THE VIBURNUM. 



OVER all the land, save where excessive cultivation and 

 dressing of the grounds have stripped the earth of its 

 native garniture, the roadsides are adorned with the dif- 

 ferent species of Viburnum. "We detect them in winter 

 by their many-colored branches and their finely divided 

 spray. May clothes them with a profusion of delicate 

 and sweet-scented flowers ; lastly, autumn dyes their foli- 

 age purple and crimson, and hangs from their branches 

 clusters of variegated fruit ; so that as native ornaments 

 of the borders of old fields and roads they are surpassed 

 by no other shrubs. The Viburnum constitutes a great 

 part of the underwood of our forests, thriving and bear- 

 ing fruit under the deep shade of trees, but assuming a 

 handsome shape only outside of the wood. The flowers, 

 in circular clusters, or cymes, resemble those of the elder, 

 but have less fragrance. 



THE AMERICAN WAYFARIXG-TREE. 



The largest and most conspicuous of this genus, and 

 the one that seems to me to bear the most resemblance 

 to the English Wayfaring-tree, is the Sweet Viburnum. 

 It is a tall and wide-spreading shrub, with numerous 

 branches and dense and elegant foliage, making a compact 

 and well-rounded head. The leaves are single and op- 

 posite, finely serrate, and with prominent veins. Many 

 of our shrubs produce more showy flowers, but few 

 surpass it in the beauty of its fruit. The berries are of 



