GUELDER ROSE. 



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gular appearance, Loudon tells us that in Ger- 

 many the young shoots are employed in basket- 

 making, and for tying faggots and other packages ; 

 and those of two or three years old are used for 

 the stems of tobacco-pipes. The berries are used 

 in Switzerland for making ink. 



The Guelder Rose is a much prettier shrub than 

 the preceding. In its wild state it never attains 

 the dimensions of a tree, but is nevertheless a 

 highly ornamental hedge-plant. The tree is smooth 

 in every part, the leaves are large, three-lobed, and 

 serrated. The flowers are of a brilliant white, and 

 much more conspicuous than those of the Way- 

 faring-tree, growing in clusters which have the 

 outer flowers destitute of stamens and pistils, 

 but furnished with large and showy petals. In 

 August and September its bunches of coral ber- 

 ries are very ornamental, and in October it is yet 

 more conspicuous. The foliage then assumes a 

 deep crimson purple hue, and if the tree, as is fre- 

 quently the case, be associated with the bright 

 yellow foliage of the Maple, no garden, however 

 richly stocked vdth the most showy flowers, pre- 

 sents so gorgeous an appearance. It is said that 

 in Siberia the berries are made into paste with 

 honey and flower, and eaten as food, but this is 

 scarcely credible, so exceedingly offensive is the 

 odour which they emit. Long after the trees have 

 been stripped of every leaf, the clusters of crimson 

 berries at the extremities of the branches retain 

 their bright appearance, drooping indeed, and 

 shrivelled with the frost, but nevertheless very 

 attractive to the eye. The wood, like that of the 

 Spindle-tree and Cornel, is much used for making 

 skewers ; indeed the name of Dog-timber, which 



