THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



99 



Here, too, may be added a not very distant relative of the 

 soap berry which is commonly known as the smoke tree. This 

 is really a sumac (Rhtis cotimis) though it has little resem- 

 blance to our common kinds. Its attractiveness lies in its clus- 

 ters of fruit stems or pedicels. The plant rarely fruits, but after 



The Japanese Storax. 

 (Courtesy of Meelians' Garden Bulletin) 



blooming the pedicels lengthen and branch and being covered 

 with longish hairs make the whole bush appear as if enveloped 

 in a nebulous haze of pale purple. 



The witch hazel {Hainamelis Virginica) which can be 

 dug in almost any thicket in the Northern States is undoubtedly 

 the latest of all shrubs to bloom, but it is not the onlv autumn 



