THE HEATH FAMILY. 



395 



Cassiope, her mother ; Phyllodoce recalls one of tiic sca-nymphs, and 

 Pieris one of the muses. 



SOURWOOD. SORREL-TREE. 



O.xydcndriini arbor cum . 



Floivers : growing one-sided in long terminal panicled racemes at the ends of 

 leafy shoots. Calyx: persistent; five-toothed. Corolla: urn-shaped, tapering 

 towards the five-toothed summit; pubescent. Stamens: ten; included. Pistil: 

 one. Capsules: pyramidal ; five-valved. Leaves: alternate, with slender mostly 

 reddish petioles; oblong, pointed at the apex, and pointed or rounded at the base; 

 finely serrate; lustrous and at maturity glabrous; sour like sorrel. Bark: grey, 

 tinted with red; deeply furrowed. A shrub or tree from ten to sixty feet high. 



What the linden tree is to the honey bees of Wisconsin, so is the sourwood 

 to those that seek their Hvelihood through the mountainous regions of the 

 south. Or to this woodland rover it takes the place of clover blossoms as 

 it spreads its plume-like, drooping sprays of exquisite little flowers through 

 shady woods and by-ways where it would be much too dark for clover to 

 grow. 



Very early in the autumn, almost as soon as those of the black gum, the 

 leaves of the sourwood turn to a peculiar pinky shade of red, wholly their 

 own. Then also being abundantly laden with soft pale green capsules the 

 trees are very beautiful and quite distinctive from all other verdure. 



Sometimes when the country people have exhausted their supply of sumac 

 leaves they seek those of the sourwood to dye their wool black, and to 

 decorate their homes. 



TRAILING ARBUTUS. GROUND LAUREL. flAYFLOWER. 



Epig^a rephis. 



Flotoers : growing in short, terminal and bracted clusters. Calyx : of five im- 

 bricated sepals. Corolla : tubular; salver-shaped ; five-lobed. Stamens : ten, with 

 oblong anthers opening lengthwise. Capsitle : globose, dej^ressed, five-celled. 

 Leaves : alternate with hairy petioles, oval, rounded or minutely pointed at the apex 

 and cordate or rounded at the base ; entire ; thick ; evergreen. Stems : six to 

 twelve inches long ; prostrate and covered with hispid, reddish hairs. 



After we have been to the woods and brought home the brave little 

 hepaticas of earliest spring, or blue eyes as lately I heard them called, we 

 wait awhile and then start out to gather the trailing arbutus. For its time 



