220 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



"WE FIND PATCHES OF SWEET BAY ABUN- 

 DANTLY LADEN WITH THEIR BLUISH- 

 WHITE WAXY FRUIT." 



large, pointed, upright clusters of deep 

 crimson fruit. We find compact, bright 

 scarlet fruit-heads among the withered 

 ferns and plants of the swamp, and 

 find it difficult to reconcile them with 

 the modesty of the jack-in-the-pulpit, 

 but such they prove to be. Quite dif- 

 ferent is the fruit of the clintonia near-. 

 by, which is a berry-like cluster of a 

 deep bluish-black. Along the waste 

 places, among the sweet fern and 

 other low shrubbery, we find patches 

 of sweet bay abundantly laden with 

 their bluish-white, waxy fruit. The 

 sweet-scented leaves have mostly fal- 

 len but the peculiar fragrance seems 

 to have been transmitted to the small 

 berries which have gathered in thick 

 clusters about the main stems and 

 branches, and from which the wax is 

 obtained for making the much sought 

 "bayberry candles" for the Christmas 

 trade. 



Now is the time to gather the trail- 

 ing evergreen which we use for holi- 

 day decorations, for though it is green 



throughout the winter it is more read- 

 ily gathered before the frost has thick- 

 ened among the leaves and the ground 

 has become thoroughly frozen. It is 

 still in bloom, and its curious spiked 

 heads of a yellowish hue are filled with 

 pollen. Growing with this is the 

 ground pine, a similar trailing plant 

 but of a more upright growth of mina- 

 ture tree-like form, which is also in 

 bloom. 



Chickweed, fall dandelion and yar- 

 row are all blooming, — though not 

 plentifully, — in their favorite haunts, 

 and we may still find many golden 

 heads of the sweet-scented tansy along 

 the embankments. Large, spiked ra- 

 cemes of deep purplish fruit, flattened 

 at the ends prove to be pokeweed. 

 They were hardly noticeable until the 

 tall, rank-growing weeds were with- 

 ered by the frost, but now ofTer a con- 

 spicuous banquet to the robins and 

 flickers. 



The hanging, cup-shaped nests of 

 the vireos and the hollows of the wood- 

 peckers and chickadees are now in 

 plain sight and we wonder that we 



•THE ENTIRE POD BECOMES TRANSFORMED 

 INTO A MASS OF FLUFFY, SILKEN WHITE- 

 NESS." 



