298 PLANTS GROWING IN WASTE SOIL. 



mous flowers. It does not, however, hide them at its base as 

 though ashamed for them to be seen. The leaves clasp the 

 stem tightly and look like little shells in which lie three closed 

 buds. They never open and are very fruitful. It seems as 

 though the plant held them in the hollow of its hand. It is 

 only the fortunate ones that reach the top of the stem that 

 unfold the dainty blossom. 



S. biflbra is the small Venus's looking-glass. It grows from 

 Virginia southward and westward, and blooms from April 

 until July. 



GREEN-BRIER. CATBRIER. HORSE-BRIER. 



Smilax rotundifblia. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Smilax. Greenish ivh ite. Scentless. Nctv England to Florida. April-June. 



Flowers: small ; imperfect; growing in umbels. Perianth: of six divisions. 

 Staminate blossoms with six stamens; pistillate ones with three diverging 

 stigmas and a three-celled ovary. Leaves: alternate; on petioles, roundish ; 

 pointed. Stem: four-angled ; prickly. 



The catbrier is a very near relative of S. herbacea, page 100, 

 with infinitely better manners, as it does not taint the lovely 

 spring days with a disagreeable odour. Its sharp prickles, 

 however, are very vicious and by far too much in sympathy 

 with barbed-wire fences to allow of the plant ever being a great 

 favourite. Its dark berries and many-tinted leaves are most 

 beautiful in the autumn. 



BITTER SWEET. WAX-WORK. 



Celdstrus scdndens. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Staff-tree. Cream white. Scentless. General. June. 



Flowers : small ; imperfect; growing in raceme-like clusters. Petals, sepals, 

 and stamens: five. Pistil: one. Fruit: orange-red; of three rounded 

 divisions that burst open and display the seeds within. Leaves : alternate ; 

 oblong; thin; toothed; smooth. A shrub, twining; woody. 



In common with cat-tails ; the silky pompons made from 

 milkweed pods and numerous sedges; the exquisite berries of 

 the bitter sweet have appealed loudly to the decorative in- 



