Page:Atlantis Arisen.djvu/90

 dress. See how exquisitely they are tinted,—raw-sienna for the body color, and such delicate marking in vandyke-brown on every leaf, or gold color, marked with burnt-sienna, and all relieved so beautifully by the polished black of their slender stems.

But we must not stop long in this dense and damp shade; there might be intermittent lurking in it for unaccustomed town-folk. But just note, as we retrace our steps, the great variety of plants, some of them very beautiful, that grow all winter long in these solitary places. This handsome variegated leaf comes from a bulbous root, and bears a lily-shaped flower, I am told; but being new to me, I cannot yet classify it. We are still too far from open sunlight to be much among flowering plants.

But directly we come to occasional openings, or to higher benches of ground that get the light and drainage, we shall see adder-tongue, Solomon's-seal, anemone, wild violet, and spring-beauty, putting up their leaves, waiting for sunny days enough to dare to bring out their blossoms. Here, too, are two species of creeping vines, very delicate and graceful, trailing along the ground, with little fresh leaflets already growing. In April the twin-flower (Linnoea borealis) will blossom with dainty, pinkish-white, trumpet-shaped flowers, very lovely to behold. Yerba buena (Micromeria Douglasii), vulgarly called Oregon tea, from the spicy flavor of its leaves, which make an agreeable infusion, is also a beautiful trailing plant of this season.

Now we get down to the woods along the river-bank. Ah, here is really a blossoming shrub, the flowering currant. In haste to brighten the dull March weather with a touch of color over the green and brown and purple tints that are so melancholy under a cloudy sky, the currant does not 'wait to put forth its foliage first, but crimsons all over with thickest flowers, in racemes of nearly a finger's length. There are two varieties of the red and one of the yellow, all beautiful and ornamental shrubs. In company with this still leafless shrub is the glossy arbutus (misnamed laurel), with its fresh suit of brilliant green reflecting every ray of light from its polished surface. The arbutus grows all winter, putting forth its delicate shoots from December to March, and flowering later in spring. Its cheerful