NAT. ORDER. DUMOSE.E. 41 



plant may be easily identified wlien soug-ht after for medical purposes, 

 I have represented it both in flower and fmit ; but while in the latter 

 condition, it should be chosen for medical use." ':' -■ ■'■ 



This is " one of the most beautiful ornaments of the swamps of 

 our country, in the autumn and winter, — the Winter-berry. The ele- 

 g-ant color of the berries, ag-greg-ated in numbers of two or three on the 

 small branches of the shrub, together with their multitude, afford a 

 pleasing- contrast to the fading vegetation. The generic name Prinos, 

 is of veiy ancient orig-in, having- been used by Theophrastus and Dios- 

 corides ; and it is supposed to be derived from a Greek verb, signify- 

 ing or meaning to saw, and to have been applied to this genus by Lin- 

 naeus, on account of the strong serratures of the leaves in some of the 

 species." ^ • 



Prinos verticillutus, is a shinib of from eight to ten feet in height, 

 found growing- in and near swamps, on the borders of rivulets and 

 ditches, and in damp woods with moist bottom, every where from 

 Canada to Georgia. It flowers in the month of June, and at this time 

 it has a very ordinary appearance ; but when its berries are fully ripe, 

 which is in the last of October and beginning of November, it is strik- 

 ingly beaudful. At these periods the leaves remain on, but even after 

 they have fallen, the appearance of the shrub from its multitude of rich 

 crimson, and sometimes scarlet ben-ies, is exceedingly handsome. 



Prinos glabra, Ever-green, Winter-berry. This species is closely 

 allied to the former, and its foliage remaining of a beautiful green all 

 through the winter. Its leaves are alternate, petioled, oblong of a firm 

 texture, smooth, acute ; there are commonly two serratures towards 

 the tip ; the peduncles axillary small, and generally three-flowered.— 

 It is of lower growth than the preceding ; the leaves are shorter and 

 serrate at their points only. It is a native of Canada, flowering in 

 July and August. 



Propagation and Culture. In these plants it is efTected by seeds, 

 sown soon after they are ripe, or early in the spring, upon a bed of 

 light earth, covering them about half an inch wiUi the same sort of 



