GOLDEN-ROD AND ASTER 



milkwort and the bright green leaves of the marsh 



St. John's-wort, and finally it spreads before us SaU> 



its pink clusters of tiny, strongly scented flowers. J h ' jbanf 



Some weeks since I described the pickerel-weed 

 and arrow-head as in their prime, but it must be 

 remembered that a plant which flowers in August 

 in Southern New York and New Jersey may not 

 blossom in the mountains farther north until Sep- 

 tember. Along the Saranac River in the Adi- 

 rondacks a few days ago I found the pickerel- Pickm'- 

 weed more fully and luxuriantly in bloom than on 

 any previous occasion. The slender spikes of deli- 

 cate blue flowers reared themselves above great 

 beds of dark, polished leaves, making a rich bor- 

 der to the winding river. Our guide told us that 

 in spring the pickerel laid their eggs among these 

 plants, which at that season are not visible above 

 the water, and that later the moose fed upon their 

 leaves. 



The shoals were still starred with the pure blos- 

 soms of the arrow-head, while in the current of 

 the stream trembled the thick pink spikes of the 

 amphibious knot-weed. At the foot of the rush- 

 like leaves and golden-brown spires of the cat-tail, 

 and among the soft round heads of the bur-reed. Yillow 

 protruded the knobby buds and coarse, bright *°" 

 flowers of the yellow pond-lily. In places where 

 the logs sent down the river the previous winters 



161 



