248 THROUGH GLADE AND MEAD. 
of these. Where the woods have been recently cut and 
the sun has had an opportunity to reach the earth with 
its warmth and vigor, these grasses and similar ones are 
most commonly found. The species of Andropogon 
display their feathery stigmas over many a New Eng- 
land pasture every autumn and persist until the coming 
of the snow. Perhaps they are, after all, the most 
characteristic of our late summer grasses, principally 
from their abundance. 
Our several species of Desmodium will not be over- 
looked. If we do not find them all in one summer, we 
shall probably see them all in the course of two or three 
seasons. A few of them flourish by the roadside, but 
mostly they prefer the cool and shaded woodland. The 
same is true of the related genus Lespedeza, several of 
the species of which we cannot fail to notice at this 
time of year, as they crowd together along the wayside. 
The little yellow heads of yrts are so small that 
they may be overlooked, but they will repay some at- 
tention. They may be found on the gravelly shores of 
our numerous ponds. While one species of water par- 
snip is found throughout North America, the other, 
Sium Carsonit, is credited to only four states. I found 
it several years since in acranberry bog in Sutton, 
which is as yet the only locality in which I can look for 
it. In itself it is not especially interesting, as few of its 
order, the Umbellifere, are. 
