A TASTE OF MAINE BIRCH. 63 



to wrap a chain around it. The rock seems poised 

 lightly, and has but a few points of bearing. In this 

 instance^ too, the power had come from the north. 



The prettiest botanical specimen my trip yielded 

 was a little plant that bears the ugly name of horned 

 bladderwort ( Utricular la cornuta), and which I 

 found growing in marshy places along the shores of 

 Moxie Lake. It has a slender, naked stem nearly a 

 foot high, crowned by two or more large deep yellow 

 flowers, — flowers the shape of little bonnets or hoods. 

 One almost expected to see tiny faces looking out of 

 them. This illusion is heightened by the horn or spur 

 of the flower, which projects from the hood like a long 

 tapering chin, — some masker's device. Then the 

 cape behind, — what a smart upward curve it has, 

 as if spurned by the fairy shoulders it was meant to 

 cover ! But perhaps the most notable thing about the 

 flower was its fragrance, — the richest and strongest 

 perfume I have ever found in a wild flower. This 

 our botanist. Gray, does not mention, as if one should 

 describe the lark and forget its song. The fragrance 

 suggested that of white clover, but was more rank and 

 spicy. 



The woods about Moxie Lake were literally carpet- 

 ed with Linncea. I had never seen it in such profu- 

 sion. In early summer, the period of its bloom, what 

 a charming spectacle the mossy floors of these remote 

 woods must present ! The flowers are purple rose- 

 color, nodding and fragrant. Another very abundant 

 plant in these woods was the Clintonia horealis. 

 Uncle Nathan said it was called " bear's corn," though 

 he did not know why. The only noticeable flower by 

 the Maine roadsides at this season that is not common 

 in other parts of the country is the harebell. Its 



