178 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



touching of these plants is the binding of the affect- 

 ed parts in cloths saturated with " Pond's extract " 

 {Hamamelis). A severe case should 

 he referred to a physician at once. 

 li. venenata I have never found 

 m the Peniigewasset Yalley, but li. 

 toxicodendron is on all of the 

 meadows and many of the 

 roadsides there. 



Leaving these wretched, harmful 

 plants, we may now turn our atten- 

 tion to their near neighbor, the 

 handsome, spreading dogbane {^po- 

 cynurn androsmmifolkvni), which is just beginning to 

 unfold its delicate pink - white flower bells. This 

 thin and delicate plant gives us a refreshing bit of 

 sober blue-green in wide contrast with its surround- 

 ings. Its leaves are not glossy, but characterized by 

 what a painter would call a " dead finish." The 

 beautiful flowers, similar in shape to lily of the val- 

 leys or twin flowers, are daintily tinged with pink ; 

 if we pick a cluster, the stem exudes a sticky, milk- 

 white juice. This plant will not reach its prime 

 until July, and then we may lumt through its leaves 

 for the most beautiful little beetle which ever fa- 

 vored the roadside with its presence. This jewel of 

 a creature is called the dogbane beetle {Chrysochus 



