112 



The Ottawa Naturalist. [September 



The Pigeon Berry {Duranta P humeri) is abundant, grow- 

 ing everywhere. It is from 6 to 12 feet high, with smooth 

 glossy leaves, and its blue flowers merge into long stalks droop- 

 ing over with wax-like yellow berries, the size of a pea, very 

 ornamental, but highly poisonous. It is abundant on cuttings 

 through hills on the roadside, drooping over gracefully. 



The Sage Bush {Lantana crocea), a handsome shrub with 

 yellow or orange-coloured flowers, one and a-half inches in 

 diameter, has taken possession of most of the wayside waste 

 gsound, and along the old stone walls where it mostly flourishes. 

 It is a greenhouse flower in the north, but is so common in Ber- 

 muda as to be thought nothing of A kindred bush {Lantana 

 Odomta), \s very common and is used for cleansing kitchen 

 utensils after fish, a few sprays of it taking away all traces of 

 previous cooking, when boiled for a short time. It has nothing 

 in common with the pot herb Sage, nor with the Sage bush of 

 the American desert {Artemesid). 



The Snuff Plant {Budd/eja Americana) is a very showy 

 shrub, 6 to 10 feet high, branched from its base, with a woolly 

 down on its foliage, the Itaves being 3 or 4 inches long. Its 

 blossoms hang in drooping clusters of from 4 to 6 inches, of a 

 yellow colour, presenting a pretty appearance. Its drooping 

 growth is not unlike that of the weeping willow. 



The Wild Acacia {Lucoena glaiicd) is common on waysides 

 and in hedges. Its flowers are in dense globular white heads, 

 and the seeds which hang in the pods are used for making neck- 

 laces, under the misnomer of Cassia seeds. 



There is a straggling sea-side shrub, 2 to 3 feet high, with 

 flesh)' leaves and small pinkish flowers, followed by a black fruit, 

 the size of a cherry, not edible. It is the Scoevola Plumieri, but 

 I could find no common name by which it is known. It is very 

 abundant fringing sandy bays. 



The Bay Y>zxxy {M yrica cerifera^/d, bushy shrub, bearing brown 

 catkins,- followed by berries in dense clusters, half the size of a 

 pea, coated with white fragrant wax used in America for candles, 

 is abundant in marshy valleys. The E^lder {Sambucus niger) is 



