Shrubs and Vines 



The distinction of shrub and vine is even more per- 

 plexing ; a score of familiar instances illustrate the dual 

 or indeterminate type ; the poison ivy, if it finds no sup- 

 port, knows how to support itself, and grows erect ; the 

 matrimony-vine is neither exactly vine nor shrub. The 

 countless circumstantial differences, as striking as they 

 are beautiful, thus evinced in one common nature, are 

 not only a link of some worth in the evolutionary argu- 

 ment, but they insure that freedom from angularity that 

 is an essential charm of all landscape scenery. 



One who sees in a plant only the few obvious details 

 given in this book for identification misses much of the 

 wonderful scheme of vegetation, and of the beauty of a 

 thousand features, which are recognized only after thor- 

 ough study of structural botany. But that means an 

 amount of labor which to many is distasteful. There is 

 too much popular disinclination in these days to go 

 deeply into the science of things ; learning must be 

 made easy ; reading must take the place of study ; every- 

 thing must be illustrated. The mind will grow super- 

 ficial under this treatment. It is to be feared, from the 

 present trend of nature-study, despite its popularity, 

 that the old-fashioned, thorough-going race of botanists 

 will in the next generation become extinct. Inspira- 

 tion is doubtless better than information ; yet intelligent 

 enthusiasm always thrives best on a good subsoil of 

 scientific training. 



In mass and brilhancy of color, very few plants, 

 native or foreign, can rival the gorgeous rhododendrons. 

 The original wild species are few in number — only one 



131 



