CHARLES WILKINS SHORT 1 35 



them to discover the original habitat of Shortia. 

 Mr. Stiles, the editor of Garden and Forest, who 

 was also present on this eventful evening, said 

 in a joking way: ' That is Shortia you have in 

 your hand.' This proved to be true. The leaf 

 was Shortia. Professor Sargent had found it, 

 just ninety-eight years after Michaux's discov- 

 ery, probably near the same spot. 



" About two weeks later. Professor Sargent, 

 Mr. Boynton and his brother went to find the 

 exact place of the plant's growth. They found 

 it near Bear Camp Creek in a rather limited 

 quantity, but still enough for them to carry away 

 a box full of specimens for distribution. The 

 following spring, Mr. Harbison started out in 

 quest of it. He went beyond Bear Creek to the 

 forks of the rivers and there saw it growing in 

 great masses — acres, in fact, covered as thickly 

 as clover fields. Wagon-loads were eventually 

 taken away, and still there appeared to be no 

 diminution in abundance. So the search iox Shor- 

 tia ended. Through the further efforts of Mr. 

 Harbison, the plant is now well-known and a 

 common one in the nursery catalogues, though in 

 its wild state it grows at its finest and best under 

 the shade of kalmias and rhododendrons." ' 



Trans. Amer. Philosoph. Soc. Philadelphia, 1865. 

 Biog. Sketch of Charles Wilkins Short. S. D. Gross. Philadelphia, 

 1865. 



' Southern Wild Flowers and Trees. Alice Lounsberry. 



