NOVEMBER 251 



so-called scarlet oaks which never attain a brighter tint 

 than a gingerbread nut ; so it is well to visit the nursery 

 in autumn before purchasing. 



Talking of nurseries, I was in my own one day 

 lately, when my eye was caught by a most brilliant 

 piece of colour, positively like a scarlet and yellow 

 carpet laid over one of the beds. I could not conceive 

 what it was. It turned out, on nearer inspection, to be 

 a bed of young Cercidiphyllum japonicum, raised from 

 seed sent me by a friend last spring. I know nothing 

 by experience about this shrub or tree, save that it is 

 of doubtful hardihood, but if it fulfils the promise of 

 babyhood it has but one other rival in those hues, to 

 wit, the poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendrori), which flames 

 out before its winter sleep with extraordinary effulgence. 

 But this Rhus is a dangerous plant, being intensely 

 poisonous, affecting very painfully the skin of him who 

 handles it unadvisedly. It is often offered for sale 

 under the name of Ampelopsis japonica, the purchaser 

 believing it to be a Japanese cousin of the innocuous 

 Virginian creeper, which it resembles in foliage and 

 scandent habit. There are many harmless species of 

 Rhus, notably cotinus, the Venetian sumach, with 

 pinnate foliage, and cotinoides, with round leaves, 

 which become almost as bright in autumn as the 

 poison ivy ; but these are not of scandent habit like 

 toxicodendron. 



The North American sorrel- tree (Andromeda arborea) 

 displays very rich crimson tints at present, but it is 

 outdono by another member of the Heath family, 

 Vaccinlum corymbosum, whereof the leaves have 



