214 THROUGH GLADE AND MEAD. 
one of the smallest and most inconspicuous of our or- 
chids, while close beside it the colic-root raised its tall 
spike of white flowers and claimed recognition. Not far 
away from these, on a sandy knoll, one of the polygalas 
(P. polygama, Walt.) was quite abundant. At first 
sight it would not be claimed as of kin to the larger 
and better known fringed polygala, but a closer view 
shows it to be so. The same is true of another of the 
same genus (/. sanguinea, L.), in flower at the same 
time. 
No fairer water scene can be found with us than 
the surface of a pond at early morning bedecked with 
the broad green leaves and the wide expanded flowers 
of the water-lily. There it reigns supreme amid the 
still life of the sequestered nook and in the busy life 
that swarms in the midsummer waters. It is one of our 
best known plants. It comes, too, of an ancient and 
honorable family. As Higginson says: ‘‘ They-assisted 
at the most momentous religious ceremonies, from the 
beginning of recorded time. The Egyptian Lotus was 
a sacred plant; it was dedicated to Harpocrates and to 
the god Nofr Atmoo,— Nofr meaning good, whence 
the name of our yellow lily, Muphar. But the true 
Egyptian flower was Vymphea Lotus. It was cultivated 
in tanks in the gardens; it was the chief material for 
festal wreaths; a single bud hung over the forehead of 
many a queenly dame; and the sculptures represent 
