BUNCHBERRY 



Cornus canadensis Linnaeus 



To see bunchberry in its glory we must travel to the northern 

 woods, where the cool summers and generally moist conditions of 

 soil and atmosphere are most favorable to its growth. Here it covers 

 acid humus with its bright green leaves, producing at the top of 

 each stem a whorl of pointed, white, petal-like bracts. The flowers 

 proper are the few inconspicuous purple or greenish tubular objects 

 clustered in the center of these bracts. Bunchberry is closely related 

 to the showy dogwood trees of more southern regions and in its way 

 is quite as beautiful, in spite of its small size. 



Bunchberry has a wide range, being found from the mountains 

 of West Virginia and New Jersey to Maine and Labrador, and west- 

 ward to Colorado, California, and Alaska. 



The specimen sketched was gathered at Lake Louise, Alberta, 

 Canada, at an altitude of 5,000 feet. 



PLATE 2.71 



