FLOWERING SHRUBS 



converted into a strong vinegar, and is so used, I am told, 

 in New England. I have, however, never seen the fruit of 

 the Sumac made use of in this country for any household 

 purpose. 



SMOOTH DWARF SUMAC R. glabra (L.). 



This also is widely diffused through Canada. It is a 

 pretty shrub, but troublesome, from sending up so many 

 shoots; it rises from a very low size to ten and twelve feet 

 high. It is very similar to the last, but the foliage is 

 narrower, glaucous-white underneath; the eleven to thirty- 

 one sharply-toothed and pointed leaflets are very smooth on 

 the surface and take on brilliant orange and scarlet colors 

 before fading. The stem is also smooth and glaucous, like 

 the leaves. There is another dwarf species, R. copallina 

 (L.), found in rocky soil, the chief characteristic of which 

 consists in the winged margin of the leafstalks; it is a 

 lower and smaller shrub than R. glabra, and is exceedingly 

 rare in Canada. 



BLACK ALDER WINTERBERRY Ilex verticillata (Gray). 



This red-berried shrub belongs to the Holly family, but 

 we have in Canada no tree which takes the place of the 

 British Hulme or Holly Tree, with its glossy prickle-armed 

 evergreen leaves, green bark, and brilliant garniture of 

 scarlet berries. 



" It is green in the winter and gay in the spring, 

 And the old holly tree is a beautiful thing." 



The Holly among the Romans denoted peace and good- 

 will and possibly for this cause was chosen by the early 

 Christians as symbolical of the peaceable character that 

 should distinguish the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ 



205 



