State Museum of Natural History. 



103 



nature teaches, and the observant mycologist might affirm a priori, 

 that the wood of these trees is much more durable than that of 

 the spruce or of the balsam. The frequent use of spruce for 

 fence posts in that region seems strange and unprofitable since 

 tamarack is plentiful there and might be obtained almost as easily 

 and as cheaply as spruce. 



The beautiful rhodora, Rhododendron Bhodora, is a rare shrub 

 in our State, and was but imperfectly represented in the Herba- 

 rium. Having learned of its occurrence on Sam's Point, a high 

 rocky promontory-like spur of the Shawaugunk mountains, lying 

 about five miles east of Ellenville, I visited that locality in quest 

 of specimens of it. Its usual habitat is " cool bogs," but here it 

 was found growing in rocky rather than boggy places, though it 

 was especially plentiful in a station not far from the shore of a 

 small lake on the mountain. It was too late in the season to 

 obtain its flowers which appear before the leaves are developed, 

 but fine foliage and fruit-bearing specimens were secured. The 

 broad plateau- like summit of the mountain proved to be an inter- 

 esting botanical locality. Much of the vegetation is of a shrubby 

 character. About sixty species of plants were noted, of which 

 ten, or one-sixth of the whole, belong to the Heath family. The 

 huckleberry, Gaylussacia resinosa, grows here in great profusion, 

 and also the dwarf blueberry, Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum. These 

 and the high-bush or swamp blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum, 

 afford a generous crop of fruit, in the picking of which some of 

 the . inhabitants of the vicinity were engaged at the time of my 

 visit. The variations in the dwarf blueberry are worthy of notice. 

 The typical form is common and the narrow-leaved dwarf variety 

 is also present. There is also a form with pale green or glaucous 

 foliage, approaching V. vacillans in appearance, but apparently 

 distinct from it. This sometimes bore black shining berries 

 destitute of bloom, thus approaching the variety nigra. Again it 

 bore berries with the usual bloom, but of an oval shape, being 

 longer than broad. Both this species and the huckleberry mani- 

 fested their hardy character, their ability to grow under adverse 

 circumstances, and their readiness to occupy all available space 

 by frequently growing in long rows or lines, following the direc- 

 tions of crevices in the surface of the rock. A little soil had 

 accumulated in these crevices, and this enabled these plants to 

 maintain their foothold. These rows of shrubs curve and some- 



