POISONOUS PLANTS 163 



ginia Creeper in being one of the two most truly 

 decorative vines of New England, making up what 

 it lacks in grace of growth by an abrupt vigor. 

 It covers stone heaps and tumble -down walls, 

 lends new foliage to half-dead trees, and turns 

 fence -posts into grotesque plant forms ; for when 

 it reaches the top of a support and can climb no 

 further, it promptly abandons its trailing habits and 

 turns into a shrub, sticking out short arms in every 

 direction until, in some places, one may find miles 

 of rail fences with every post decorated by this 

 bushy crown. The berries, though not sufficiently 

 attractive to be dangerous to humanity, are eaten 



