FLOWERING SHRUBS 
converted into a strong vinegar, and is so used, I am told, 
in New England. I have, however, never seen the fruit of 
the Sumac made use of in this country for any household 
purpose. 
SMootH Dwarr SuMAc—R. glabra (L.). 
This also is widely diffused through Canada. It is a 
pretty shrub, but troublesome, from sending up so many 
shoots; it rises from a very low size to ten and twelve feet 
high. It is very similar to the last, but the foliage is 
narrower, glaucous-white underneath; the eleven to thirty- 
one sharply-toothed and pointed leaflets are very smooth on 
the surface and take on brilliant orange and scarlet colors 
before fading. The stem is also smooth and glaucous, like 
the leaves. There is another dwarf species, R. copallina 
(L.), found in rocky soil, the chief characteristic of which 
consists in the winged margin of the leafstalks; it is a 
lower and smaller shrub than R. glabra, and is exceedingly 
rare in Canada. 
BLACK ALDER—WINTERBERRY—Ilex verticillata (Gray). 
This red-berried shrub belongs to the Holly family, but 
we have in Canada no tree which takes the place of the 
British Hulme or Holly Tree, with its glossy prickle-armed 
evergreen leaves, green bark, and brilliant garniture of 
scarlet berries. 
‘Tt is green in the winter and gay in the spring, 
And the old holly tree is a beautiful thing.” 
The Holly among the Romans denoted peace and good- 
will and possibly for this cause was chosen by the early 
Christians as symbolical of the peaceable character that 
should distinguish the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ 
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