100 Journal of the Mitchell Society [Xoy. 



used for cosmetics and other purposes. It is common here in 

 Montreat. These peculiar cone-shaped excrescences all over 

 the leaves that disfigure them so are galls that are caused by 

 a kind of plant louse. Here are some of the witch hazel pods, 

 and this fall if you will bring these in and put them on the 

 mantel, you will have startling moments when they will pop 

 open with a loud report and send the seed across the room 

 many feet. In its time of flowering the witch hazel is quite 

 remarkable. It scoffs at the seasons and blooms in the fall, 

 sometimes as late as I^ovember or December. The flowers 

 are plentiful and quite pretty and it is much desired for its 

 lateness. 



Here on the other hand is the shrub which is the earliest 

 to flower in the spring. Certainly nothing can be more de- 

 serving of our affection than the courageous flowers that give 

 us the first intimation that life is coming in the spring. It 

 has a marvelously happy effect on one's disposition to see 

 these beautiful, long yellow catkins of the alder shedding 

 their abundant pollen in the chilly days of the early spring. 



The buffalo nut or oil nut that you see here is a remark- 

 able shrub that grows parasitically on the roots of other 

 plants. It has a large nut with acrid juice. 



Here is the horse sugar (Symplocos tinctoria) which has 

 small clusters of greenish-yellow flowers in spring. The 

 leaf, if you taste it, is decidedly sweet, and this makes it easy 

 to distingTiish this shrub from all others. Animals eat it with 

 much avidity. 



The mountain pepper bush has white flowers with a de- 

 licious odor. It is certainly worthy of cultivation. 



This wild species of hydrangea, the tree hydrangea (Hy- 

 drangea arhorescens) , is not so handsome as the Hydrangea 

 paniculcda from Tapan which is generally cultivated, but it is 

 well worth while when planted in cool places and is often 

 used in gardens. 



Huckleberries are, of course, common, and there are 

 many kinds of them. Here is the high-bush huckleberry 

 and the low bush huckleberry, and there is another one, the 



