60 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 



mental work in gardens and for covering buildings, lending a picturesque 

 appearance. The berries furnish food for birds at a time when there 

 is little else for them to feed upon. Cattle are fond of its foliage. It 

 was said to be a remedy for warts. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



134. Hedera Helix, L. Stem climbing, with rooting fibres, leaves 

 cordate, shiny, lobed, on flowering branches, ovate-lanceolate, flowers 

 green, in an umbel or raceme, fruit a berry, black. 



Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum Lantana, L.) 



This small tree is represented in early deposits in Interglacial beds 

 at West Wittering in Sussex. Its recent distribution is limited to the 

 North Temperate Zone from Belgium southwards, and North Africa. 

 In Great Britain it is absent from North Devon in the Peninsula 

 province, but occurs in the Channel, Thames, Anglia, and Severn 

 provinces, except in Stafford and Salop; and only in Glamorgan, 

 Carmarthen, and Pembroke in Wales. It is found also in N. Lines, 

 Leicester, Notts, N.E. and S.W. Yorks. It is naturalized elsewhere. 



The Wayfaring Tree is a woodland species especially common on 

 chalk or limestone tracts, where it is associated with Alder Buckthorn, 

 White Beam, Wild Cherry, and other trees and shrubs. It grows in 

 hedges also by the roadside, preferring a habitat well characterized by 

 open light conditions and access to the sun. 



The pliability of the twigs of this shrub-like plant is implied in 

 both Latin names, which are derived from words meaning to tie. The 

 stems are numerous, with white mealy branches. The leaves are 

 leathery, entire, heart-shaped, oblong, toothed, wrinkled below when 

 young, stellately hairy, and downy beneath. The leaf-stalks, shoots, 

 and young leaves are densely covered with down. This may help to 

 preserve the plant from the attacks of insects. 



The flowers are creamy-white, in perfect terminal cymes, which 

 are flat, with strong rays. There are 2 small bracts or leaf- like 

 organs. The corolla is funnel-shaped. The flat, egg-shaped drupe 

 or berry-like fruit is black or purple ultimately, at first scarlet. The 

 seeds have a ventral groove. 



The tree is usually about 8-10 ft. in height. The flowers, which 

 in our experience are very soon picked, are to be found in May and 

 June. The Wayfaring Tree is a deciduous shrub, which can be multi- 

 plied by layers, and is worth cultivating. 



In this genus the flower secretes honey, which is concealed or open 



