MAECH. 87 



foliage and dearth of sweets, its humble aspect, " thick 

 beset with blushing wreaths," forces itself upon the 

 admiring observation. Not intending often to moralize, 

 the Mezereon tempts one to observe briefly at this 

 moment, that it offers an illustration of the homely 

 proverb "Begin as you can holdout" The Mezereon 

 flashes for a brief day all splendour, and no compeer 

 can rival it ; but in a month it is sought for in vain 

 stunted in its growth, and no fruit following its bright 

 flowers deserving of any attention, it is absolutely 

 lost and confounded amidst the loftier and more en- 

 during shrubs that environ it, and no one unacquainted 

 with its history would suppose that, insignificant as 

 it then appears, it ever made any pretensions to be 

 considered the gem of the garden. A darker analogy 

 might in fact be drawn, for the small red berries that 

 finally appear on the Mezereon, are a powerful poison. 

 The Daplme Mezereon is a rare denizen of English 

 woods, and is seldom met with by the exploring 

 botanist. It grows wild in the woods near Stanford, 

 "Worcestershire, and is said to be not uncommon in 

 the beech woods of Buckinghamshire. 



Another curious early-flowering plant may now be 

 noticed, in Epping and other southern English forests 

 the evergreen Butcher's Broom (JRuscus aculeatus). 

 This curious, sturdy, and rigid-leaved plant bears its 

 flowers in a most singular and anomalous manner, upon 

 the middle of the upper surface of its leaves, one only 

 in general being present on each leaf, subtended by a 

 scarious bract. In the autumn bright red berries 

 appear in the former position of the small flowers, as 

 if thrown by accident on the sharp-pointed leaves. 



If the Apricot (Prunus Armeniacd), now exhibits a 



