86 WOODLAND IDYLS. 



the westward, and they have never been known 

 to fail, even in the most severe drouths. 



Above the bowl of my spring great masses of 

 the handsome dark green "tree moss" 26 have a 

 precarious footing in the weathered particles of 

 Knobstone shale and hang down ready to slide 

 at almost any moment. A wild gooseberry 27 

 with its prickly fruit, now ripening, also o'er- 

 hangs the bowl. Higher up are clumps of wild 

 hydrangea, an occasional stalk of white bane- 

 berry and bunches of hepatica or liverwort. 28 

 Wild ginger 29 flourishes in the shady dells near 

 by, and there also a stalk of ginseng may now 

 and then be found, while in March snow tril- 

 liums have I plucked by scores all about the 

 spring. The prunella, a favorite of my summer 

 blossoms, did I find on yesterday and near it 

 also the slope was in places covered with the 

 green stalks of another old acquaintance, the 

 common lousewort, 30 now long past its time of 

 blooming. These are but a few of my friends 

 among the many herbs or shrubs which each 

 day do greet me as I saunter here and there. 



In a dry time, such as we have at present, 

 the brook is wholly dependent upon the hillside 

 springs for its supply of running water. The 

 boulders of many kinds along its bed or im- 



26 Climacium americanum Brid. 27 Ribes cynosbati L. 

 28 Hepatica acuta Pursh. 29 Asarum canadense L. 



30 Pedicular is canadensis L. 



