AMONG THE WILD-FLOWERS 21 



fragrant, showy orchis, — that is, if you are 

 lucky enough to find it. It is rather a shy 

 flower, and is not found in every woods. One 

 day we went up and down through the woods 

 looking for it, — woods of mingled oak, chest- 

 nut, pine, and hemlock, — and were about giv- 

 ing it up when suddenly we came upon a gay 

 company of them beside an old wood-road. It 

 was as if a flock of small rose- purple butterflies 

 had alighted there on the ground before us. 

 The whole plant has a singularly fresh and 

 tender aspect. Its foliage is of a slightly pur- 

 ple tinge, and of very delicate texture. Not 

 the least interesting feature about the plant is 

 the concealed fertile flower which it bears on a 

 subterranean shoot, keeping, as it were, one 

 flower for beauty and one for use. 



II 



In our walks we note the most showy and 

 beautiful flowers, but not always the most 

 interesting. Who, for instance, pauses to con- 

 sider that early species of everlasting, commonly 

 called mouse- ear, that grows nearly every- 

 where by the roadside or about poor fields? 

 It begins to be noticeable in May, its whitish 

 downy appearance, its groups of slender stalks 

 crowned with a corymb of paper-like buds, con- 

 trasting it with the fresh green of surrounding 

 grass or weeds. It is a member of a very large 

 family, the Compositse, and does not attract one 



