Labradore Tea Leaves Interesting. 



One of the most common flowering shrubs in open, marshy 

 places is the Labradore tea. It is a small bush, with an abun- 

 dance of loose white flowers. Its leaves exhibit an interest- 

 ing adaptation to its environment. The upper side is smooth, 

 but the edges are turned down and the lower side is covered 

 with a dense brown fuzz. Leaves are the lungs *of plants and 

 it is quite important that they be not clogged with rain or 

 dew. No matter how heavy the dews, how frequent the rain 

 and how long the brush is wet, the lower side of these curled 

 and fuzzy leaves, where the breathing pores are located, will 

 not be wetted. Many other marsh plants are similarly pro- 

 tected against the clogging of the breathing pores by rain 

 and dew. 



The most common and conspicuous flower of the North 

 woods is the partridge berry, or dwarf cornel. In the early 

 summer it forms beautiful carpets of white and green along 

 the old trails of Indians and Hudson Bay trappers. Wherever 

 a fallen tree, fire or ax has made a clearing it spreads its 

 cheerful colors until the stronger trees and shrubs rob it of 

 the needed sunlight. 



Cornel and Smilax are Abundant, 



And later in the season when the blueberries are ripe and 

 invite bird, beast and man to eat and feast, our little green 

 cornel will not be outdone by any mere lavishness of food. 

 It now has changed its white flowers into bright crimson 

 berries, and grouse, spruce hens and other birds accept the 

 invitation to help themselves and in return they scatter the 

 nutlet seeds of the dwarf cornel far and wide, so that the 

 North woods will never lack the white and green rugs wher- 

 ever the sun can shine on a bit of open ground. 



Associated with the pretty carpet cornel is the two-leaved 

 smilax. Sometimes it is scattered among the cornel, but gen- 

 erally it prefers a more shady place, where the boughs of 

 balsam and pine soften the strong light of summer. 



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