56 Beautiful Plants growing wild 



favorite, and may be easily trained so as to form delis:htful 

 bowers and festoons. It gives off, at intervals a pair of op- 

 posite leaf stems, which twine around objects of support, 

 serving the purpose of tendrils ; each stem bearing three 

 heart-shaped leaflets, variously toothed, and lobed. The 

 flower stems grow out of the shoulders of the leaves, and 

 bear clusters of white, sweet-scented blossoms. The most 

 remarkable and showy appearance of this plant, is when in 

 fruit ; the long, feathery, curly crowns of the seeds appear- 

 ing almost like tufts of wool. Sometimes the cultivated 

 plant does not produce these curly crowns ; the Virginian 

 virgin's bower therefore has a claim over its sister species. 

 — Low grounds ; very abundant on the banks of Neponset 

 river, Milton. — July, August. 



C'lethra. 

 Clethra alnifolia Alder-leaved Clethra. An elegant plant, 

 forming a bush from four to eight feet high. Leaves alter- 

 nate, about three inches long, and from one to two broad, 

 wedge-formed, or inverted egg-shaped, acute, coarsely saw- 

 toothed, smooth and green on both sides. Flowers small, 

 white, lilac-scented, with a five-leaved calyx, and five round- 

 ish oblong petals, disposed in a spike-formed raceme. — Low, 

 damp or wet soils ; Cambridgeport, &c. — July, August. 



CORNUS. 



Plants of this genus have a four-toothed calyx ; a four- 

 petaled corolla proceeding from the \ipper part of the germ ; 

 likewise a fleshy drupe or fruit, with a two-celled nut or 

 stone, commonly termed a berry. 



Cornns alba L. White-berried Cornel. A shrub, some- 

 times growing about ten feet high, with smooth, slender, 

 spreading, reddish branches. Leaves ovate or egg-formed, 

 broad, acute, hoary underneath. Flowers white, in cymes, 

 the flower-stalks, like those of elder, radiating from one cen- 

 tre, but afterwards being subdivided variously. The fruit 

 is bluish white. In rich ground, the plant sometimes blos- 

 soms twice in a year. — Low, damp grounds ; Roxbury, 

 Cambridge, Newton, &c. — June. 



Cornus alternifdlia I'Herit. Alternate-leaved Cornel, some- 

 times called Osier. A showy, handsome shrub, sometimes 

 eighteen feet high, but commonly much lower. The 

 branches are warty, very spreading and wavy, forming a 

 flattish, umbrella-shaped head. Leaves ovate, sharp- 

 pointed, whitish beneath, and either alternate, or standing 

 about the twigs without order. Flowers white, in clusters, 

 with flattish tops or cymes. Fruit or berries purple. — 

 Swamps, shady woods ; near Nonantum Hill, Newton. — 

 June. 



C6rnv>s circindta I'Herit. Broad-leaved Cornel. An erect. 



