WHITE 



which are so rehshed by the children. Formerly these growths 

 were attributed to the sting of an insect, as in the " oak apple ; " 

 now they are generally believed to be modified buds. 



SWEET BAY. LAUREL MAGNOLIA. 



Magnolia glatica. Magnolia Family. 



A shrub from four to twenty feet high. Leaves. — Oval to broadly lance- 

 shaped ; from three to six inches long. Flowers. — White; two inches 

 long ; growing singly at the ends of the branches. Calyx. — Of three sepals. 

 Corolla. — Globular ; with from six to nine broad petals. Stamens. — Numer- 

 ous ; with short filaments and long anthers. Pistils. — Many ; packed so as 

 to make a sort of cone in fruit. Fricit. — Cone-like ; red ; fleshy when ripe ; 

 the pistils opening at maturity and releasing the scarlet seeds which hang by 

 delicate threads. 



The beautiful fragrant blossoms of the sweet bay may be 

 found from June till August, in swamps along the coast from 

 Cape Ann southward. This is one of the shrubs whose beauty 

 bids fair to be its own undoing. The large flowers are sure to 

 attract the attention of those ruthless destroyers who seem bent 

 upon the final extermination of our most pleasing and character- 

 istic plants. , 



COMMON BLACK HUCKLEBERRY.* 



Gaylnssacia resinosa. Heath Family. 



One to three feet high. Stems. — Shrubby ; branching. Leaves. — Oval 

 or oblong; sprinkled more or less with waxy resinous atoms. Flotoers. — 

 White, reddish, or purplish ; bell-shaped ; growing in short, one-sided clus- 

 ters. Calyx. — With five short teeth. Corolla. — Bell-shaped, with a five- 

 cleft border. Stamens. — Ten. Pistil. — One. Fruit. — A black, bloomlesa, 

 edible berry. 



The flowers of the common huckleberry appear in May or 

 June ; the berries in late summer. The shrub abounds in rocky 

 woods and swamps. 



* There is a great similarity between many of the Heaths. For more accu- 

 rate identification than can be here given, Gray's Manual should be consulted. 



51 



