SECTION II. 
FLOWERING SHRUBS OF CENTRAL CANADA. 
‘* Hie to the haunts right seldom seen, 
Lovely, lonesome, cool and green. 
Hie away, hie away, 
Over bank, over brae, 
Hie away.” 
— Waverley. 
LEATHER WOOD—MoosEwoop—Dirca palustris (L.). 
THE Leatherwood or Moosewood is one of the very 
earliest of our native shrubs to blossom; little clusters of 
yellow funnel-shaped flowers appear on the naked smooth- 
barked branches early in April; three or more buds project 
from an involucre of as many scales covered thickly with 
soft brown downy hair. The leaves, which expand soon 
after the falling off of the flowers, are smooth, of a bright 
light green, oblong, entire, and placed alternately along the 
stems. This pretty, shrubby bush seldom exceeds five feet 
in height, but is often much lower. The bark is of a pale 
greenish-gray, very tough, and while fresh and young not 
easily broken; it becomes more brittle when thoroughly 
dried, losing its useful pliant qualities. The bush settlers 
used the tough bark in its green state as a substitute for 
cordage in tying sacks and for similar purposes. This hardy 
shrub is, I believe, the only native representative in Canada 
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