BY THE WAYSIDE AND HEDGEHOWS. Ill 



They are easily known by their orange-coloured sta- 

 mens and their likeness to the flower of the common 

 potato, to which plant it is nearly allied. The bitter- 

 sweet has a straggling steal, and is sometimes found 

 on the top of old walls. Its brilliant scarlet berries 

 in the autumn are tempting to children, but they are 

 poisonous. Its common name is derived from the 

 peculiar flavour of the root. In some districts the 

 bitter-sweet is known by the name of felon-wood. 



Though the spring-time, ere the pale green of the 

 hawthorn-bud had burst, we have noticed the pinkish 

 buds of the Woodbine or Honeysuckle (Lonicera 

 pcriclymenuvi). The woodbine is one of the earliest 

 leafing plants in our hedgerows, and by midsummer 

 its trailing branches are resplendent with their sweet- 

 scented cream-tinted flowers, which are occasionally 

 quite yellow, but generally white marked with red. 

 The flowers grow in a whorl, familiar to those con- 

 versant with classical decoration ; for it is one of the 

 most common forms used in Greek and Roman orna- 

 mentation, as it is now the favourite of the cottage 

 porch. The fruit is red, of a sweet flavour, and fre- 

 quently remains till the harsh winter winds hustle it 

 to the ground. 



