IN THE FLAT-WOODS. ay 
as I passed), I came upon some white beg- 
gar’s-ticks, — like daisies ; and as I stopped 
to see what they were, I noticed the presence 
of ripe seeds. The plant had been in flower 
a longtime. And then I laughed at my own 
dullness. It fairly deserved a medal. As 
if, even in Massachusetts, autumnal flowers 
—the groundsel, at least — did not some- 
times persist in blossoming far into the win- 
ter! <A day or two after this, I saw a mullein 
stalk still presenting arms, as it were (the 
mullein always looks the soldier to me), with 
one bright flower. If I had found that in 
St. Augustine, I flatter myself I should have 
been less easily fooled. 
There were no such last-year relies in the 
flat-woods, so far as I remember, but spring 
blossoms were beginning to make their 
appearance there by the middle of February, 
particularly along the railroad, — violets in 
abundance ( Viola cucullata), dwarf orange- 
colored dandelions (Avrigia), the Judas- 
tree, or redbud, St. Peter’s-wort, blackberry, 
the yellow star-flower (Hypowis juncea), and 
butterworts. I recall, too, in a swampy spot, 
a fine fresh tuft of the golden club, with its 
gorgeous yellow spadix, —a plant that I had 
