The dogtooth violet (Erythronium Ameri- 
canum) may be found in the woods from 
the latter part of April to the middle of 
May 
A walking trip on the mountainside will proba¬ 
bly make you acquainted with the purple 
azalia, which is in reality pink and white 
And who can come upon a colony of the 
showy orchid (Orchis spectabilis ) with their 
slender pink-purple flowers without the 
real thrill of a discoverer? 
A Botanist’s Vacation 
SOMETHING OF THE FASCINATION AND CONTINUED VARIETY OF INTEREST THAT IS TO BE 
FOUND IN RAMBLES THROUGH THE WOODS AND MEADOWS WITH A CAMERA AND A TROWEL 
by Flora Lewis Marble 
* 
Photographs by the Author 
I T lasted from the time when the first dogtooth violet bloomed in 
the dell, until the last stalk of beech drops turned brown and 
dry. All that time I was on familiar terms with the flowers. It 
is impossible, when you 
are down on your knees 
on the soft, dry beech 
leaves before a nodding 
blossom, perfect in every 
part, to call it to its face 
“Erythronium Ameri¬ 
ca n n m”; nor in God’s 
open air, does it sound 
well to say to the modest 
little parasitic beech drop 
growing later under the 
same trees,— “You are 
Epiphegus Virginiana, an 
Orobanchacece.” So I 
dropped all formality 
with the flowers then, and 
shall now in thinking of 
that summer, and I be¬ 
lieve I can prove to you 
that a botanist can have 
the most enjoyable of va¬ 
cations. 
There are several es¬ 
sentials to a botanist’s va¬ 
Fortunate indeed is he who finds in his July rambles the rare, showy, pink 
lady’s-slipper rising gracefully above the green leaves in the most secluded 
and deeply shaded corners of the pine woods 
cation. You should be a good walker. The places where grow 
the flowers you want most are often far from even a bridle-path, 
so you must climb arduously, oftentimes over rough ground. 
If you are a woman you 
must have a companion. 
A dog is the best possible 
chum. He will put up with 
any eccentricity of yours 
and think it is part of the 
game; what is best, he 
won’t go home and tell 
of it. 
You must have a note¬ 
book with a pencil tied to 
it, and it in turn tied to 
your belt. If you paint, 
water colors are conven¬ 
ient, but in this day and 
age of the world you must 
have a camera, and know 
how to use it. 
A botanist’s camera has 
to go through many ex¬ 
ploits that are unknown 
to the experience of an or¬ 
dinary machine, for the 
botanical value of a pho¬ 
tograph is doubled if the 
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