TORREYA ^r 



January, 1913. Qaki; 



Vol. 13 No. I 



PRIZE ESSAY ON THE LOCAL FLORA 



The editorial board of the Club announces the award of prizes 

 offered in March, 1912, for the best popular article written by an 

 amateur, on some feature of the vegetation of our local flora range. 



The first prize goes to Mrs. Elmer G. Sammis, of Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., for the essay "A Vacation among the Mosses," printed 

 herewith. The second prize has been awarded to Miss. E. M. 

 Kittredge, of Spring Valley, N. Y., for the essay "Some Trees 

 and Shrubs of Rockland Co.," which will be printed in Torreya 

 for February. The third prize has been awarded to Mr. John 

 McCallum, of Richmond Hill, L. L, for his article "A Lesson 

 from Common Plants." The board regrets that of the other 

 essays submitted none are of sufficient merit to warrant the 

 awarding of additional prizes. — N. T. 



A VACATION AMONG THE MOSSES 



By Edith M. Sammis 



"Mosses and lichens! What of these? Meek creatures! 

 The first mercy of the earth, veiling with hushed softness its 

 dintless rocks. Creatures full of pity! Covering with strange 

 and tender honor the scarred disgrace of ruin, laying quiet finger 

 on the trembling stones to teach them rest." 



It is not often that scientific exactness and literary beauty 

 are so happily combined as Ruskin has combined them in his 

 description of the mosses. Meek creatures they are, with their 

 creeping, or erect, habit of growth. Among the oldest of 

 plants, they are indeed the first mercy of the earth, succeeding 

 the liverworts which were probably the first land plants. How 

 their hushed softness mellows the angles and edges of the most 



[No. 12, Vol. 12, of Torreya, comprising pp. 277-316, was issued 13 December 1912.] 



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