STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 



marshes and bogs. The wreaths of fine dark foliage, bear- 

 ing the delicate pink waxy flowers on slender thready foot- 

 stalks, and the large berries in every stage of progress 

 green, yellow, deep red and purplish red resting upon the 

 gray lichens and lovely cream-colored peat-mosses, produce 

 an effect worth seeing. 



The name of the genus is supposed to be derived from the 

 Latin word vieo, to tie, on account of the flexibility of the 

 branches of some of the species. The word viburna, in the 

 plural, seems to have been applied by the ancients to all 

 plants which were used for tying. 



HOBBLE-BUSH Viburnum lantanoides (Michx.). 



This shrub would appear to be typical of the genus, for 

 the branches twine and twist most irregularly; the lower 

 ones are procumbent, often taking root where they touch 

 the ground, whence the popular name. The flowers of this 

 species somewhat resemble the last, but are more cream- 

 colored and appear earlier. The large handsome leaves are 

 round ovate, heart-shaped at the base, and, together with 

 the young branch lets, are covered underneath on the veins 

 and veinlets with tufts of brown down. The ovoid fruit is 

 crimson, turning blackish, and although edible is not very 

 pleasant. 



MAPLE-LEAVED DOCKMACKIE Viburnum acerifolium (L.), 



is a low pretty shrub, not uncommon in open thickets and 

 damp woods. The flowers are more delicate than, and not so 

 conspicuous as, those of the preceding, but it would make 

 a pretty border shrub, bearing some resemblance to the 

 Laurestinus, with which it has been compared; the foliage, 

 however, is very unlike, being of a light-green color, veiny, 



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