XXVIT. 2. THE CHOKE-BERRY. 44h 
and cow-houses. In a stanza of an ancient song, quoted by 
the author of “ Sylvan Sketches,” we have 
‘Their spells were vain; the hags returned 
To the queen 1n sorrowful mood, 
Crying that witches have no power 
Where there 1s roan-tree wood ” 
She adds,—*: This last line leads to the true reading of aline m 
Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth. he sailor’s wife, on the 
Witches requesting some chestnuts, hastily answers, ‘A rown- 
tree, witch!’ but all the editions have ‘ Aroint thee, witch!’ 
which is nonsense and evidently a corruption.” 
As the rowan-tree grows freely in the most exposed situa- 
tions, it is often planted, as a nurse to young treesof slow growth 
exposed to the sea-breeze, and it has the great advantage of 
not growing above a certain height, so that when it has per- 
formed its office, it does not interfere with the growth of the 
oaks and other trees for whose benefit it has been planted. It 
flourishes best in a good moist soil in an airy exposure. 
Another tree, nearly resembling our Mountain Ash, and per- 
haps a variety, is found in the Middle States. and called the 
Small-fruited Mountain Ash. 
Several trees of this kind belong to Europe, some of which 
might be a valuable acquisition, for ornament, at least, to our 
gardens, particularly the True Service T'ree, P. sorbus, which 
is remarkable for its wood being the hardest and heaviest of 
the indigenous woods of Europe. 
The fruit of the Mountain Ash is rather sour to the taste. It 
abounds in malic acid, and the juice has been used for the pur- 
pose of turning cider to vinegar. 
Sp. 2. Tue Cuoxe-serry. FP. arbutifolia. Willdenow. 
This 1s a slender, branching shrub, two to five feet high, with 
a grayish brown stem and whitish or reddish green, downy 
shoots. ‘The leaves are one or two inches long, and half as 
wide as long, lance-oblong, or elliptic, oval, or obovate, taper- 
ing at base, finely and sharply serrate, with the serratures end- 
ing in a callous point, often tapering to a short point, pale and 
usually downy beneath when young, but becoming afterwards 
57 
