x USING THE KEYS 
Reading the winter-description of that genus on p. 187 con- 
firms me in this conviction. The analysis of species under 
Rhus leads as directly and certainly to Rhus radicans (f. 4) 
as the name of my plant. 
As I return to the house, I stop to look at a velvety vine 
rooted against a tree-trunk where I remember having seen: 
something different from poison ivy last summer. Without 
touching this climber I look it over carefully, first with the 
unaided eye, then under a lens, and find that it differs from 
Rhus in a number of respects. Besides the roots by which it 
is fastened to its support, it produces short hand-like tendrils 
at many of its nodes and the fingers of these are dilated into 
broad adhering tips. These tendrils are opposite the half- 
round leaf-scars, each of which has a series of rather indis- 
tinct bundle-traces just inside its margin; and a narrow sti- 
pule-scar runs off at either side of the short round bud above 
each leaf-scar. The sequence in the key here is no. 1 to 140; 
140 to 150; 150 to 151; 151 to 152; and 152 to 153. The disks 
at end of the tendril-branches satisfy me that this is a Vir- 
ginia creeper, and the key to the several kinds of Partheno- 
cissus (p. 225) shows that I have seen the rooting ampelopsis, 
Parthenocissus quinquefolia Saint-Paulii, which I may trans- 
plant to my house next spring without fear,—and in the cer- 
tainty that it will cling closely and tenaciously to the wall. 
My neighbor grows a fleecy, tall shrub that has the pecu- 
liarity of discarding many of its very slender twigs every 
fall, reclothing itself in a similar array the next season. I 
find that instead of ordinary broad leaves, this produces small 
scales, one at a node though often crowded close together. 
These scale-leaves have not fallen as most leaves do, but are 
present in winter. In the axil or angle over each of them is 
a small round bud, and the outer scales of some of these 
have parted, showing a nest of smaller buds. Cutting across 
one of the reddish branchlets, I see that its pith is toward 
one side rather than exactly central in the zone of wood by 
