1Y6 



Bulletin 145 



plant, the cinchonas which are the source of Peruvian bark, and 

 the coffee plant. There are numerous Vermont herbaceous 

 plants including the cleavers and bluet, but only one shrub. 



BUTTON-BUSii. Ceplialaiithiis occidentalis L. 



This is a shrub, usually four to ten feet high, forming 

 thickets commonly in open swamps and along low shores of 

 ponds and streams. It is easily known by the spherical 

 clusters of small white blossoms forming ball-like heads an inch 



or more in diameter. The 

 greenish heads of fruit 

 which follow the blossoms 

 are also ball-shaped. The 

 large shiny leaves, which 

 add to the plant's attrac- 

 tiveness, are in pairs or 

 threes, and have entire 

 margins and a somewhat 

 leathery texture. The 



tincture of the bark has 

 been used somewhat as a 

 medicine, but the plant is 

 chiefly to be prized for 

 its ornamental qualities, 

 whether as it occurs in 

 nature or as transplanted. 

 It does quite as well on 

 drier soil and has to rec- 

 ommend it, bright foliage 

 and especiallv the fact that 

 InTruu/x'y;. the curious 'and attractive 



flowering balls appear during midsummer when few other 

 shrubs are in bloom. 



