904 General Notes. [November, 



road and path grew Gcum meter ' i clinopodium, 



scarce, Viola canadensis, Aspidinm v.nul nu var. dilatatum, A. 

 aculeatum var. braunii, while in the moss in the crevices of the 

 rocks, we noticed the leaves of the rare Viola selkerkii, marked 

 by their deep narrow sinus. About half way through the Notch 

 we deposited our luggage on a high boulder, as the hedge-hogs 

 are partial to leather bags, and left the path to explore one of the 

 precipitous ravines or dry brook beds extending up the cliff. 

 Climbing a steep mountain ravine is sometimes no easy matter; 

 however by dexterity and diligent use of all shrubs in the neigh- 

 borhood, we made our way up as best we could. The first plant 

 of special interest discovered, was Castelleia pallida. Though the 

 flowers (properly bracts) are sometimes colored, yet in all those 

 we noticed, they were either greenish or whitish, in striking con- 

 trast with our brilliant " painted cup " ( Castelleia coccinea) that 

 reddens our meadows in spring. Next Saxifraga oppositifolia 

 was found hidden under a sheltering rock, but a month past flow- 

 ering. Here on all sides, among the rocks and in the rifts and 

 crannies of the cliff, were the rarities we had come so far in search 

 of. Saxifraga aizoides, with its yellow spotted flowers, and S. 

 aizoon, with its cream-colored flowers and singular leaves, bear- 

 ing along the edge a row of white cartilaginous disks, were in 

 full bloom everywhere. Saxifraga aizoides was probably un- 

 known to Linnaeus as native to America, for he says of its distri- 

 bution, " hah: y sty tacts. Westtnoriandicis, 

 Baldo." At the date of the publication of Torrey and Gray's 

 Flora in 1840, neither Saxifraga oppositifolia, S. aizoon, nor 

 6". aisoides were reported in the U. S., except at Lake Superior or 

 in the Rocky mountains. In little clusters in the wet moss on 

 the rocks, nodded the purple bells of Pinguicula vulgaris, the 

 leaves of which were covered with a mucilaginous substance, and 

 in some cases the margins had rolled over minute insects as so 

 well described by Mr. Darwin in his " Insectivorous Plants." 

 When we turned our attention from the plants at our feet and 

 looked around, the full grandeur of our position burst upon us ; 

 far below lay the narrow valley, opposite towered high cliffs, 

 above the rocky walls rose steeply to the summit, while the 

 cracks and crannies high above our heads were filled with the 

 flowers of Saxifraga aizoon, Pinguicula vulgaris, Potcntilla fritti- 

 cosa and Campanula rotundifolia. 



Among the less noticeable plants were Hedysarum boreale, As- 

 tralagus alpinus Draba arabisans, Artemisia canadensis, Aster 

 graminifolius, first described by Pursh, who founded the species 

 on a specimen from Hudson's bay, in the herbarium of Sir Joseph 

 Banks, Woodsia glabella and Aspi ch at the date 



of Gray's Manual was not recorded in the U. S. After collecting 

 what specimens we wished, we crossed, with many a slip and 

 stumble, to a brook, along which we descended. If the ascent 



