Shrubs and Vines 



when the pressure is removed, and extremely tenacious, 

 so that the Indians utilized it for bowstrings and other 

 purposes. As a curiosity it is well worthy of cultivation 

 where space permits. 



A genus affording a rich yellow bloom late in summer 

 — July to October — is Hype?'icum, or St. John's-wort. 

 Many of its herbaceous species are indigenous and very 

 familiar, but within our territory only two are in shrub- 

 form, the most important being H. kahniamun, which is 

 chiefly found in the vicinity of Niagara Falls. It has 

 become a favorite flower in England, and its bright yel- 

 low bloom in August entitles it to wider appreciation in 

 America. Yet it is rather surpassed by several kindred 

 species from abroad, such as H. aureum, quite a small 

 plant, but with larger blossoms than our own, and H. 

 moseriana, with flowers sometimes two and a half inches 

 across, which is perhaps not hardy enough for Southern 

 New England without protection in winter. It is needless 

 to name other species that do not differ materially from 

 the foregoing. A peculiarity in all the genus is in the op- 

 posite entire leaves that are conspicuously spattered with 

 black dots, though not observable at a distance. This 

 group is valuable for its golden bloom at a season when 

 it is most welcome. 



A tall thorny shrub that is often a tree, and used for 

 hedges in England, is the common buckthorn — Rham- 

 nus catharticus — with simple, opposite, ovate leaves, and 

 very small but abundant and fragrant flowers, mostly 

 white or pink. Though growing wild in some parts of 

 New England it is a naturalized European species. Its 

 general type is so much better represented in the various 



i6i 



