BURNING BUSH, ETC. 169 



purple. The fruit, which ripens in October, ia also 



four-parted, and hangs on long, slender stems ; it is 

 half an inch broad, light magenta-purple in color, 

 and imparts to the tree a very ornamental appear- 

 ance in autumn. The burning bush grows wild 

 from western New York to Wisconsin, Nebraska, 

 Indian Territory, and southward to northern Florida. 

 There is also a European burning bush (Econijums 

 Europaius), which is commonly seen in parks and 

 gardens ; the fruit is similarly four-divided, but these 

 divisions are somewhat flattened and angular ; its 

 color is a soft, unvarnished crimson, with a singular 

 touch of ruddy orange — certainly a very odd com- 

 bination of color. This shrub also expands to large 

 proportions under favorable conditions. There is a 

 very pretty specimen, perhaps 15 feet high, in the 

 Public Garden, Boston. The burning bush is easily 

 identified by its singular four-sided crimson or ma- 

 genta berries scarcely half an inch in diameter. It 

 is rare, too, that one finds a red berry of a crimson 

 hue and without a glossy surface. In this respect, 

 therefore, the fruit of the burning bush is quite 

 unique. I know of two beautiful but small speci- 

 mens which £row beside an arbor in front of a hotel 

 in the White Mountains, New Hampshire, where 

 they are exposed to rigorous winter weather with 

 the mercury frequently falling to 25° below zero. 



