WILD PASTURES 



quisite bloom less than half that; yet 

 once you know it you love it beyond all 

 other bog plants as being the most fairy- 

 like of water-lilies, though it is not a 

 water-lily at all when it comes to botan- 

 ical classification, being of the gentian 

 family. 



However, not to be a water-lily is not 

 so bad if one may be classed with the 

 fringed and closed gentians which are to 

 bloom later on the landward edges of the 

 bog. As the little blossom fades at 

 nightfall, its short stalk curls back be- 

 neath the water to ripen the seeds there, 

 hung just beneath the leaf from a pecu- 

 liar bulb-like nodule just an inch or so 

 down on the petiole. The next morning 

 another wee white bud shoots up in the 

 heart angle of the leaf and opens fragile 

 petals in the sun. 



I recall no other plant that sends up 



