42 THE PLANT WORLD. 



ters of (lark globose papery shells, dotted on the surface with 

 white ; they are two-celled with numerous seeds arranged in two 

 rows. They add an artistic etifect, remaining on the tree from 

 one season to the next and contrasting as they do with the pink. 

 Those who have never seen this beautiful tree and to whom a 

 technical description, however simple, conveys but little, may have 

 a better idea of its unique qualities by recalling the Poinsettia 

 or "Christmas plant" (Euphorbia pidclicrrima), so popular in 

 city greenhouses for the holiday trade, the beauty of which lies 

 in the gorgeous crimson bracts surrounding the flowers. Imagine 

 each branch surmounted by a superb cluster of pink floral leaves 

 instead of red, ranging through every shade of the La France 

 rose with the same silvery lining and tints of lilac. Only in the 

 bright floral leaves, however, and in the comparative insignifi- 

 cance of the flower does the comparison hold good. 



In low pine barrens bordering streams the roots of Pinckncya 

 spread in search of moisture, sending up numerous shoots from 

 dense clumps no taller than Cyrilla raccuiiHora (leather wood) 

 which, about the first of June, is a study in white. Together they 

 mingle, a wealth of radiant white and pink, interspersed with the 

 downy balls of Cephalantlius (button ball), whose hanging heads, 

 heavy with their own sweetness, constantly sway, disturbed as 

 they are by the bees. The air is intoxicating with the fragrance 

 of Cvrilla. Swarms of busy bees are seemingly distracted with 

 the wealth and work before them, sifting the white petals like 

 snow on everything near, and like snowflakes they cling to the 

 broad luxuriant foliage of the Pinckncya, which, unlike the 

 smooth coriacious surface of " leatherwood," is pubescent in tex- 

 ture. Near by, Storax pnlvcrnloita is hanging thick with droop- 

 ing green balls instead of white bells. Magnolia glauca, the 

 " silvery-leaf-bay," has almost finished its season of blow. Under 

 foot are the first pure white Sabbafias and the dwarf Rhcxia of 

 feathery foliage, ranging through many shades of rose and lilac 

 to white, with a lower carpeting of the dainty Eryngium studded 

 with blue enameled balls. It is with such surroundings that 

 we find great colonies of Pinckncya, producing an eft'ect — a pic- 

 ture — but rarelv seen in nature. Verv lovelv it is, but to be seen 



