334 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



the vivid green of its foliage, together with its 

 black clusters of berries, form a mass of 

 beauty that is exceeded by few exotic plants. 

 There is a singular character to be observed 

 in the natural history of the ivy : it never 

 produces flowers whilst trailing on the 

 ground, but when it can climb to display its 

 simple umbels, it flowers amply, and pro- 

 duces fruit abundantly ; and so long as it can 

 find support upwards, its stalks remain slen- 

 der and flexible, but when it has reached to 

 the top of its support, they shorten and be- 

 come woody, and the top becomes bushy like 

 a tree. Its leaves also take a different shape. 

 They are no longer lobed as at first, but as- 

 sume a more oval shape, and expand to a 

 larger size : thus the plant seems to prune its 

 branches when it would be no longer safe to 

 ramble, and to spend its superfluous sap in 

 enlarging its leaves. 



Its principal time of flowering is in Octo- 

 ber ; and the bees and flies seem to know that 

 it is one of the last offerings that Flora will 

 make them, by the eagerness with which they 

 buzz around it. 



The berries are not perfect before Febru- 

 ary, nor ripe before April ; but between these 

 months, the wood-pigeon, the thrush, and the 

 blackbird feast on the fruit continually. 



