White to Green and Brown Flowers 149 



growing at the base of every blade. Each stalk is clasped 

 by a single little round leaf, and a mass of smooth glossy 

 foliage grows close to the ground. These basal leaves are 

 much curled up, and in low-lying marshes and other wet 

 places you will find them in profusion during the month of 

 July. Perhaps it was the velvety petals of the Grass of 

 Parnassus that caused Emerson to ask : 



"Why Nature loves the number five, 

 And why the star- form she repeats?" 



For in this particular mountain wild flower the five petals 

 and the star-form are both especially conspicuous. 



Parnassia finibriata, or Fringed Grass of Parnassus, is 

 also very common in moist places among the mountains. It 

 closely resembles the plant already described, but may be 

 clearly distinguished from it, because the petals are con- 

 spicuously fringed towards the base and have fine marginal 

 hairs. 



Parnassia parviflora, or Small Grass of Parnassus, re- 

 sembles the mountain species, but has smaller flowers, and 

 may always be distinguished by the fact that the basal leaves 

 are oval, and not heart-shaped, but narrowed into a slender 

 stalk. 



Parnassia Kotzebuei, or Alpine Grass of Parnassus, is a 

 tiny species, only a few inches high, and is found at great 

 altitudes. 



BRISTLY GOOSEBERRY 



Ribes setosum. Saxifrage Family 



Stems: with infra-axillary spines, slender, spreading, sometimes 

 none; bristles usually numerous, scattered. Leaves: slender-petioled, 

 broadly ovate in outline, five-lobed, the lobes incised-dentate. Flowers: 

 greenish-white; calyx-tube cylindric, longer than the oblong lobes; 



