THE DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 391 



profusion in newly cleared lands is the great willow-herb, with very 

 showy bright purple flowers, whence it is often called " fire-weed." A great 

 multitude of asters and golden-rods adorn our fields in late summer and 

 early fall. Fringed gentians are almost the last flowers which appear in 

 autumn, and are among the most admired of our wild flowers ; they are 

 not everywhere found, but may be sought for in meadows and along 

 moist hillsides. 



The orchis family attract the attention as the most beautiful and inter- 

 esting endogenous plants in our flora. Many of them are rare, and most 

 of them are limited in range. Among those well known to every one are 

 the fringed orchises, two or three species being common in wet places ; 

 also, the httle pink pogonia, and, in woodlands, the round-leaved orchis, 

 with its shining leaves spread flat upon the ground. Under pines, we 

 find the handsome stemless ladies' slipper; and, half hidden in the grass, 

 in late summer, the little twisted spikes of the ladies' tresses. 



The genus Carex, whose numerous species are commonly known as 

 sedges, is the most fully represented of the endogens found with us, 

 more than fifty species having been noted in New Hampshire. Although 

 favorites with botanists, they are of little value to the farmer, the coarser 

 species adding more in quantity than in quality to the hay mown from 

 low, wet meadows. 



Only two of the indigenous grasses of our state are of sufficient abun- 

 dance to be of importance to agriculture. These are generally known as 

 "white-top" ( Danthonia spicaia) and "blue-joint grass" ( Calamagrostis 

 Canadensis), the former being most abundant in southern New Hamp- 

 shire, while the latter is found throughout the state, and is the principal 

 native grass of the upper Connecticut valley. 



We find in the ferns the most graceful element, perhaps, of our flora, 

 and these are very well represented, about forty species and varieties 

 being known. Some of them are quite rare or local, being found only in 

 obscure situations, and likely to be overlooked except by the keenest 

 observer; but many of them abound in fields and woods, and are well 

 known to most people. Among these the coarse fronds of the bracken, 

 the plume-like Ostrich fern, and the more humble sensitive fern are very 

 common. The beech fern is found fringing the mossy rocks of moun- 

 tain brooks ; and in the shade of the forest occur the taller spleenworts 



