ACCORDING TO SEASON 



hood, the period when events make the strongest 

 impression. The flowers I found as a child rarely 

 seem to me unusual, while many of those I have 

 learned to know well in later life are possessed of a 

 certain permanent novelty. One of these more 

 recent acquaintances is the fringed polygala. 

 Since I found it for the first time a few years ago, 

 springing fresh and frail in its butterfly beauty 

 above the dead leaves, it has been one of the fre- 

 quent prizes of my May pilgrimages. Yet I never 

 become altogether accustomed to its delicate 

 charm. The expedition which it brightens is 

 necessarily a success. During a drive across some 

 lonely hills lying near the upper shores of the 

 " Fringed Hudson, the roadside was carpeted for miles by 

 poygamy t ^ e tenc j er ^ j us j. expanded leaves and dainty, pur- 

 plish-pink flowers of this little plant. I had never 

 seen it growing in such profusion, yet neither 

 then nor later did it become a matter of course. 

 It is to be wished that the fringed polygala had 

 been blessed with a godfather more sensitive to 

 sound. Its English name lends itself to parody. 

 A light-minded friend has christened it " fringed 

 polygamy." It is not unlikely that this title will 

 descend to posterity in that misguided family. 



To these hills which harbored so abundantly 

 the fringed polygala I owe my first acquaintance 

 with the painted trillium. In describing the 



62 



