388 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



The viburnums, or arrow-woods, seem as widely distributed as any of 

 our flowering shrubs, and include the species familiarly known as arrow- 

 wood, withe-rod, hobble bush, and cranberry bush. In June, the pure 

 white flowers of the arrow-woods are very conspicuous in the thickets 

 bordering meadows and along streams, while in the woods we find the 

 hydrangea-like blossoms of the hobble bush. In the upper Connecticut 

 valley the cranberry bush is common, and sometimes cultivated, the 

 bright red fruit, which ripens after frosts, being used as a substitute for 

 cranberries. 



Belonging to the heath family we find, distinguished for beauty and 

 abundance of bloom, the kalmias, or American laurels, azalea, rhodora, 

 and clethra, and, barely entering within our limits, the stately Rhododen- 

 dron maximum, or great rose bay, justly considered one of the finest of 

 the heaths. The spoonwood or mountain laurel often forms dense thick- 

 ets in the swampy woods of southern New Hampshire, its pink and white 

 flowers and glossy leaves making it one of the most ornamental of our 

 flowering shrubs. The little sheep laurel, much detested by farmers, 

 because so prone to overrun pastures, generally appears with it, bearing 

 a profusion of rose-red flowers. Along the edges of the woodlands and 

 under evergreens, creeping close to the ground, grows the traihng arbu- 

 tus or Mayflower, its pink and white fragrant flowers appearing among 

 the first in spring. In cold upland woods throughout the state, over- 

 growing old logs and stumps, is found the Chiogenes, or creeping snow- 

 berry, its snow-white berries half hidden by the leaves. The pink azalea, 

 common to the swamps of Cheshire county, is associated in the minds of 

 many with the day when our legislature meets, being popularly called 

 "election pink." Its almost flame-colored flowers appear about the first 

 of June. This species readily bears transplanting, and is well worthy a 

 place among cultivated ornamental shrubs. In moist land the rhodora 

 is often found, rendered very conspicuous by its purple flowers, which 

 appear before the leaves in early spring. The Labrador tea, bearing clus- 

 ters of white flowers in June, is one of the low shrubs of bogs in Coos 

 county. The clethra, with its racemes of sweet-scented white flowers, 

 appearing in July and August, is found to some extent in the swamps 

 along the Merrimack. 



In the blueberry genus are included blueberries of several species, the 



