STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 



at the rear of which lies a low marshy flat covering several 

 acres of wet ground a rare garden and nursery for many 

 charming flowering shrubs and exquisite bog-loving plants. 

 A beautiful carpet of white Peat Moss (Sphagnum cymbi- 

 folium) is spread over the surface nearly a foot deep; on 

 this we see the graceful low-bush Cranberry trailing its 

 slender branches with their dark green glossy myrtle- 

 like foliage and delicate pink revolute flowers, as well 

 as berries in every stage of progress the tiny green 

 immature fruit, the golden, the mottled and the deep red 

 ripe berry. How tempting to the hand and eye! There 

 the slender-leaved Sundew mixes its white flowers with the 

 fringed Orchis, sending up from the watery soil its modest 

 flowers in the midst of a bed of the grand blossoms of that 

 rarely constructed plant, the "Pitcher Plant" (Sarracenia 

 purpurea), or, as it is called by some writers, " Side-saddle 

 flower."* 



The bog of which I speak abounds in shrubs, among 

 which we see the narrow dark-leaved Sheep-laurel (Kalmia 

 glauca), with its rose-colored flowers; the aromatic Sweet- 

 Gale (Myrica Gale), and Labrador Tea (Ledum latifolium), 

 with its revolute rosemary-like narrow leaves and whitish 

 flowers. Above all for beauty is the White Peat Moss 

 itself, with its soft velvety foliage, varying in shade from 

 pale sea-green or creamy-white to delicate pink and deeper 

 rose. I know of nothing more lovely than are these 

 exquisite Sphagnums; nor are they without their value, for 

 they are much used by the florist and gardener in packing 

 roots and plants for sale. 



There are more vegetable treasures to be found in the 



* Gray says it is difficult to fancy any resemblance between this flower and a side- 

 saddle. I venture to suggest that the common name originated from the flap-like exten- 

 sion of the leaf. 



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