ACCORDING TO SEASON 



rarity 



A new ac- 

 quaintance 



The little yellow hop-clover has just begun to 

 A common make its appearance in the sandy fields and along 

 the road-sides. Although it is very common, and 

 in spite of its general resemblance, both in leaf 

 and flower, to the other clovers, it seems to be 

 recognized but seldom. I have known people to 

 gather it with unction and send it to some dis- 

 tant botanical friend as a rarity. 



One morning last fall I found a quantity of 

 blood-red clover-heads by the road-side. As I 

 was gathering a few — never before having seen 

 this species, I was confident — a woman came out 

 from the neighboring farm-house to tell me that 

 her husband had planted his clover-seed, as usual, 

 the previous spring, and had been much amazed 

 at the appearance of this flaming crop. She was 

 eager to know if I could tell her what sort of 

 clover it was that yielded these unusual blossoms. 



A careful search through my " Gray " left me 

 quite in the dark. Every plant-lover knows the 

 sense of defeat that comes with the acknowledg- 

 ment that you cannot place a flower, and will 

 sympathize with the satisfaction which I experi- 

 enced a few days later when, while reading in 

 one of Mr. Burroughs's books an account of a 

 country walk in England, I found a description 

 of Trifolium incamatiim, a clover common on the 

 other side, but comparatively recently known 



82 



The 



stranger 

 identified 



