FLOWERING SHRUBS 
with lard for an application to chilblains, which had a 
similar effect to the Indian Bittersweet salve. The Indians 
also apply this remedy to burns. The inner bark is used 
as an orange dye by the natives.* 
There are several species belonging to this order found 
in Canada, but though very ornamental in cultivation as 
shrubs, none are climbing, like our forest Bittersweet, or give 
such enduring winter ornaments to our houses. Mixed with 
the branches of spruce, hemlock, and balsam fir, it forms a 
substitute at Christmas in our churches for the bright glossy 
leaves and red berries of the English holly. 
The Greek name of this ornamental shrub is derived from 
a word meaning “latter season,’ on account of the fruit 
remaining persistent through the winter. 
If the Bittersweet were planted in shrubberies, or among 
trees in plantations, it would become an enduring ornament 
and enliven the dulness of our Canadian landscape with its 
bright colors during the long months of winter. 
Laprapor Tea.—Ledum latifolium (Ait.). 
This is another of our medicinal shrubs, and was held in 
great repute among the lumbermen and the old backwoods- 
men for its sanatory qualities as a strengthener and purifier 
of the blood, and as being good for the system in various 
inward complaints. Some of the old settlers used a decoc- 
tion of the leaves as a substitute for tea, approving of the 
resinous aromatic flavor. I was induced to try the beverage, 
but did not find it to my taste, though it was on the whole 
preferable to hemlock tea, another favorite beverage among 
backwoodsmen. As a medicine it doubtless deserves the com- 
* The name Bittersweet is taken from the graceful English climber Solanum dulcamara 
(L.), from a fancied resemblance between the two plants. The English Bittersweet is 
sometimes found in Canada on the borders of swamps and in low woods, but is an intro- 
duced plant. 
IQI 
