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THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



species only, but our plant is so like the overseas species that 

 only the scientist would notice the dif¥erence. Its use at Christ- 

 mas time, therefore, may go unchallenged, partly because the 

 scientist usually does not extend his investigations to such un- 

 technical matters as holiday merrymaking, and partly because 

 of the old proverb that "When one has a mind to do a thing, 

 any excuse will answer." 



THE FRINGED GENTIAN 



By W. W. Bailey. 



I 'HE fringed gentian lays claim to the loveliest days of the 

 ^ whole year. June, which promises so much, which is 

 replete with sunlight and blossom, may indeed vie with Oc- 

 tober. In certain moods one may prefer that time of riotous 

 growth, and the "rare" days of Sir Launfal. The gentian days 

 are melancholy, the saddest of the year — 



''When summer gathers up her robes of glory. 

 And like a dream of beauty glides away." 



Yet to those who love them, these days are unequalled. Full 

 of poetic suggestion, they reinvite one to Tennyson's Idylls 

 and the knightly court of Arthur. On such days, one traces in 

 the early morning, the river and streams by the light mist that 

 hangs over them. I remember once seeing the Franconia val- 

 ley filled with the mist till it seemed a new and un-named lake. 

 Through this medium familiar objects become glorified. It is 

 the time of Nature's siesta. The air is golden and not a breeze 

 stirs the lingering forest leaves. These now wear their warm- 

 est colors, their browns, siennas and purples, in the long run 

 more satisfying than the more gorgeous tints of the earlier 

 season. 



There finally comes a morning when one says ''The gen- 

 tian is blooming today." This is expressed with the confidence. 



