238 Bog-Trotting for OrcHids 



of genus Gyrostachys, the Bitter-Buttons or Tansy-Weed 

 {Tanacehim vulgare), numerous thistles {Carduus), 

 the velvety leaves of St. Peter's Mullen ( Verbascum 

 Thapsus), Wormwood {Artemisia Absinthium) grow 

 along the roadsides over Mount CEta, while Thim- 

 ble-Berry blossoms and the Bluebells-of-New-England 

 fill in the waste places of fences and dugaway ledges. 



When the cooler days of October come, we may look 

 for that blue flower of heaven, the Fringed Gentian 

 {Gentia7ia crinitd), along the roadsides near the swamps 

 of Etchowog, modestly and patiently waiting for the 

 autumnal skies of blue: 



Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye 

 Look through its fringes to the sky, 

 Blue— blue— as if that sky let fall 

 A flower from its cerulean well. ' 



So come and fade alike the rarest flowers and the 

 commonest weeds among the Highlands of the Hoosac, 

 the valley of peaceful waters. 



It is in the deepest and most secluded swamps that 

 the shy orchid blooms, far beyond the realm of lawn or 

 garden. Few indeed realize what a world of beauty 

 and order lies sleeping unsought and unseen in the 

 mossy recesses of our mountains, — a wonderland of dis- 

 covery to any one who persistently, though reverently, 

 seeks to lure from Nature the secrets of her deep re- 

 treats. 



' Bryant, To the Fringed Gentian. 



