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LETTEES 'FROM ALABAMA'. 
nearly oval, undivided, but more commonly there 
is a sinus on each side, dividing it into three lobes. 
And not seldom we see leaves here and there with 
a lobe well developed on one side, and the other 
side perfectly entire, the whole leaf taking the 
exact form of a woodman’s mitten, the lobe being 
the thumb. Leaves of all the forms are often 
found on a single bush. Children are very fond 
of chewing the leaves and twigs, and particularly 
the root ; the taste is agreeable, and the chewing 
communicates a pleasant warmth to the mouth ; the 
root is especially warm and spicy. It is reputed to 
possess valuable properties in medicine, especially 
in cutaneous affections and chronic rheumatism. 
The Spice-wood {Laurus henzoin) is a kindred 
species ; the leaves, however, are rougher and 
more wrinkled, and the taste is not so pleasant. 
I think this is rather rare in this neighbourhood, 
as I know of only a few bushes, which grow in a 
swampy part of the forest, surrounded by long- 
leafed pines and willow-oaks. The berries of this 
species are scarlet. 
There is a pretty little Butterfly common now, 
the Pale Azure {Folyommatus pseudargiolus)^ 
which so nearly resembles an English species 
argiolm)^ as scarcely to be distinguished from 
it. Its colour is light azure-blue on the upper 
surface (with a broad black margin in the female), 
and, on the under side, much paler still, nearly 
white, with some small black dashes. In appear- 
ance and manners it much resembles the delicate 
little Hairstreaks (Theda) with which it asso- 
ciates. Like them it appears to be very pug- 
nacious, attacking with Quixotic knight-errantry 
any intruder, no matter how much bigger than 
