140 Bo^-Trotting for OrcHids 



twilight shades of the virgin forest trees of our New 

 England hills. 



In May, many seasons ago, the Purple-Flowered 

 Clematis {Atragene Americana) grew abundant in the 

 heart of this rocky wood, covering, in one instance, 

 a bush six feet high with its graceful vine. This 

 plant is rare from Maine to Minnesota. It ranges 

 northward to Hudson Bay, and southward to Virginia, 

 often ascending great heights. It is reported in the 

 Catskills at an altitude of three thousand feet. There 

 are but three species of this genus found natively in 

 the North Temperate Zone, one being reported for the 

 Rocky Mountain region, the other farther to the 

 northwest coast of America. The common Virgin' s- 

 Bower {Clematis Virgiyiiand) grows also in rocky 

 places, covering roadside walls and bordering swamps 

 and river banks in July and August. 



Later in the autumn, this species is very attractive. 

 The seed-pods burst and produce a light, feathery 

 down — little wings to aid the seeds in their flight, like 

 those of the dandelion and milkweed. The seed-cap- 

 sules of the Purple- Flowered Clematis also produce tails 

 like the plumes of a feather. 



Several species of Clematis were known to the an- 

 cients in Christ's day. The name originated with 

 Dioscorides, and was used to designate all climbing 

 vines. He knew three kinds under the generic name 

 of Aristolochia, named in honor of Aristotle. The 

 "branched vine" with " deepe violet floures," was 

 called Aristolochia clematites. Peter Bellon of ye olden 



