WHITE DRYAD 
Dryas octopetala Linnaeus 
FRUIT OF PLATE 176 
The flowers of white dryad are quickly withered by the hot sun 
of midsummer, their stems lengthen, and the twisted fruit head ap- 
pears, later spreading into a ball of “seeds”. These are each provided 
with a silky tail, which enables the wind to carry the seeds to distant 
places. At a certain stage, before the heads ate fully ripe, the ponies 
are fond of them. At this time the plants often give a misty pink color 
to the areas they occupy. 
White dryad occurs on limestone soils from Labrador and Green- 
land throughout Arctic America, in the Rocky Mountains from Utah 
and Colorado to British Columbia, and in Eutope and Asia. 
The specimen sketched was obtained in the valley of the Siffleur 
River, fifty miles by trail north of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, at an 
altitude of 6,500 feet. 
PLATE 177 
