PLANTS GROWING IN RICH OR ROCKY SOIL. 163 



sheep fall victims annually to eating the shrub. Unprincipled 

 people have also made use of the leaves to increase the in- 

 toxicating effect of liquors. 



Long ago the red man knew of this poison. It was dear to 

 him. For when he became unhappy, it lulled him into the long 

 sleep, and hastened his footsteps to his happy hunting ground. 



SHEEP LAUREL. LAflBKILL. WICKY. {Plate LXXXIV) 



Kcilm I a a ngustifblia . 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Heath. Rich, deep, pinkish Scentless. Newfotindland to Jufie. 



crimson. Georgia. 



Flowers : axillary ; clustered in corymbs. Calyx : of five sepals. Corolla : 

 not quite half an inch broad, with five lobes. Stamens : ten ; the anthers 

 dark-coloured and nestling in the pouches. Pistil: one. Leaves : narrow ; in 

 whorls of three ; pale. A shrub growing about a foot high. 



Such a wealth of witchery clusters about lambkill that we are 



very, very lenient to its failings and almost prone to forgive 



them altogether. It is, unhappily, the most poisonous of the 



laurels, and exercises this power over poor, dumb animals, 



which, to say the least, is not very sportsmanlike of lambkill. 



But, on the other side, it is most stupid of the brute world to 



attempt to feast upon this lovely shrub when it is so evidently 



intended to please another sense ; for a hillside, or low ground, 



that is covered with it, is about as fair a sight as can be seen. 



GREAT RHODODENDRON. AflERICAN ROSE=BAY. 



GREAT LAUREL. {Plate ZXXXV.) 



Rh ododhi dron in dxim iim . 



Flowers : clustered together in great bunches ; the flower-stalks clammy. 

 Calyx: of five very short, cleft sepals. Corolla : tubular ; almost bell-shaped ; five 

 parted and greenish in the throat. Stamens: ten. Pistil: one with a red 

 stigma. Fruit: a pod with small seeds. Leaves : broadly elliptical ; entire ; gla- 

 brous ; evergreen; in texture like leather. Stem: six to twenty feet high; 

 woody ; fibrous ; leafy. 



To come upon one of the haunts of the great laurel in the 

 moist shady woods of summer, is to get an inspiration that can 

 be recalled with pleasure during the whole lifetime. For the 



