Shrubs and Vines 
The distinction of shrub and vine is even more per- 
plexing ; a score of familiar instances illustrate the dual 
or indeterminate type ; the poison ivy, if it finds no sup- 
port, knows how to support itself, and grows erect ; the 
matrimony-vine is neither exactly vine nor shrub. The 
countless circumstantial differences, as striking as they 
are beautiful, thus evinced in one common nature, are 
not only a link of some worth in the evolutionary argu- 
ment, but they insure that freedom from angularity that 
is an essential charm of all landscape scenery. 
One who sees in a plant only the few obvious details 
given in this book for identification misses much of the 
wonderful scheme of vegetation, and of the beauty of a 
thousand features, which are recognized only after thor- 
ough study of structural botany. But that means an 
amount of labor which to many is distasteful. There is 
too much popular disinclination in these days to go 
deeply into the science of things; learning must be 
made easy ; reading must take the place of study ; every- 
thing must be illustrated. The mind will grow super- 
ficial under this treatment. It is to be feared, from the 
present trend of nature-study, despite its popularity, 
that the old-fashioned, thorough-going race of botanists 
will in the next generation become extinct. Inspira- 
tion is doubtless better than information ; yet intelligent 
enthusiasm always thrives best on a good subsoil of 
scientific training. Ps 
In mass and brilliancy of color, very few plants, 
native or foreign, can rival the gorgeous rhododendrons. 
The original wild species are few in number—only one 
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