THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
imaginable. That Americans do not cultivate these flow- 
ering shrubs instead of the foreign species is inexplicable. 
One more marsh— the Swamp of Oracles claims notice 
before descending again to the deeper valley. It is in this 
region that all of our New England Cypripediums bloom. 
From about the 15th to the 25th of May the rare ram's- 
head moccasin -flower of this genus unfolds its dainty dull 
purple slippers under the pines along the rocky borders of 
the swamp. This is the most southern station reported 
for Vermont, and is at this date the onlv town in the 
Hoosac Valley where this Cypripedium dwells. The most 
southern station for this species existing in New England 
is Alount Toby in Alassachusetts. 
Eastward in the marsh the pink moccasin-flower and 
her tw-o yellow sisters— Cypripedium hirsutum and Cypri- 
pedium parvifforum— are unlacing their golden shoes. 
Later the show-y queen (Cypripedium regime) is abundant 
in many swamp areas in the region, though it is freely 
collected by school children and lovers of Nature. The 
haunts of our flowers and ferns should be known in order 
that their beauty be appreciated, yet a public conscience 
should be created and exercised in their protection. 
The rarer ferns of the Hoosac cHmb over the danger- 
ous Gregor Rocks east of the village of North Pownal. 
These bluflfs of limestone are probably the remaining 
portion of a ledge w^hich at one time spanned the valley. 
Their summits reveal scars of great volumes of water 
eroding them from the east, doubtless the overflow of the 
large Lake of Aurora which was located between Alount 
Anthony and the Dome. 
The first settlements in the valley were made by the 
Dutch in 1724. No record of them remain save the names 
ot the places which they occupied. Gregor Rocks were 
owned by Gregor who settled a httle north of these cliffs. 
His wife was considered extraordinarilv intelligent by her 
neighbors and for this reason was accused and tried' as a 
witch. 
These marble bluffs are festooned with ferns, and no 
