372 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
Tue Water Anpromepa. A. polifolia. L. 
It was for this modest and delicate plant, which is a native 
of the north of Europe as well as of this country, that Lin- 
neus selected the poetical name of the genus. The follow- 
ing is the account which himself gives of it in his ‘¢’Tour in 
Lapland,’ f, 188. “Andrémeda polifolia was now (June 12,) 
in its highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most 
agreeable manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before 
they expand; but, when full grown, the corolla is of a flesh- 
color. Scarcely any painter's art can so happily imitate the 
beauty of a fine female complexion; still less could any arti- 
ficial color upon the face itself bear a comparison with this 
lovely blossom. As I contemplated it, 1 could not help think- 
ing of Andromeda, as described by the pocts; and the more I 
meditated upon their descriptions, the more applicable they 
seemed to the little plant before me; so that, if these writers 
had it in view, they could scarcely have contrived a more appo- 
site fable. Andromeda is represented by them asa virgin of 
most exquisite and unrivalled charms; but these charms remain 
in perfection only so long as she retains her virgin purity, which 
is also applicable to the plant now preparing to celebrate its 
nuptials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy mllock 
in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained 
to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh water 
does the roots of this plant. Dragons and venomous serpents 
surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode 
of her vegetable resembler, and, when they pair in the spring, 
throw mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the 
distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive 
affliction, so does this rosy-colored flower hang its head, grow- 
ing paler and paler till it withers away.” ‘ At length, comes 
Perseus, in the shape of summer, dries up the surrounding 
water, and destroys the monsters, rendering the damsel a fruit- 
ful mother, who then carries her head (the capsule) erect.” 
This, as it is found here, is a low shrub, a foot or more in 
height, growing naturally in boggy places, but capable of being 
successfully cultivated in any common, moist soul. The stem 
