STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 



unfortunate tree, which suffers from the close embrace that 

 stops the free circulation of the sap in its upward ascent 

 to the branches. The Climbing Bittersweet is a rapid 

 grower, and consequently a bold enemy that takes forcible 

 possession of any young sapling which comes within its 

 reach; a very Old Man of the Sea that, once fixed, no blast 

 of wind can shake off. But while we take the liberty of 

 railing at the unconscious intruder, we must not omit to 

 dwell upon its good qualities. Its brilliant scarlet arils 

 (coverings of the seeds) and orange fruit, that in profusion 

 ornament the tree about which it twines, enliven the dull 

 woods at a season when bright tints have ceased to charm 

 the eye and all the glories of maple, cherry, birch, ash, and 

 beech lie mouldering on the ground at our feet. We may 

 then look upwards to some slender silver -barked birch or 

 gray butternut and admire the gorgeous scarlet festoons that 

 hang so gracefully among the naked leafless branches. 

 The plant, too, is very attractive in its spring verdure. The 

 delicate leaves are ovate-oblong, narrowing towards the 

 point, finely serrated, alternate; the flowers, in raceme-like 

 clusters, are yellowish green, followed by round smooth 

 berry-like pods, which deepen, as the summer advances, from 

 yellow to orange and from orange to bright scarlet. When 

 the seeds are ripe the pod divides and the segments curl back 

 and disclose the three-celled, three-valved berry, which has, 

 in each cell, one or two hard yellow seeds covered with a 

 thin coating of scarlet pulp which is called the aril; this 

 is acrid and burning to the taste. The Indians make use 

 of the acrid juices of this plant, from the inner bark of the 

 root and the bruised berries, to compound an ointment which 

 is stimulant and healing for old sores, chilblains, and dis- 

 orders of a similar nature. In country places in England 

 I have seen the berries of the Black Bryony boiled down 



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