Shrubs and Vines 



tree only by compliment, for it is oftener a shrub. All 

 the species have the pinnate leaf that is characteristic of 

 the family, and mostly yellow pea-shaped blossoms. 

 Though hardy, they have a delicate appearance, due to 

 the soft texture of the finely cut leaves ; and the differ- 

 ences of the species are such as would interest the bot- 

 anist rather than the landscape amateur. Blossoming 

 in May and June they do not attract attention by con- 

 spicuous features, and can easily be overlooked from re- 

 semblance in flower and leaf to many other species. 



The reputation of the entire dogwood family has been 

 made by one illustrious member of it — the flowering 

 dogwood, referred to particularly elsewhere. While this 

 is equally at home on the lawn and in the woods, his 

 kindred for the most part modestly remain in the back- 

 ground, and, truth to tell, there is little reason why they 

 should be invited to come forward into publicity. The 

 naturalist, however, is always glad to meet them in their 

 chosen haunts, and they offer interesting differences for 

 the scrutiny of the analytical botanist. 



The common forms are the round-leaved, alternate- 

 leaved, silky, panicled, and red-osier dogwood. The 

 last-named, with an almost identical European form, 

 has a special interest as being the only case in which a 

 shrub's ornamentation is in neither foliage, flower, nor 

 fruit, but in the brilliant color of its bark in winter. 

 From May to December it is a dull brown, but it then 

 begins to brighten, and by February is of such a vivid 

 crimson tint as to make a large shrub in a snowy land- 

 scape one of the most peculiar and beautiful sights of 

 winter. In foliage and flower this is as commonplace 



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