WHITE 



from smilax, on account of a supposed resemblance between the 

 leaves of this plant and those which belong to that genus. 



MAPLE-LEAVED VIBURNUM. DOCKMACKIE. ARROW-WOOD. 



Viburnum acerifolium. Honeysuckle Family. 



A shrub from three to six feet high. Leaves. Somewhat three -lobed, re- 

 sembling those of the maple, downy underneath. Flowers. White, small, 

 in flat-topped clusters. Calyx. Five-toothed. Corolla. Spreading, five- 

 lobed. Stamens. Five. Pistil. One. Fruit. Berry-like, crimson, turn- 

 ing purple. 



Perhaps our flowering shrubs contribute even more to the 

 beauty of the early-summer woods and fields than the smaller 

 plants. Along many of the lanes which intersect the woodlands 

 the viburnums are conspicuous in June. When the blossoms 

 of the dockmackie have passed away we need not be surprised 

 if we are informed that this shrub is a young maple. There is 

 certainly a resemblance between its leaves and those of the maple, 

 as the specific name indicates. To be sure, the first red, then 

 purple berries, can scarcely be accounted for, but such a trifling 

 incongruity would fail to daunt the would-be wiseacre of field 

 and forest. With Napoleonic audacity he will give you the name 

 of almost any shrub or flower about which you may inquire. 

 Seizing upon some feature he has observed in another plant, he 

 will immediately christen the one in question with the same title 

 somewhat modified, perhaps and in all probability his authority 

 will remain unquestioned. There is a marvellous amount of in- 

 accuracy afloat in regard to the names of even the commonest 

 plants, owing to this wide-spread habit of guessing at the truth 

 and stating a conjecture as a fact. 



HOBBLE-BUSH. AMERICAN WAYFARING-TREE. 



Viburnum lantanoides. Honeysuckle Family. 



Leaves. Rounded, pointed, closely toothed, heart-shaped at the base, 

 the veins beneath as well as the stalks and small branches being covered 

 with a rusty scurf. Fruit. Coral-red, berry-like. 



The marginal flowers of the flat-topped clusters of the hob- 

 ble-bush, like those of the hydrangea, are much larger than the 



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