A DAY IN A TAMARACK SWAMP. 185 



hairs pointing downwards. A watery fluid is secreted 

 by the leaves, and collecting in the pitchers, attracts 

 many insects. These are soon drowned, being una- 

 ble to escape from the fatal pitchers on account of 

 the deflexed hairs, and their bodies, decomposing, 

 yield a plentiful supply of nitrogen for the crafty 

 plant. 



In May and June the strikingly handsome flower 

 of the pitcher plant, deep purple in color and two 

 inches or more in diameter, may be seen by the vis- 

 itor to these swamps. It is borne on the summit of a 

 leafless flower stalk or scape which springs from the 

 midst of the clump of pitcher-shaped leaves. 



In one part of the swamp grew in abundance wild 

 huckleberries, own cousin to the cranberries, and in 

 their season, in high favor for pies and cobblers ; yet 

 for a sauce, a failure, on account of a lack of sufficient 

 juice and acidity. Orchids, too, were there, noted for 

 their curiously formed flowers, which, like those of 

 the milk-weed, can only be fertilized by the aid of 

 insects. Though past their blooming season, three 

 or four species were noted, among them the yellow 

 lady's slipper, once common throughout the State but 

 now almost extinct on account of the ruthless, devas- 

 tating hand of man. 



Two slender shrubs, each four to six feet high, grew 

 in such open places as occurred. One, the choke-berry, 

 Pyrus arbutifolia L., is a close relation to the apple, 

 but bears its fruit in clusters like those of the black 

 haw of our woods. The fruit is in shape like a min- 

 iature apple, dark red or blackish in hue, and edible, 

 but with a puckering taste like that of a green per- 



