PLANTS OF NORTH ELBA 69 



along the river from the confluence of its two principal branches near 

 Wood farm to the point where it leaves the town a short distance north 

 of the Notch house. 



A few places are worthy of notice because they are specially interesting 

 to the botanist. They are rich in the variety of their species, or they 

 possess some unusual character or conditions whose influence upon the 

 plants inhabiting them is worthy of careful study or they may be stations 

 for one or more species of rare occurrence. 



Averyville is a hamlet about three miles south of Lake Placid. Near 

 •it on the east is Averyville swamp. This is the most extensive piece of 

 swamp and marsh land in the town. It is the home of several rare 

 plants which are not known to occur elsewhere in the town. Among 

 these are Nymphaea hybrida Pk. Hippuris vulgaris L. and Razoumofskya 

 pusilla (Pk.) Kuntze. It also affords a fine object lesson for showing the 

 mode of transformation of a shallow lake to a wooded swamp through 

 the intermediate stages of peat bog, cranberry marsh and beaver meadow. 



The wooded swamp lying between Wood farm and Freemans Home is 

 interesting because it contains the only known Adirondack station for 

 Carex altocauUs (Dew.) Britton. On its borders the white spruce, Picea 

 Canadensis (Mill.) B. S. P., occurs as a forest tree. In it also is Hidden 

 swamp, surrounded by woods and difficult to find, once a fruitful field 

 for cranberries, but now too firm and too full of bushes to afford them a 

 congenial home. 



The old abandoned road between North Elba and Keene skirts the 

 western base of Pitchoff" mountain. Along this road near the east line of 

 the town some interesting plants were found, and on the rocky precipices 

 of the western base of the mountain is the only New York station known 

 to me for the rare but noble arctic lichen. Nephroma arcticum (L.) Fr. 



About the head of Cascade lake is a station for two or three species 

 not seen in any other part of the town and Marsh pond east of Freemans 

 Home is another interesting botanical locality. In a very dry season its 

 water nearly all disappears and its muddy bottom is then occupied by 

 numerous species of water or mud-loving plants. One of these, Myrio- 

 phyllum tenellum Bigel. is not often found in the Adirondacks. 



The region about Scotts ponds, which is northwest of Mt Wallface, is 

 accessible through Peck pass. It contains some small open marshes 

 which may furnish some interesting species. It has not been satis- 

 factorily explored, but it has yielded some specimens of rare mosses. 

 One of these, Sphagmim Pylaesii Brid., which usually is found in our 

 state on wet rocks on the open summits of high mountains, was here 

 found growing on soft mud. Another, Splachnum rubrum L., has not 

 been found elsewhere in our state. 



