52 WILD FLOWERS. 



cup. They have both large leathery leaves, 

 and, as well as the garden hellebores, among 

 which is the Christmas-rose, are extremely 

 poisonous. 



The white balls of the guelder-rose (Vi- 

 burnum opulus) now thicken on the shrub, its 



" Silver globes, light as the foaming surf, 

 Which the winil severs from the broken wave ;" 



being ornamental both to the shrubbery and the 

 hedge-row. These flowers, however, are not so 

 globular in their wild as in their cultivated 

 state, when in the garden ; they contrast with the 

 bloom of the lilac-tree, and well deserve their 

 common name of snowball. The guelder-rose 

 derived its name from having been planted and 

 flourishing profusely in Guelder-land, in the Low 

 Countries ; but the plant is a native of almost 

 every coiuitry of Europe, and quite common in 

 our wild hedges. The berries are among the 

 most beautiful of our autumnal fruits. They 

 are of an eUiptical shape, very juicy and bril- 

 liantly red. They have a very nauseous taste, 

 so much so, that one can only wonder how they 

 can be so palatable to the Swedes ; yet the 

 people of Sweden relish them greatly when 

 made into a paste with flour and honey. In 

 Siberia, they are not only eaten thus, but a spirit 

 is distilled from them by fermenting the berries 

 with flour. The young shoots are made into 

 tobacco-pipes and whip-handles. 



The box shrub, {Buonis sempervirens,) so well 

 known in its dwarf state as an edging to the 

 garden border, puts forth its green flowers in 



