MAY FLOWERS. 37 
is worthy of notice from the fact that its leaf-buds are 
naked, i. e. unprotected by scales as in our other native 
shrubs and trees. 
One of the shrubs which attracts attention in early 
spring, whether we ride on highway or railway or thread 
on foot the forest paths, is the shad-bush or June berry 
(Amelanchier Canadensis, Torr. and Gray). Its nu- 
merous white flowers in drooping racemes show very 
plainly through the as yet leafless woods, and indicate 
the abundance of the shrub or small tree much more 
clearly than can be done in summer when the other 
shrubs and trees are in full leafage. May is the month 
when most of the berry-bearing shrubs bloom, the fruits 
of which are of greater or less commercial value. The 
black huckleberry (Gaylussacta resinosa, Torr, and 
Gray) is one of the most important of these and at the 
same time one of the most abundant. Huckleberrying 
in rural districts is one of the events of summer. The 
huckleberry pasture is a prominent feature in most New 
England landscapes. Wilson Flagg in his delightful 
“The Woods and Byways of New England” attempts 
to fix a distinction in the use of the words whortleberries 
and huckleberries, which we think will scarcely be main- 
tained. ‘The wild pastures abound in summer with 
well-known fruits, some of jet and some of azure. We 
go out with a few friends and gather them with flowers 
for present amusement. These fruits are Whortleberries. 
