The Heaths: the Rhododendron and the Mountain Laurel 



ingly beautiful in the contrast of its white trunk, red branches, 

 and lustrous pale green leaves, to which are added in spring 

 feathery plumes of white flowers, and in the fall clusters of deep 

 orange-red berries. It grows on high mountain slopes, but has 

 been introduced into cultivation. 



The Strawberry Tree (Arbutus Unedo, Linn.), related to 

 our Madronas, is cultivated in Southern gardens. This brilliant 

 little European tree bears in the fall its rosy flowers in nodding 

 clusters along with its large scarlet fruits. It is hardy in warm- 

 temperate regions, but requires shelter from the wind. It is also 

 offered by dealers in red-flowered varieties. 



4. Genus OXYDENDRUM, D.C. 



Sourwood, Sorrel Tree (Oxydendrum arboreum, DC.) — A 

 slender-stemmed tree, 15 to 60 feet high, with oblong, round- 

 topped head. Bark smooth, reddish grey, scaly. fVood reddish 

 brown, heavy, fine grained, hard. Buds axillary, small, partly 

 hidden, red. Leaves alternate, deciduous, membraneous, oblong 

 or lanceolate, entire, 3 to 6 inches long, smooth. Flowers, June 

 or July, perfect, in panicles, 7 or 8 inches long, of racemed white 

 bells, narrowed and frilled at the tops. Fruit a downy capsule, 

 5-celled; seeds numerous, needle-like. Preferred habitat, moist 

 woods. Distribution, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana; south 

 to Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas. Uses: Orna- 

 mental tree, valued for its flowers and vivid scarlet autumn foliage. 



This little deciduous tree, whose sour-tasting twigs and 

 leaves temporarily assuage the thirst of the hunter lost in Southern 

 woods, deserves mention for this, even if it had no other redeeming 

 traits. Besides, the tree is beautiful in its bronze-green spring 

 foliage and its long compound racemes of tiny, bell-shaped flowers, 

 and later, in its autumnal robes of vivid scarlet. It is a heath in 

 all its characters recognisable by its prim little flower bells and 

 the dry little capsules that succeed them. Hardy as far north 

 as Boston, it is occasionally seen in American gardens, and in 

 western and central Europe. 



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