VARIOUS FARM PRODUCTS 579 



leaves, and smaller flowers, clustered, not at the extreme end of the 

 stem, but at the base of the fresh shoots. It is abundant at low 

 altitudes in both dry and wet soils from Maine to New Jersey; less 

 abundant westward throughout the Great Lakes region and 

 southward to Tennessee and South Carolina. 



Great Laurel (Rhododendron maximum). Laurel (south of 

 Pa.) ; rosebay; mountain laurel; rhododendron; American rosebay; 

 big laurel (Pa.) ; big-leaf laurel (Pa.) ; horse laurel (Pa.) ; deer 

 tongue; cow plant ( Vt.) ; spoon hutch (N. H.). A large ever- 

 green bush or small tree, 10 to 20 or 30 feet high, with thick leaves, 

 4 to 10 inches long, and splendid clusters of large, inodorous, pale 

 pink, or nearly white flowers, blossoming in July. A commonly 

 cultivated ornamental tree, native to the Allegheny Mountains, but 

 extending northward in isolated patches to Connecticut and New 

 Hampshire. 



Staggerbush (Pieris mariana). Kill lamb. A weak-limbed 

 deciduous shrub, 2 to 4 feet high, with thick, conspicuously veined 

 leaves and showy clusters of tubular white flowers. It is frequent in 

 low, damp soils near the coast from Connecticut to Florida. 



Branch Ivy (Leucothoe catesbaei). Hemlock; calf kill; 

 leucothoe; dog laurel. An evergreen shrub, 2 to 4 feet high, with 

 thick, tapering, sharply saw-edged leaves and numerous clusters of 

 small, white, tubular, ill-smelling flowers, which appear in April or 

 May. It grows abundantly, often forming dense thickets along 

 stream banks in the Allegheny Mountains from West Virginia to 

 northern Georgia. 



Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium). Jamestown weed; com- 

 mon stramonium; thorn apple; apple of Peru; devil's apple; mad 

 apple; stink wort; stinkweed (W. Va.) ; Jamestown lily (N. C.) ; 

 white man's plant (by Indians). The jimson weeds are rank, ill- 

 smelling plants, with large funnel-shaped flowers and prickly four- 

 valved seed pods. They are mostly weeds which have been intro- 

 duced into the United States from Europe and tropical America. 

 The present species is a stout, smooth, bushy annual 2 to 5 feet high, 

 with a coarse green stem, large flaccid leaves, and white, heavy- 

 scented flowers 2 to 4 inches long. The flowers appear from May to 

 September, and the fruit ripens from August to November, accord- 

 ing to latitude. The seeds are numerous and about the size of a 

 grain of buckwheat. When fresh they are ill-scented and nauseat- 

 ing, but later they are not so disagreeable. The nectar is sweet, but 

 a little nauseating. It is found in most of the States East of the 

 Mississippi, is common in eastern Kansas and Nebraska, in some 

 parts of Colorado, and has obtained some foot-hold in all of the 

 Western States. The purple-stemmed jimson weed (Datura tatula) 

 is a somewhat taller plant, with purplish flowers and stems, but 

 otherwise practically identical with the preceding, both in botanical 

 and toxic characters. It is more abundant toward the South and 

 West than the other. Cases of poisoning arise in adults from exces- 

 sive use as a stimulant or as a medicine. Children are sometimes 

 tempted to eat the fruit if they are permitted to play where the weed 



