318 



THE AMERICAN 



first are chiefly found our ferns. Of these I have col- 

 lected 25 species, including the Polypodium ineanvm, 

 Gystoptei'is fragilis, GMilanthes vestita, Osmunda Clay, 

 toniana, Camptosoi^s rTbisopliylluSfAspleniwmpiTinatifiduTnj 

 trichoTuanes and ebeneum., Aspidium G-oldianmn, Allosorus, 

 Pteiis, etc. Of the last, a variety occurs quite frequently 

 which is peculiar in laolilug the ternate character of the 

 frond. Thisvariety has propagated itself without change 

 for three years since I first observed it. 



It is along the borders of the bluffs, however — which 

 here repeat in miniature the cascades and precipices of 

 mountain scenery — that we obtain the most interesting 

 results. Here the soil is mostly shaded by the overhang- 

 ing trees, warmed by the heat reflected from the rocks, 

 and moistened by the dripping surface waters carried 

 off by the underlying strata. In such places only have 

 I found, atCobden, the Pkacelia Pursldi, remarkable lor 

 the delicate beauty of its llght-bUie, deeply-fringed co- 

 rolla, and at Makanda the Mitohella rep&ns, which seems 

 to flourish with us rather where It receives the constaut 

 drippings of the rocks than in dry woods, as farthei- east. 

 Along the bluffs and upon the rocky hill-sides oecui'S 

 also the Azalea midiflora, described by Gray as growing 

 in the eastern swamps. The iirofuslon of light-iiink 

 blossoms which this shnib puts forth in early spring, 

 lighting up the gloomy forests of the Pine Hills, or 

 drooping In fragrant, cloud-like masses from the summit 

 of the lofty cliffs, forms a feature of unusual beauty in 

 the scenery of our opening year. Later in the season, 

 the hill-sides are blue with the Bipteracanilms strepena 

 and 7). c«7/os-«s, which remain in bloom until autumn, 

 and in thickets the Glitoria Mariana, the largest of our 

 leguminous flowers, is frequently met. Tlie A(jave 

 Virginica and Vaccinium arloremii occur only among the 

 dry hills, and the V. vacillans, with its pleasant Irult — 

 erroneously called a huckleberry throughout the coun- 

 try — is quite common in the same situations. This last 

 occurs especially among the Pine Hills, on the eastern 

 borders of the Mississippi bottoms. 



This region consists of a succession of sharp ridges of 

 chirty limestone, separated by narrow, steep ravines; 

 and frequently terminating, towards the river, in nearly 

 vertical bhitt's, from 100 to 500 feet in height. Its flora 

 partakes to a great extent of its geological peculiarities, 

 and many plants found sparingly elsewhere seem to have 

 spread li-om these hills as a centre. Peculiar to them 

 alone, so far as I have seen, is the Yellow I'ine (Piiius 

 mitis), found almost exclusively upon the summits and 

 southern slopes of the ridges mentioned, the Viola 2ied- 

 data, Vei'hena auhleiia^ etc. 



On the Makanda bluft's, which are frequently fringed 

 with cedars, grows the VorydaUs aurea, a Suxifraga re- 

 sembling the erosa, but apparently not identical with it, 

 and a Ileuehera of a species unknown to me, specimens 

 of which I sent you recently. Among others more 

 widely scattered I might mention Ascyrum crux-Andrem, 

 Sagina apetala,Rhus aromaUimm,TnfuUumreJl(Xum{V!\i\Gh 

 I have also found scattered in single stools through low 

 woods in Franklin county), Passiflora lutea and Pkysos- 

 tegia Virginiana. The Passion vine (Passz/son/ incurnata) 

 has also been found upon the hills near Jonesboro, and 

 grows readily in the open air. The Physonteyia is one 

 of the finest of our wild flowers— one of those "w-hichno 

 lady's garden should be without." In cultivation it 

 grows three or four leet high, sending up a cluster of 

 stout stems, each beaiing a close, foui'-ranked, usually 



compound, spike, six or eight inches long by two or 

 three in thickness. The flowers are a light rose-color, 

 marked with purple spots, and when massed In bloom 

 are notable for their light and airy elegance. 



I will write you further of the lower lands and of the 

 forest trees at another time. S. A. Forbes. 



Pine Barren Plants. — Who, except a botanist, 

 would ever dream of the hidden floral treasures to be 

 found in the uninviting, dreary-looking pine barrens of 

 New Jersey? The hills and rocks of New England , the 

 fine woodlands of the middle and western States, and 

 the rich jirairies of the West, must all yield the palm to 

 the despised pine barrens of New Jersey for rare and 

 beautiful plants. 



Years ago, every now and then a charming plant 

 would reach me in my wanderings, labeled "pine bar- 

 rens, N. J." Surely such exquisite flowers must come 

 from some enchanted iiiiryland; but no, there was the 

 unmistakable label, with the portentous word ' ' pine 

 barrens ;" so my dream of fairyland vanished amid the 

 white, dreary sand of South Jersey. Still, with each 

 sight of these beautiful flowers would come a longing to 

 visit the home of their birth. 



My first excursion in the "barrens" was early in 

 April, when, after a wearying march through brush and 

 briers, in damp places, I suddenly came upon the little 

 trailing evergreen, Pyxidantheru, barhulata, Mlchx. This 

 cbai-ming little plant is found in the natural Order Bia- 

 pensiacece. Botanists give us only two plants in this 

 order, autl by many authors these two are made to form 

 each a genus by itself. IMapensia £a2}ponifa, L. , is a 

 little Alpine plant found in the north of Europe and in 

 the northern parts of our own country; but our little 

 pine-barren Diapensia, or, according to Gray and other 

 authors, Pyxidanthera, is the one luider consideration. 

 It is so limited in its extent that it has never received a 

 pet name, but no plant more deserves some common 

 name suggestive of its rare loveliness. 



True, I had received dried specimens of this plant, 

 and thought it very pretty; but I was not prepared for 

 the enchanting, graceful loveliness that rewarded me 

 for my laborious search. It was growin.g in thick masses, 

 studded all oa er among its niunerous, tiny, bright green 

 leaves witli pinkish and white buds, with now and then 

 a fully expanded blossom. It seemed like sacrilege to 

 disturb it, hidden away as it was from human eyes, and 

 called lorcibly to mind Emerson's e.vquisite little poem> 

 ' ' Khodora. ' ' 



' 'III May, when sea-winds picrceit our solitudes, 

 I found tlie fresh Khottoi'it iu the woods, 

 Spi-eadiu^ its lealless bloom iu a damp nook. 

 To please the desert and the sluggish brook. 

 The purple petals, fallen in the pool, 



Made the i:ilack water with their beauty gay; 



Here might the Retl-bird come his pinnies to cool, 



And court the flower that cheapens his array. 



' 'Khodora! if the sages ask Iheu why 

 This charm is wasted on the earth and sky, 

 Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing, 

 Then beauty is its own excuse for being : 

 Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose! 



I never thouglit to ask — I never knew; 

 But, in my simple ignorance, suppose 

 The self-same l*ower that brought me there brought 

 you." 

 In April and May we find in most of the shallow ponds 

 among the barrens a curious water plant, which, al- 

 though it cannot be strictly called a pine barren plant, 

 yet, from its limited extent and interesting character, 

 requires a passing notice. Its scientific name is Oron- 

 tirnn aquatwmn, L,, and it has received the very appro- 



