Shrubs and Vines 
ing it stagger bush ; but it thrives serenely unconscious 
of the odium. 
Another mythological genus is Cassandra, with ap- 
parently only one species, ca/ycudata, or leather-leaf. 
Its thick-leaved foliage is impaired by its rusty appear- 
ance beneath ; but in early spring the long, one-sided 
racemes of small white bell-shaped flowers are very 
pretty. The buds are so advanced in the previous 
August that they look as if almost ready to break into 
flower ; but they ‘‘ bide a wee,’’ and come out bright 
and early the following year. 
Zenobia speciosa is too proud a name for a small shrub, 
the only one of its genus, with white, waxen flowers of 
the heath type, small but multitudinous, and with an 
added interest from its long popularity, if it be true, as 
asserted, that it was cultivated as long ago as that famous 
lady of Palmyra lived. It is closely allied with the 
three foregoing genera, mingles well with growths of 
other types, and is sufficiently distinctive to be of inter- 
est to the mere flower-lover as well as to the botanist. 
Laurel is an exclusively American genus—a compar- 
atively rare occurrence in vegetation ; and if we would 
do ample justice to ‘‘ home production,’’ this beautiful 
growth would be oftener seen in cultivation. Like 
azaleas and rhododendrons, this virile group forms a 
small and characteristic section of the notable and ex- 
tensive heath family, which, besides the above-named, 
large-flowered and hardy sorts, furnishes many of the 
most delicate and minute forms of inflorescence found 
in conservatories. 
The finest species of laurel is the broad-leaved or 
153 
