Twenty Hill Hollow 
September are the season of plant rest, fol- 
lowed, in October, by a most extraordinary out- 
gush of plant-life, at the very driest time of the 
whole year. A small, unobtrusive plant, Hemi- 
zonia virgata, from six inches to three feet in 
height, with pale, glandular leaves, suddenly 
bursts into bloom, in patches miles in extent, 
like a resurrection of the gold of April. I have 
counted upward of three thousand heads upon 
one plant. Both leaves and pedicles are so 
small as to be nearly invisible among so vast 
a number of daisy golden-heads that seem to 
keep their places unsupported, like stars in the 
sky. The heads are about five eighths of an 
inch in diameter; rays and disk-flowers, yellow; 
stamens, purple. The rays have a rich, furred 
appearance, like the petals of garden pansies. 
The prevailing summer wind makes all the 
heads turn to the southeast. The waxy secre- 
tion of its leaves and involucres has suggested 
its grim name of “tarweed,” by which it is 
generally known. In our estimation, it is the 
most delightful member of the whole Compos- 
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