270 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



Sycamores, and many other plants. Here, too, 

 is much Bitter-sweet ; and there is Honeysuckle 

 escaped from cultivation; and the native wild 

 Grapes festoon at will the Plums and Cherries 

 on thebanksof the stream, and huge rocksform 

 gloomy recesses, where Ferns and Mosses love 

 to grow, and birds to build their nests. Tall 

 rank Sedges and Grasses gone to seed mingle 

 with the brighter colouring of the flowers. 



The Aster garden at Rose Brake is now in 

 full beauty, but how greatly it is eclipsed by 

 the wild Aster garden in the marsh ! Here is a 

 clump of Lowrie's Aster [A. Lowrieanus), the 

 stems 4 feet high, with numerous loosely pani- 

 cled heads of small light blue flowers. It is too 

 rampant in habit of growth for the garden. 

 Abundant also is the thin-leaved Purple Aster 

 [A. phlogifolius) ^ distinctive mark of which is 

 the long, thin leaves, 6 inches long, and dark 

 green ; this is a noble Aster, 5 or 6 feet in 

 height, with showy, large heads of bright pur- 

 ple flowers. The marsh is also the congenial 

 home of the New England Aster in several 

 forms, in one place a form with bright pink 

 flowers grows 7 or 8 feet high, in company with 

 the tall Marsh Thistles, with their silvery green 

 stalks and reddish-mauve flower heads. Aster 

 puniceus, another marsh Aster, too large for the 

 garden, is common here. The stalks of this 

 Aster are reddish-brown, effective in the mass, 

 8 feet in height, and abundant, in large blos- 

 soms of a pale violet-purple colour. Where 

 the soil suits this Aster it blooms abundantly, 

 and presents the aspect of a cloud of soft and 

 tender pale blue. Aster paniculatus is a much- 

 branched sort, with smooth, green stems, and 

 flowers of white, or faint lavender-colour. 

 This is a graceful Aster, tall and spreading, 

 which should be introduced with caution into 

 the garden. 



There are several kinds of wild Sunflowers 

 in the marsh. Here is the narrow-leaved or 

 swamp Sunflower, not a very showy sort. It 

 grows from 5 to 7 feet high, is few-flowered, 

 the heads about 2 inches across, bright yellow 

 with purple disks. The tall Sunflower, He/i- 

 anthusgiganteus, is much more effective. It has 

 great reddish stems, sometimes 10 or 12 feet in 

 height, narrow leaves, and heads in small clus- 

 ters, bright yellow, and 3 inches or more across. 

 Helianthus decapetalus is a graceful wild flower, 

 5 feet in height, with slender stems, and light 



yellow flowers in clusters. These flowers are 

 3 inches across, with yellow disks. It is one of 

 the prettiest of the wild Sunflowers, and abun- 

 dant in the marsh. Blue flowers are welcome 

 here, perhaps because they are not so common 

 as red and yellow wild flowers. In the marsh in 

 some places, the ground is carpeted with Eupa- 

 torium ccelestinum ; this is a very pretty, Age- 

 ratum-like flower, of a lovely violet-blue. When 

 one sees it growing in wet, peaty ground, one 

 realises that it is really a fine thing. In the dry 

 flower borders on the hill it blooms sparsely, 

 and does not look happy. Another blue flower 

 that is effective in the marsh is the spreading 

 Comme/ina Virginica, with smooth green leaves, 

 curious flowers which have green sheaths, and 

 a corolla of three sky-blue petals. I have tried 

 a patch of it in a shady bed, but find it some- 

 what of a nuisance, spreading rapidly, and 

 crowding out more valuable plants. All things 

 grow with almost tropical luxuriance in the 

 moist, black peat of this marsh. I notice, in 

 one place, a patch of the ordinary Cuphea vis- 

 cossissima, an insignificant little plant as seen in 

 dry soils, but here, occupying a space several 

 yards in circumference, of rank growth, and in 

 lavish bloom, it makes an effective display of 

 its light magenta flowers, contrasting not un- 

 favourably with some near-by clumps of Core- 

 opsis. By the borders of the stream the Jewel- 

 weed {Impatiens) bends in luxurious masses, 

 displaying its spotted orange-coloured pouches 

 in great profusion. There are two species in the 

 marsh, the one just described and another called 

 Impatiens aurea, which has pretty lemon-yellow 

 flowers sparingly dotted with reddish-brown. 

 The orange-coloured sort is Impatiens biflora. 

 In a damp corner of a meadow we find a large 

 colony of the blue Lobelia. No other flowers 

 are near by to mar the effect of the bright blos- 

 soms growing out of the fresh bed of Mint, and 

 Marsh Grass; and it is a delight to sit upon a 

 mossy stone and listen to the weird cry of the 

 upland plovers circling overhead, and revel in 

 the blue and green surrounding one in perfect 

 accord with the clear blue of the sky, and the 

 tender green of Honey Locust trees, that over- 

 hang the spot. From this point of vantage we 

 survey the extent of the marsh and take in all 

 its beauty, and are glad. 



DANSKE DANDRIDGE. 

 West,, Virginia, U.S.A. 



