to half-starved cattle ; but now, its surroundings 

 are resplendent with the presence of those doughty sister eupa- 

 toriums, thoroughwort and queen-of-the-meadow. Upon the 

 borders, bushes of the high blueberry, andromeda, various 

 viburnums, and poison-dogwood, make a gradual transition from 

 the open to the dark woods beyond. In winter, when the broad 

 level is buried in snow, and the shrubbery is weighted with its 

 ermine load, green laurels and dark pines, by their presence, 

 emphasize the loneliness of the scene, and bend the mind to 

 retrospection. 



The vegetation is less luxuriant in the Peat Meadow^ and 

 broader intervals are without a covering, save perhaps of brown 

 moss or liverwort. The bogs are deeper, the shrubbery less vig- 

 orous, and we note that the few trees are yellow and gray with a 

 rich growth of lichen. Sundew, both round leaved and long, 

 flourishes, in company with umbrellaed marchantia. Bladderwort 

 gathers its prey in yon brackish pool and cassandra paints the dis- 

 tance, in tones of madder brown, sienna and purple. Here in 

 spring grows the lance-leaved violet, and at about the same time 



