SECTION II. 



FLOWERING SHRUBS OF CENTRAL CANADA. 



" Hie to the haunts right seldom seen, 



Lovely, lonesome, cool and green. 



Hie away, hie away, 



Over bank, over brae, 



Hie away." 



Waverley. 



LEATHER WOOD MOOSEWOOD Dirca palustris (L.). 



THE Leatherwood or Moosewood is one of the very 

 earliest of our native shrubs to blossom; little clusters of 

 yellow funnel-shaped flowers appear on the naked smooth- 

 barked branches early in April; three or more buds project 

 from an involucre of as many scales covered thickly with 

 soft brown downy hair. The leaves, which expand soon 

 after the falling off of the flowers, are smooth, of a bright 

 light green, oblong, entire, and placed alternately along the 

 stems. This pretty, shrubby bush seldom exceeds five feet 

 in height, but is often much lower. The bark is of a pale 

 greenish-gray, very tough, and while fresh and young not 

 easily broken ; it becomes more brittle when thoroughly 

 dried, losing its useful pliant qualities. The bush settlers 

 used the tough bark in its green state as a substitute for 

 cordage in tying sacks and for similar purposes. This hardy 

 shrub is, I believe, the only native representative in Canada 



148 



