THE CORNEL 119 



French names puine and bois punais, " bug- wood," 

 are said to be due. 



The opposite leaves are short-stalked, somewhat 

 broadly egg-shaped and pointed, with entire margins. 

 Though they are generally not much more than two 

 inches long, we have found them on suckers nearly three 

 times as long. Their vcining is characteristic, though 

 not unlike that of the Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathar- 

 ticus). The veins are not only prominent in appear- 

 ance, but are so exceptionally tough that, as in the 

 case of the common plantain, if a leaf be snapped 

 asunder in several places, the vascular bundles will 

 hold the fragments together, and can be drawn out 

 unbroken. When young the leaves are hoary or 

 silky, but they become perfectly smooth later. In 

 spring they may, like the twigs that bear them, be 

 suffused with a fainter tin^e of the rich vinous colour 

 which they are destined to exhibit in all its perfection 

 at a later season. They then become a somewhat 

 dull yellowish or sap green, resembling the foliage ot 

 the Buckthorns. It is in early autumn, however, that 

 they show themselves in a mingled richness of colour 

 that challenges comparison with American Maples or 

 with the Muscat Grape-vine. Mixed with the un- 

 altered green of summer, deep crimson, light rose-red, 

 a dark maroon approaching the purple of a plum, 

 may then be seen, side by side with yellow and 

 orange leaves, and with those that blend several of 

 these tints on a single blade. Later on in the season 

 of change whole bushes of deep purple or blood-red 

 may be seen, but the more varied charm belongs to 

 the earlier time. 



