WHITE 



rather inconspicuous, one's attention being chiefly attracted by 

 its many whorls of slender leaves. 



BITTER-SWEET. WAX-WORK. 



Celastrus scandens. Staff- tree Family. 



Stem. Woody, twining. Leaves. Alternate, oblong, finely toothed, 

 pointed. Flovuers. Small, greenish, or cream-color, in raceme-like clusters, 

 appearing in June. Pod. Orange-colored, globular, and berry-like, curling 

 back in three divisions when ripe so as to display the scarlet covering of the 

 seeds within. 



The small flowers of the bitter-sweet, which appear in June, 

 rarely attract attention. But in October no lover of color can 

 fail to admire the deep orange pods which at last curl back so as 

 advantageously to display the brilliant scarlet covering of the 

 seeds. Perhaps we have no fruit which illuminates more vividly 

 the roadside thicket of late autumn ; or touches with greater 

 warmth those tumbled, overgrown walls which are so picturesque 

 a feature in parts of the country, and do in a small way for our 

 quiet landscapes what vine-covered ruins accomplish for the scen- 

 ery of the Old World. 



CULVER'S ROOT. 



Veronica Virginica. Figwort Family. 



Stem. Straight and tall, from two to six feet high. Leaves, Whorled, 

 lance-shaped, finely toothed. Floivers. White, small, growing in slender 

 clustered spikes. Calyx. Irregularly four or five-toothed. Corolla. 

 Four or five-lobed. Stamens. Two, protruding. Pistil. One. 



The tall straight stems of the culver's root lift their slender 

 spikes in midsummer to a height that seems strangely at variance 

 with the habit of this genus. The small flowers, however, at 

 once betray their kinship with the speedwells. Although it is, 

 perhaps, a little late to look for the white wands of the black 

 cohosh the two plants might easily be confused in the distance, 

 as they have much the same aspect and seek alike the cool re- 

 cesses of the woods. This same species grows in Japan and was 

 introduced into English gardens nearly two hundred years ago. 

 It is one of the many Indian remedies which were adopted by 

 our forefathers. 



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