148 THE SHRUBS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



shaped like those of a Maple. The berries are whitish, 

 becoming purplish-black. The slender stems, by re- 

 moving the pith, make good fuse-sticks for blasting, 

 and will serve equally well for blasts of tobacco-smoke. 



8. Hobble-Bush. Tangle-Legs. (V. lantanoides, 

 Michx.) — A small straggling shrub found in cold, 

 damp places in the Mountains. The branches spread 

 upon the ground, and, taking root at their ends, form 

 well secured loops for tripping the feet of inexperi- 

 enced wayfarers; a habit which has been revenged 

 upon by the unlucky, in the names imposed upon it 

 of American Wayfarer s Tree and the Devil's Shoe- 

 strings. The leaves are 3 to 6 inches broad, heart- 

 shaped, very veiny, the underside having a rusty 

 down. The berries are first crimson, then black. 

 The flowers on the margin of the broad clusters of 

 this species are very large (by abortion), like those 

 of the well-known Snow-ball of our Gardens, which 

 is a species (V. Opulus) of this genus. 



Prickly Ash. (Aralia spinosa, Linn.) — Found 

 in tolerably rich soil from the coast to Cherokee, but 

 not very abundant in any locality. It is seldom 20 

 feet high with us, and is remarkable for its straight, 

 club-shaped, prickly stem or trunk, with the com- 

 pound leaves spreading like those of a Palm from its 

 summit. An infusion of the fresh bark of the root 

 is emetic and cathartic, and is employed, as are also 

 the berries, in spiritous infusion, in rheumatic affec- 

 tions. These are thought by some to be also a valu- 

 able remedy for the bite of a rattlesnake. 



