THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 153 



fact. The yucca has a three-celled capsule and each cell con- 

 tains many seeds so- that although the larvae eat many seeds, 

 there is always sufficient left to reproduce the plant. Nobody 

 seems to know what happens to the moth in an off year when 

 the yuccas fail to flower. Probably a good many die and thus 

 nature keeps the moth within bounds and up to date as a 

 pollinator. 



Ornamental Shrubs. — One who would have his 

 grounds as attractive as possible must exercise considerable 

 discrimination in selecting his plants. Too often one yields to 

 the temptation to plant shrubs that shall present an attractive 

 appearance at flowering time only, whereas, if more thought 

 were given to the matter, equally fine plants could be selected 

 that would possess much beauty at other times. There are 

 always sufficient flowers when the great burst of bloom is on 

 in May, but often there is a conspicuous lack both earlier and 

 later. By judicious planting one may, however, have flowers 

 both early and late, and bright colors always. Early spring 

 brings the golden bell, corylopsis and garland flower (Daphne) 

 while some species of dogwood and willow vie with them in 

 color. In late summer there are the rose-of-Sharon, blue sage 

 (Caryopteris mastacantha) , butterfly bush, pea tree, abelia, 

 hercules club and various others. Even autumn is not without 

 its blooming shrubs and the wutch hazel often flowers in 

 November. The brightest colors of this latter season, how- 

 ever, are given by leaves, berries and bark. The bright red 

 of barberry, high bush cranberry, and hawthorn, the orange 

 and red of bittersweet, and the clear white of snowberry, are 

 more conspicuous after the leaves have fallen, but the most 

 brilliant reds of autumn are due to the colors put on by the 

 leaves of sumach, chokeberry, barberry, and young plants of 

 the wild crab. If nurserymen were to give somewhat more 

 emphasis to the good points that shrubs possess in addition to 

 flowers, it is probable that a more extensive business would 

 result. 



