CHAPTER XIV 



EARTH COVERINGS 



THE scientific distinction between a bush and 

 a tree is simple, but somewhat arbitrary. It 

 indicates a tree by its having a single stem 

 or trunk, while the bush is peculiar in having 

 several stems springing up from one root. But 

 there is really no sharp division-line between 

 the shrub and the larger growth. The one 

 merges into the other. Regarded from a pict- 

 uresque rather than a scientific point of view, 

 there is a distinction just as arbitrary, which 

 may be made after this fashion : The tree grows 

 separately even in a forest, and its foliage be- 

 gins so high up the trunk that the earth beneath 

 it is usually exposed to view ; the bush often 

 grows in dense clumps over acres of ground, 

 with foliage so close and so low that the earth 

 is hidden from view. Perhaps then I may be 

 allowed to treat of bushes under the general 

 heading of " Earth Coverings," putting them in 

 the same class with reeds and grasses. 

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