EARLY-FLOWERING SHRUBS. 



37 



One of the commonest roadside shrubs of the 

 north country is the buttonbush (Cephalanthus occi- 

 dentalis). Its decorative, 

 spherical heads of yel- 

 lowish white flowers 

 with long styles are 

 quite an inch in diam- 

 eter ; the strongly veined, 

 blunt, egg-shaped leaves 

 are without teeth. 

 The flowers, how- 

 ever, are late in 

 blooming ; they do not 

 appear until late in 

 June or early in July. 

 This shrub grows about 

 four feet high, and is most fre- 

 quently found on the borders 

 of swamps and streams. 



The buttonbush thicket is 

 a favorite haunt of the red- 

 winged blackbird (Agelaius 

 phceniceus) ; here the bird finds 



a safe retreat, seldom molested by enemies ; the en- 

 vironment is entirely too aquatic for all visitors other 

 than batrachians. I have no doubt whatever that 

 madame, as she settles on her nest at sundown, 



Buttonbush. 



