THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



169 



all winter. They are sometimes used in mak- 

 ing astringent home remedies and occasionally 

 are eaten raw, though said to be harsh in 

 flavor, with a nauseous undertaste, which very 

 few people relish. Infused with water, the}' 

 furnish a pleasant subacid beverage, and by 

 distillation a powerful spirit. 



The aliases of the mountain ash are as nu- 

 merous as those of a yeggman and as sugges- 

 tive as those of a hobo. "Dogberry," "fowler's 

 service," "Indian mozemize," "round wood," 

 "witchwood," "quickbeam," "Rowan tree," 

 "wichen," "whistle-wood," and "wild ash" are 

 a few of the names assigned to it in the ver- 

 nacular. 



. The fruit of the mountain ash is not, strictly 

 speaking, a berry. Rather it is a pome, or 

 apple-like fruit. 



SMOOTH SUMAC 

 Rhus glabra (L.) [Plate I] 



Belonging to the cashew family, which in- 

 cludes such diverse denizens of flowerland as 

 the vinegar tree and the smoke bush, the poi- 

 son ivy and the cadju tree, the smooth sumac 

 is one of about 120 species widely distributed 

 throughout the warm and temperate regions of 

 the earth. Some authorities claim that it has 

 a geographic range wider than that of any 

 other tree or shrub. Of all the sections of the 

 United States, the California floral region alone 

 seems closed to it. 



Environment works such changes in it, how- 

 ever, that a description which would fit in one 

 section would not necessarily apply elsewhere. 



The smooth sumac often grows 10 feet high, 

 usually in colonies, seldom singly. Frequently 

 confounded with the larger stag-horn sumac, 

 sometimes called the vinegar tree, it thrives in 

 almost any kind of soil and multiplies by stems 

 that travel — like Hamlet's ghost — underground. 

 One of the most inoffensive of plants, so many 

 people have had such sorrowful experiences at 

 the hands of its cousin, the poison sumac, that 

 the innocent Glabra has suffered from the evil 

 reputation of the wicked Venenata. 



In early summer the sumac is a symphony 

 of greens. Its large, fern-shaped leaves sug- 

 gest some rank, tropical growth, and dense 

 panicles of greenish white flowers thrust them- 

 selves above the foliage. Long before the 

 other trees and shrubs of forest and field begin 

 to dress up for the final color carnival of the 

 year, the sumac attires itself for the splendid 

 "pageant. Deep in the shady recess of some 

 jungle of brier or fern, suddenly a blood-red 

 dagger appears — one solitary leaflet, perhaps — 

 but suggestive of the glory that is to be. Soon 

 entire leaves are stained with the scarlet dye 

 that Jack Frost concocts in the leaf laboratory, 

 and before long Nature, impatient at the slower 

 processes, upsets her paint-pot, leaving streaks 

 and splashes over wood and dale and field. 



The berries cluster on large, rigid stems, 

 making them veritable torches of cardinal-col- 

 ored fruit. 



The berries have a sour, astringent taste, 



and are said to make a cooling drink when in- 

 fused in water. Such an infusion yields a 

 black dye particularly adapted to the coloring 

 of wool. The leaves are rich in tannic acid, 

 and are sometimes used as a substitute for oak 

 bark in tanning leather. The bark is used 

 often as a mordant for red dyes — a mordant 

 being a preparation that will cause a fiber to 

 absorb and hold fast a given color. 



BLUE COHOSH 



Cauloplyllum thalictroides (L.) Michx. 

 [Plate II) 



Strange in structure as in habit, shunning 

 the roadside and the haunts of man with all 

 of the timorous traits of a hermit thrush or the 

 fearsome nature of a wild deer, the blue co- 

 hosh hides in the deepest recesses of thick for- 

 ests. Its structural cells contain substances 

 that have not yet yielded their secrets to the 

 test tube of the chemist. 



The habitat of the blue cohosh is extensive. 

 It occurs throughout southern Canada and far 

 down in Dixie. Only where the leaf mold is 

 thick does it reside, being a rich liver'. A na- 

 tive of America, it is variously known in the 

 provincial tongue as "pappoose root." "squaw 

 root," "ginseng," "blueberry root," "yellow 

 ginseng," etc. It is an inconspicuous herb in 

 spring, but in the fall attracts attention by its 

 graceful aspect and brilliant coloring. When 

 young the whole plant is covered with bloom. 



The flowering time of the blue cohosh is 

 April and May. Its blossoms are purplish, or 

 yellowish green, and scentless. The berry, lit- 

 erally a seed, as large as a pea, resembles a 

 pitted fruit. When roasted the seeds make a 

 fair substitute for coffee. 



The family relationships of the blue cohosh 

 are numerous and versatile. It belongs to the 

 barberry family, which includes the barren- 

 wort, the Oregon grape, the May apple, and 

 the twinleaf. 



ROUNDLEAF GREENBRIER 



Smilax rotundifolia (L.) [Plate II] 



The common names of this brier are as nu- 

 merous and as varied in their etymology as its 

 relatives are numerous and varied in their 

 attributes. "Bamboo," "bread - and - butter," 

 "rough-bindweed." "wait-a-bit," "dogbrier," 

 "biscuit-leaf," and "Devil's hopvine" are some 

 of its pseudonyms. It is a member of the lily 

 family, and is so widely known that it figures 

 in the geography of the eastern section of the 

 L T nited States, lending its name to mountains, 

 rivers, counties, and summer resorts. Although 

 a cousin of such diverse species as the wild 

 garlic and the Indian poke, it bears no relation 

 to the florist's staple vine, called "smilax," 

 which belongs to an entirely different family 

 and originated in South Africa. 



The roundleaf greenbrier is a great climber, 

 its tough tendrils laying hold upon any object 

 in their path. It possesses all the attributes of 



