THE DELIGHTS OF A NEW JERSEY OAK BARREN. 



T WAS in the spring of the year 

 that we first made the acquaint- 

 ; ance of this rough upland 

 swamp — if you can, imagine 

 such an anomaly, overgrown 

 with huckleberry and blackber- 

 ry, wild rose and azalea, young 

 oak and sumach. All were in their budding freshness 

 of tender green, the last two being toned and tinted 

 with crimsons almost as vivid as their autumn color- 

 ings. A few days later, the river just below was 

 fringed with the blooming white dogwood and yellow 

 sassafras ; then, and all through early springtime, 

 the whole was carpeted with anemones, dog-tooth 

 violets and the lovely claytonia, or spring beauty, 

 while later through the advancing season, it yielded 

 Solomon's seal and prince's pine, ginseng and yel- 

 low hypoxis (the dainty yellow star-grass), and 

 lovely azaleas in two shades of pink and white, 

 known locally as "wild honeysuckle." 



The woodland preacher, always on the lookout for the 

 sermons to be found in the stones and the running brooks, 

 invaded every quiet nook, and even crowded the more 

 trodden paths ; yet always modestly shaded by his satiny 

 canopy of green and gold and red brown, who would 

 dare familiarly to call him "Jack ?" 



For weeks a low-born cousin of the strawberry, hav- 

 ing bright yellow starry flowers (known to the initiated 

 as ' ' five-finger, " from its five-lobed leaves), elbowed and 

 embraced everything near its own level. It was gener- 

 ally regarded as anything but an acquisition, being as 

 great a trial to the owners of the soil as the lovely .AV- 

 peta glechoina lately "introduced" to the floral world, 

 which said owners persist in anathematizing as a "mis- 

 erable nuisance" which they refuse to recognize except 

 as " Jill-run-over-the-ground. " 



At that season our tramping ground did not differ 

 greatly from other partly wooded spots familiar to us, 

 and after the season of spring flowers proper it was neg- 

 lected for weeks, not being expected to longer furnish 

 floral treasures. It was, therefore, with the sense of 

 having discovered a mine of wealth that the enthusiast 

 and myself became aware, one hot day in August, that 

 this same unappreciated spot was wasting any amount 

 of sweetness on the nominally musquito-laden air of 

 New Jersey. We were black-berrying that day, and as 

 we strayed along looking for a few nice berries where- 

 with to round up the already well-filled pails, the enthu- 

 siast, who was a little in advance, suddenly called out 

 excitedly : 



' ' Here is a new flower !" " New, " be it said, meant, 

 in our vernacular, different from those which are found 



in a certain portion of that blooming garden known as 

 western New York. 



It was a peculiar looking blossom, a trifle like clover, 

 but blooming in heads which elongated as the lower 

 blooms withered. Soon we found what appeared to be 

 its counterpart, except that the color was pale yellow ; 

 but neither then nor since has our non-professional 

 knowledge of botany enabled us to make out its true 

 place and name. The leaves were linear and scattered 

 thickly along the upright stem ; the apparent flower oc- 

 cupied the position of an involucre, and the real flower 

 was so tiny that our little glass could not fully disclose 

 its characteristics. 



A few moments after the discovery of these first dis- 

 appointing specimens, the enthusiast was in a flutter 

 again. "Oh ! oh ! here is a lovely white star-shaped 

 flower something like phlox, except that it is prettier, 

 and it is delightfully fragrant !" and so on. 



Aroused at last to the possibilities of a New Jersey 

 barren at midsummer, we wandered here and there, 

 finding new treasures at every turn until our arms were 

 loaded, and we could scarcely bring ourselves to allow 

 any place to the berries which had been such an object 

 of eager desire during the earlier hours of our ramble. 



But having finally arrived at home with our spoils, we 

 were soon deep in the mysteries of "stamens hypogy- 

 nous, " ' ' calyx adherent, " and the like, until chaos was at 

 last mostly reduced to order. Our list included Dasy- 

 stoDia puhescens (the yellow fox-glove) ; two varieties of 

 the starry centaury, Sabbatia corymbosa and Sabbatia an- 

 gularis ; Lilitiin siiperbum, or Turk's cap lily ; Veronica 

 Virginiatia , or speedwell ; Verbascuni Blattaria, the moth 

 mullein, a belated hypoxis, the yellow star-grass, and 

 the purple gerardia, besides "Butter and Eggs," a yel- 

 low oxalis, a golden rod, an evening primrose and a 

 Jewel-weed or "touch-me-not." 



The pink and white sabbatias which so delighted us 

 belong to the gentian family, and it is doubtful if their 

 beauty is surpassed by that of any of their relatives, 

 the true gentians. Plants of both of these and of the 

 moth mullein were transferred to our garden. The lat- 

 ter is a not uncommon weed, but primrose-yellow flor- 

 ets blooming in spikes are none too common among our 

 garden treasures, and this has the additional merit of 

 blooming from midsummer until frost. 



The yellow fox-glove is a real beauty, scarcely equaled 

 in this respect by the pinky and white garden fox-glove, 

 but it is rather fleeting, being of little value as a bou- 

 quet flower. Its fine pale gold coloring is seldom sur- 

 passed. Five, at least, of the above belong to the fam- 

 ily of figworts, viz : moth mullein, butter and eggs, 

 gerardia, speedwell and yellow fox-glove. 



Eren thus early the asterworts were beginning to as- 

 sert themselves. One aesthetic pinkish-lavender flower 



