18 ©n tbc Stuov? of IRatural Scenery. 



holds up little spires of white blossoms. In the "West 

 shooting-stars are common in rich woods, and farther 

 North, twin-flowers, babes-iu-the-wood (Polygala ' pa iu:i flora) 

 yellow wood-violets, and others too numerous to mention, 

 make a beautiful display in early summer. Above all in 

 many respects, lilies aud moccasin-flowers and numerous 

 kinds of terrestrial orchids, form admirable groups of flowers 

 with which no formal groups in our gardeus can compare. 

 European woods are not less rich : the blue anemone, the 

 yellow anemone, lily-of-the-valley, fumitory, woodruff, 

 Turk's cap lily, oxlips and cowslips, spotted orchid, night 

 violet and bellflowers, are only a few of the treasures found 

 there. The flowering shrubs of deciduous woods, especially 

 in mountain regions, are very numerous ; mock orange, the 

 various kinds of viburnum and meadow-sweets, are perhaps 

 not less attractive than the herbaceous plants among which 

 they grow. The glory of American woods, mountain laurel, 

 azaleas and rhododendrons, make the wilderness of our 

 mountainous and rocky woods richer and more beautiful 

 than any garden or park has ever been up to the present 

 time. Farther south a new aud peculiar feature is intro- 

 duced in the form of evergreen trees and shrubs, such as 

 hollies of many species, with shining green foliage and 

 brightly colored fruits in winter. As a rule, the flowering 

 shrubs aud trees prefer the outskirts of woods and thickets. 

 Not so the evergreens ; they thrive best in a moderate shade 

 where they are somewhat sheltered from the rays of the sun 

 in winter. Climbers are plentiful in most woods, and, gen- 

 erally, they grow in half-open positions, twining about the 

 branches of shrubs and trees in copses aud thickets, of 



