288 
LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
this hue is said to he communicated to the viscera 
of birds that feed on the berries.^ 
Even more conspicuously beautiful than this, is 
the Dogwood [Cornus fiorida), which is now in 
fruit. It is said to be handsome when in flower, 
being covered with blossoms, each consisting of an 
involucre of four large white heart-shaped bracts, 
so abundantly that the effect is said to be like that 
of the apple-tree in bloom. This, however, I have 
not seen, for it flowers in April, even before the 
leaves appear. Its aspect now is fine, for the 
umbrella-like heads of the low trees are covered 
with berries of a vivid scarlet, oval in form, polished, 
and united like those of the honeysuckle. Their 
luscious appearance tempts the taste, but they are 
found to be nauseously bitter. 
After emerging from this verdant bridle-path, 
my way leads through a grove of Persimon-trees 
[piospyros Virginiana). Here the appetite is 
regaled, for they are loaded with fruit, which has 
been sweetened and mellowed by frosty nights. 
The tree grows to a large size for a fruit-tree, 
sometimes reaching to fifty feet in height, with a 
* The fruit called Poke-berries is a favourite repast with the 
Robin, after they are mellowed by the frost. The juice of the 
berries is of a beautiful crimson, and they are eaten in such 
quantities by these birds, that their whole stomachs are strongly 
tinged with the same red colour. A paragraph appeared in the 
public papers, intimating, that from the great quantities of these 
berries which the robins had fed on, they had become unwhole- 
some, and even dangerous food ; and that several persons had 
suffered by eating of them. The strange appearance of the 
bowels of the bird seemed to corroborate this account. The 
demand for, and use of them, ceased almost instantly ; and 
motives of self-preservation produced at once what all the 
pleadings of humanity could not effect .” — WilsorCs Amer. 
Ornith. 
