Trees, Shrubs and Vines 
ing in scientific nomenclature, by that prince of natu- 
ralists, Linnzeus, who saw the tragic episode in the life of 
that royal (and therefore beautiful) maiden pictured in 
the color and the aqueous situation of this delicate 
plant, often less than a foot high. ‘The poetic tempera- 
ment of those famous pioneers in botany and ornithology, 
Linneus and Audubon, who could thus infuse their 
subjects with the spirit of delightful imagery, has really 
done more to elevate and popularize these two domains 
of nature-study than all the microscopic precision of 
exact science. Imagination fires mankind more than 
the whole mass of technical detail in matters of fact. 
Yet one must not forget that these details, rightly used, 
are the best fuel to kindle the imagination. 
Pieria, in Thessaly, the gathering-place of the Muses, 
gives generic name to a select group of small hardy 
shrubs in the heath family. Two American species, 
P. mariana and P. “figustrina, throw out their white 
bell-shaped flowers in abundance in April and the first 
part of May, while an introduced species, P. floribunda, 
in addition to the same floral effect, has evergreen foli- 
age. Quite as desirable as either of these, however, is 
P. japonica, whose evergreen foliage is glossy, the old 
leaves being replaced in spring by new ones that are at 
first bright red, soon changing to green ; and the early 
bloom of pure white flowers in long clusters completes 
the picture of an exquisite growth in every respect. 
Farmers naturally think more of such practical things as 
calves and lambs than of all landscape values, and, from 
a probably fanciful notion of its poisonous effects, have 
cast a lasting slur upon the delicate P. mariana, by call- 
152 
