Shrubs and Vines 
when the pressure is removed, and extremely tenacious, 
so that the Indians utilized it for bowstrings and other 
purposes. As a curiosity it is well worthy of cultivation 
where space permits. 
A genus affording a rich yellow bloom late in summer 
—July to October—is Hypericum, or St. John’s-wort. 
Many of its herbaceous species are indigenous and very 
familiar, but within our territory only two are in shrub- 
form, the most important being H. ka/mianum, which is 
chiefly found in the vicinity of Niagara Falls. It has 
become a favorite flower in England, and its bright yel- 
low bloom in August entitles it to wider appreciation in 
America. Yet it is rather surpassed by several kindred 
species from abroad, such as H. aureum, quite a small 
plant, but with larger blossoms than our own, and Z. 
moseriana, with flowers sometimes two and a half inches 
across, which is perhaps not hardy enough for Southern 
New England without protection in winter. It is needless 
to name other species that do not differ materially from 
the foregoing. A peculiarity in all the genus is in the op- 
posite entire leaves that are conspicuously spattered with 
black dots, though not observable at a distance. This 
group is valuable for its golden bloom at a season when 
it is most welcome. 
A tall thorny shrub that is often a tree, and used for 
hedges in England, is the common buckthorn—//am- 
nus catharticus—with simple, opposite, ovate leaves, and 
very small but abundant and fragrant flowers, mostly 
white or pink. Though growing wild in some parts of 
New England it is a naturalized European species. Its 
general type is so much better represented in the various 
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