Vermont Botanical and Bird Clubs 19 



into an open field of five or six acres, clear of trees, a part of it over- 

 hung by the precipice, protected from the winds and storms — a natural 

 conservatory. This is the flower garden. It was on this ascent that 

 Mr. Frost felt himself entering a region of great botanical interest. 

 The southwestern slope of Mount Annance he found covered with trees, 

 principally Thuja occidentalis and Cupressus tUyoicles, as far upward 

 as the 600 feet just mentioned. There was scarcely a rock or boulder 

 to be seen. The surface consists of a rich black soil, and cold; and he 

 found those plants which usually occur in such soils. The specimens 

 were of unusual size and luxurance; Clintonia horealis, with leaves 

 four to six times as large as are common, and with scapes having two 

 or even four umbels. The beautiful mosses, viz., Hypnum splendens and 

 Hypnuvi crista castrensis, were of great extent. Passing these and 

 arriving at the open field, nearly destitute of stones and grassy sod, the 

 area was covered with flowers of almost innumerable kinds and colors. 

 The declivity on which the "Garden" lies is much less than that of the 

 rest of the mountain, and above it towers the precipice of naked rock, 

 projecting in some places 20 or 30 feet, and affording by this feature, 

 and by its crumbling character, both shelter and richness to the sea 

 of flowers which grow at its base. 



The region had been explored some years previous by Mr. "Wood, 

 a botanist of merit, and through whose remarkable discoveries there, 

 our tourist was induced to visit the spot. Here Mr. Frost detected 

 again the Hedysarum boreale (Nutt.), not known to exist in any other 

 locality in the United States and which Professor Gray calls a "fine 

 discovery," also Saxifraga oppositifolia and Saxifraga aizoides! Here, 

 likewise, he collected the rare Primula mistassinica (Mx.) a veritable 

 Primula, reader, bringing in a co-species, "the primrose by the river's 

 brim" of Old England into a pleasant proximity with its representative 

 of our dear New England. Would not some of our florists delight to 

 have them growing together on some rich border of their gardens? 

 Here, also, grew two sedges of some variety, viz., Carex scirpoidea 

 (found likewise on the Alpine summits of the White Mountains), and 

 Carex ehurnea, which we had previously noticed on the picturesque and 

 rocky limestone banks of the Winooski. Here, lastly, among other 

 treasures beside, occurred the very rare Woodsia glabella, a tiny fern 

 of the Arctic regions — though found once before on the rocks about 

 Little Falls, New York, as we learn through Gray's Botany, etc., p. 630. 



The face of the precipice itself would be a fine place for rare 



