Vermont Shrubs and Woody Vines 191 



However, this plant is one that must be known by some name to 

 every lover of Vermont's mountain roads. It is a low irregular 

 shrub rising usually but a few inches from the ground. Often its 

 forking branches are nearly or quite prostrate and, striking root, 

 start new colonies. The leaves are few but large and unusually 

 attractive, from the time they burst their rusty buds in spring, 

 through their sturdy summer development to a size of four to 

 to six inches, with dark green colors traced with the delicate 

 network of veins, until they end with the rich reds and browns 

 of autumn. The buds are conspicuous and attractive in winter. 

 The blossoms, too, stand out in large clusters bordered with the 

 larger sterile marginal flowers which are often an inch across. 

 The rusty brown hairs coating the young shoots, flower and leaf 

 stalks and the lower leaf surface add to the color effect, and 

 these are still further heightened by the berries ripening from 

 red to a rich purplish-black. They are not edible. The hobble- 

 bush deserves a place in ornamental plantations in any cool, 

 moist situation, but nowhere can it be so charming as when 

 fringing a trout brook on the mountain side. 



MAPLE-LEAVED ARROW-WOOD. J^ibumiim acerifoHum L. 



This is a low, erect shrub of three to five feet, frequently 

 found in rocky woodlands. The leaves bear a close resemblance to 

 the common red maple in outline, which is the more striking since 

 both plants have opposite leaves. Closer attention suffices to re- 

 move any doubt as between these, however, since the arrow-wood 

 leaves, especially the younger ones, are so soft-hairy beneath as 

 to be velvety to the touch, whereas the maple leaf is smooth. The 

 arrow-wood also flowers and fruits freely and so shows its fam- 

 ily characters. The berries are blue-black when ripe and of dis- 

 agreeable taste. This is a desirable small shrub for ornamental 

 planting, its value being enhanced by the attractive purple hues of 

 its autunm foliage. The name Dockmakie, probably of Indian 

 origin, is sometimes applied to it. 



