Beautiful Plants growing wild near Boston. 131 



Ant* IV. Beautiful Plants growing wild in the Vicinity of 

 Boston. By E. B. Kenrick, Watertown. 



( Continued from page 57.) 



HeJem. 

 fledera quinquefolia, Cissus hederacea, Sic. Common Creep- 

 er, Five-leaved Ivy. The common creeper is much cultivated as 

 an ornament of walls. The stems climb to a great altitude, and 

 are supported by radicating tendrils. Leaves smooth, in fives, with 

 stems. Flowers greenish, in branching clusters. Berries of the 

 size of peas, dark blue, acid. — Woods, &;c. — July. 



Kalmdi. 



Calyx five-parted ; corolla salver-shaped, with ten prominences 

 underneath, and the border five-horned; capsule, or seed vessel," 

 five-celled. 



Kalmia angustifolia Narrow-leaved Laurel, Lamb-kill. This 

 little shrub, however fatal to sheep, has exceedingly beautiful 

 flowers. It grows to the height of one or two feet. The leaves 

 stand either scattering, or in threes, with short stems ; oblong, 

 lance-formed, blunt at the tip, evergreen, and a little rusty 

 beneath. Flowers deep rose-colored ; disposed in corymbs or tan- 

 sy-like clusters, rising from the shoulders of the leaves, and forming 

 a sort of whirl around the stem. — Common in pastures, swamps, 

 and sandy woods. — June, July. 



Kalmia latifolia Broad-leaved Laurel, Mountain Laurel. A 

 very ornamental shrub, generally about four or five feet in eleva- 

 tion. But on the Catskill mountain. Dr. Eaton says it is found 

 more than twenty feet high. Leaves on short stems, and either in 

 threes, or standing without order ; evergreen, leathery, very smooth ; 

 oval, indented on the edge, acute, or sharp at the tip. In one 

 variety, the flowers are white ; in the other, rose-colored. They 

 grow in corymbose clusters, like those of the Kalmza angustifolia ; 

 but the flowers and clusters are much larger. — Rocky hills ; woods 

 at Gloucester, Princeton, Boylston, &;c. Not common very near 

 Boston. — June, July. 



l^aurus. 



jLaurus Benzoin L. Fever Bush, Spice Bush. An aromatic 

 shrub, from four to ten feet high, with a flavor like benzoin. Leaves 

 smoothish, somewhat hairy, pale beneath, oval, or inverted egg- 

 formed, sharp at base, and a little pointed at the tip. Flowers 

 yellow, in small umbels ; appearing when the leaves just begin to 

 expand. Berries scarlet. — Shady, wet places. Near Newton 

 Corner ; also, in abundance, a little south-west of Brighton village. 

 — Blossoms early in May. 



