178 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



Poison Ivy. 



touching of these plants is the binding of the affect- 

 ed parts in cloths saturated with " Pond's extract " 

 (Hamamelis). A severe case should 

 be referred to a physician at once. 

 It. venenata I have never found 

 in the Pemigewasset Valley, but R. 

 toxicodendron is on all of the 

 meadows and many of the 

 roadsides there. 



Leaving these wretched, harmful 

 plants, we may now turn our atten- 

 tion to their near neighbor, the 

 handsome, spreading dogbane (Apo- 

 cynum androscemifolium\ which is just beginning to 

 unfold its delicate pink - white flower bells. This 

 thin and delicate plant gives us a refreshing bit of 

 sober blue-green in wide contrast with its surround- 

 ings. Its leaves are not glossy, but characterized by 

 what a painter would call a " dead finish." The 

 beautiful flowers, similar in shape to lily of the val- 

 leys or twin flowers, are daintily tinged with pink ; 

 if we pick a cluster, the stem exudes a sticky, milk- 

 white juice. This plant will not reach its prime 

 until July, and then we may hunt through its leaves 

 for the most beautiful little beetle which ever fa- 

 vored the roadside with its presence. This jewel of 

 a creature is called the dogbane beetle (Chrysochus 



