CHAPTER XIV 
EARTH COVERINGS 
THE scientific distinction between a bush and 
a tree is simple, but somewhat arbitrary. It 
indicates a tree by its having a single stem 
or trunk, while the bush is peculiar in having 
several stems springing up from one root. But 
there is really no sharp division-line between 
the shrub and the larger growth. The one 
merges into the other. Regarded from a pict- 
uresque rather than a scientific point of view, 
there is a distinction just as arbitrary, which 
may be made after this fashion : The tree grows 
separately even in a forest, and its foliage be- 
gins so high up the trunk that the earth beneath 
it is usually exposed to view; the bush often 
grows in dense clumps over acres of ground, 
with foliage so close and so low that the earth 
is hidden from view. Perhaps then I may be 
allowed to treat of bushes under the general 
heading of ‘‘ Earth Coverings,” putting them in 
the same class with reeds and grasses. 
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Trees and 
shrubs. 
Bush- 
growths, 
