THE MYETLE. 233 



of the true Myrtle. These plants are the Sweet-Gale, the 

 bayberry, and the sweet-fern. 



THE DUTCH MYRTLE, OR SWEET-GALE. 



ALONG the low banks of rivers, and on the wooded 

 shores of ponds and lakes that do not rise above the 

 water-level, grows a slender and rather elegant bush, with 

 dark and dull green foliage, possessing a very agreeable 

 odor, which is perceived when the leaf is crushed. The 

 Sweet-Gale is indigenous both in Europe and America. 

 It is found only in wet places, where it forms knolls and 

 copses, excluding all other plants by the density and 

 vigor of its growth. This exclusive habit is owing to the 

 multitude and tenacity of its roots, that form a subterra- 

 nean network almost impenetrable. The Sweet-Gale is 

 about half aquatic ; it grows out of the water like the 

 button-bush, and is, I believe, never found except in lands 

 which are annually inundated. 



It is this shrub that regales the sight with fresh ver- 

 dure, rising out of the bosom of shallow waters in com- 

 pact masses and forming little islets of shrubbery, with- 

 out the mixture of any other plant. Through these' 

 wooded islets, on angling excursions, we propel our boat, 

 while the surface of the lake is spangled with water-lilies, 

 which, intermingled with the long blue spikes of pickerel- 

 weed and other aquatic flowers, while the notes of the 

 veery and the red mavis are heard from the shore, afford 

 the scene a kind of tropical splendor. 



THE BAYBERRY. 



THIS species has an odor very similar to that of the 

 sweet-gale, and from its fragrance and its waxy fruit it 

 has obtained the name of the Candleberry Myrtle. It 



