MEZEREUM FAMILY 



succeeded by Lirge, red, handsome berries. This is 

 a very attractive little shrub, which thrives in any 

 good garden soil. A variety with white flowers is 

 known and there is another which blooms in the 

 autumn. 



The bark has medicinal properties, and is now 

 used as one of the ingredients in the compound of 

 Sarsaparilla. 



DAPHNE 



Ddp]uie ciicbr 211)1. 



DapJinc ciicoriiui is one of the sweetest plants that 

 «:roAvs. Its native home is the calcareous soil of the 

 southern Alps; it is also found in Hungary and Tran- 

 sylvania. In those rocky highlands it seems to have 

 touched the feelings and stirred the fanc}^ of the peo- 

 ple, and is there known as the Pearl of the Moun- 

 tains. 



The sweet-scented pink blossoms are borne in close 

 terminal clusters on each of the many branches. In 

 outward appearance an individual flower looks not un- 

 like an individual lilac blossom. The apparent corolla 

 is a long tube with a spreading four-lobed border, 

 and is about the size of a lilac corolla. As there is 

 but one of the floral envelopes, the perianth must be 

 called a calyx. Under favorable conditions these blos- 

 soms are produced from early spring until late au- 

 tumn. 



The leaves are olive green, persistent, alternate, 

 somewhat crowded on the stem, about three-fourths 

 of an inch long. The roots are fine and threadlike 

 and spread vigorously in a rich sandy soil. 



424 



