20 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



mile back on the field, the land becomes more level and slightly 

 rolling. Mill Creek proper flows through ''The great ravine" 

 where ''the battle raged back and forth on Sept. 19 and Oct. 7, 

 1777." This ravine is not over fifteen tO' twenty feet deep. A 

 medium sized white pine stands on its pastured side ; whose 

 parent probably shaded the ravine when it w^as the scene of 

 bloody conflict. Rue spleenwort (Aspleniuin T rich o mane s) , 

 marginal shield fern (Aspidium marginale) , the polypody 

 (Po'ly podium vtdgare) and a few lichens and mosses were 

 found here on the Hudson river shale. 



On the hillsides in the southern part of the battlefield 

 within the bounds of the American camp and along the de- 

 scending streams, the creeping thyme (Thymus Serpylhim) 

 grows so abundantly in places that it becomes a weed. This is 

 the only known station for it in the Lake George Flora where it 

 persists and spreads. Could it have been brought here in 1777 ? 

 The old story current in these parts is that Gen. Burgoyne on 

 his march southward tO' Saratoga, brought down the Canada 

 thistle (Cirsiuin arvense) in his hay. The common vetch or 

 tare ( Vicia saliva), a rare plant in the flora, was found along 

 the road near the new Freeman farm, and on an open wooded 

 hilltop along the eastern margin of the battlefield, the rare 

 Atriplex patnla grew quite abundantly. 



Many interesting plants grow along the partially wooded 

 hilltops along the eastern side of the field. White pine (Pimis 

 Strobus), American white birch {Betida popidifolia) , Ameri- 

 can chestnut {Castanea sativa), the oaks {Querciis alba, Q. 

 coccijiea, Q. macrocarpa, Q. rubra and Q. vehitina), and. the 

 maples {Acer rubruin) and {A. saccharum) occur. One can- 

 not help thinking that there is still an occasional tree standing 

 that was a sapling when this decisive battle of the American 

 Revolution was fought. Among the shrubs recorded were 

 sweet-fern (Myrica asplenifolia) , the hazels (Corylus Amert- 



