AUTUMN 



gentian, Gentiana linearis of the botany, former- Lance- 

 \y considered a variety of the soapwort species. g™jf an 

 This conjecture as to their identity was never veri- 

 fied, as the specimens gathered for analysis were 

 thrown away by the guide during a storm which 

 overtook us on one of the " carries." 



In the wet meadows which harbor the fringed 

 gentian we find also the white or cream-colored Grass of 

 flowers of the grass of Parnassus, their five veiny Parnassus 

 petals crowning a tall, slender stem, which is 

 clasped below by a little rounded leaf. There is a 

 suggestion of spring in a fresh cluster of these 

 blossoms, perhaps owing to a superficial resem- 

 blance to the anemones, or it may be because they 

 have little of the hardy look of other fall flowers. 



Here, too, abounds the last orchid of the year, 

 the ladies' tresses, with small white flowers grow- Ladies' 

 ing in a slender, twisted spike. Occasionally this tresses 

 plant becomes ambitious. Leaving the low," wet 

 places " to which it is assigned by the botany, it 

 climbs far up the hill-sides. I never remember 

 seeing it in greater abundance or more fragrant 

 and perfect than in a field high up on the Catskill 

 Mountains. The flowers that we care for we are 

 apt to associate with the particular spot in which 

 we found them first — or at their best — and the 

 mention or sight of this little orchid instantly re- 

 calls that breezy upland with its far-reaching view, 



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