HOW TO KN OWW LD FRUITS
MAUDE GRIDLEY PETERSON -
Man LOGY
HOW
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
BLACK ALDER
(Ilex verticillata)
HOW
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS A
Gkiide to Plants
when Not
in
Flower
by Means of Fruit and Leaf
BY
MAUDE GRIDLEY PETERSON
ILLUSTRATED BY MARY ELISABETH HERBERT
gotk
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & 1914 All
ri.ohtf>
reserved
CO., LTD.
COPYRIGHT,
1905,
BY THE MACM1LLAN COMPANY. Published May, Set up and electrotyped. December, 1908; August, 1914.
.
.
.
-forestry.
.
;.
1905.
Mam j^^.
'.
Nortoooti J. S.
Reprinted
Berwick & Smith Co. Gushing Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
ttyt
from
SpansrttelD anfc rtie Cofoentri?
totjicl)
it0 inspiration
inscribe
tljisf
boofe*
3434G3
came
t
31
tooulD
"On berries
the motionless branches of
hung
some
trees,
autumn
like clusters of coral-beads, as in those
fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels."
DICKENS,
u
A wonderful thing The one thing
is
in
Martin Chuzzlewit.
a seed
; "
deathless forever
Forever old and forever new, Utterly faithful and utterly true
Fickle and faithless never."
CONTENTS PAGE
ILLUSTRATIONS
,
.
.
.
INTRODUCTION
ix xiii
ADAPTATIONS OF FRUITS AND SEEDS FOR DISPERSAL
AND PROTECTION DEFINITIONS
......... .
.
GUIDE TO PLANT FAMILIES
Red
xxv xxvi
FAMILIES AND SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES
xvii
xxxii :
or Reddish Purple
3
Black or Dark Purple
155
Blue
249
Yellow
287
Green
301
White
.307
GLOSSARY
325
.... ....
ABBREVIATIONS OF AUTHORS' NAMES INDEX OF ENGLISH NAMES
INDEX OF LATIN NAMES
.
vii
329 331
337
ILLUSTRATIONS Black Alder.
Ilex verticillata
American Yew.
...... ....
Taxus minor
Jack in-the- Pulpit.
Wild Spikenard.
Ariscema triphyllum
U
folium Canadense
n't
Clasping-leaved Twisted Stalk.
Wake-robin.
Laurel Magnolia.
Red Baneberry.
Common
Magnolia Virginiana
Barberry.
Spice Bush.
Dwarf Raspberry.
American Mountain Ash.
Juneberry.
Aronia
Rubus odoratus
.
... ...
39 41
....
...... ...
60
A mericana
....
arbutifolia
Amelanchier Canadensis
Scarlet Thorn.
17
46
Sorbus
51
63
65 67
*
.70
.
.
..... .84 ...... .
.
76
Cratcegus coccinea
Wild Yellow or Red Plum.
15
27
.
Rosa humilis
Rosa rubiginosa
Red Chokeberry.
.
.
22
Ribes oxyacanthoides
Rubus Americanus
or Pasture Rose.
Sweetbrier.
6
35
Berberis vulgaris
Purple -flowering Raspberry.
Low
.
.
4
.... .....32 ....
Benzoin Benzoin
Hawthorn Gooseberry.
.
Streptopus amplexifolius
Trillium erectum
Actcea rubra
PAGE
12
Vagnera racemosa
False Lily-of-the-Valley.
Ill-scented
Frontispiece
.
Prunus Americana
Wild Red Cherry. Prunus Pennsylvania Dwarf Sumac. Rhus copallina ix
.
80
.
88
ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE
Rhus
Staghorn Sumac. American Holly.
hirta
Ilex opaca
Burning Bush.
...... .... .....
Euonymus atropurpureus Shrubby or Climbing Bittersweet. Celastrus scandens
Bunchberry.
Cornus florida
Flowering Dogwood.
Spring or Creeping Wintergreen.
.
Matrimony Vine.
Lycium vulgare
Partridge Berry.
Mitchella repens
.
Hobble Bush.
Trumpet Honeysuckle. Hairy Solomon's
Seal.
Smooth Solomon's
Lonicera sempervirens
Morus rubra
Phytolacca decendra
Black Raspberry.
Rubus
Wild Red Raspberry.
strigosus
Low Running Blackberry. Rubus villosus Running Swamp Blackberry. Rubus hispidus Rubus nigrobaccus Aronia nigra
High-bush. Blackberry.
Black Chokeberry. Wild Black Cherry. Inkberry.
Prunus
Ilex glabra
serotina
122
126 128 131
136
138
.
143
.
147
.
.
.
149
.
.
158
.
.
160
.162
..... ...... .... .
115
.
.
.
occidentalis
Rubus
109
.
Polygonatum bijlorum Polygonatum commutatum
Medeola Virginiana
.
Smilax herbacea
Carrion Flower.
104
.
.
Seal.
Indian Cucumber Root.
Poke.
Lonicera dioica
.
95
102
.111
..... ..... ..... ..... .
Viburnum alnifolium Tree. Viburnum Opulus Cranberry Indian Currant. Symphoricarpos Symphoricarpos Smooth-leaved Honeysuckle.
.
Gaultheria procumbens
American Cranberry. Oxycoccus macrocarpus Nightshade. Solanum Dulcamara
Red Mulberry.
.
Cornus Canadensis
90
165 175 177 182
.
.
.182
.
.
.
186
.
.
.
187
.
.
.
190
....
194 199
204
ILL US TR A TIONS
Buckthorn.
Rhamnus
Riverside Grape.
caihartica
Vitis vulpina
xi
..... ......
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Virginia Creeper.
American Spikenard. Aralia racemosa Wild Sarsaparilla. Aralia nudicaulis Aralia hispida
Bristly Sarsaparilla.
.
....
..... ..... ..... .... ..... .....
Viburnum Lentago Juniperus nana
Low Jumper. Red Cedar.
Yellow Clintonia.
.
.
.
Juniperus Virginiana Clintonia borealis
Blue Cohosh.
Caulophyllum thalictroides
Silky Cornel.
Cornus
Amonum
Alternate-leaved Cornel.
High-bush Blueberry.
Dwarf Blueberry.
Low
Blueberry.
Arrowwood.
.
.
Cornus
Cherry.
.
.
.
Cornus candidissima
Symphoricarpos racemosus
220 222
225 227
235 238 241
245 250
253 256 259
264
.
.
267
.
273
.
.
Lonicera ccerulea
.
216
.
.
..... .
213
.
.
.
.
276
276 281
.
283
.
295
.312
...... ....
.
206
.
Physalis pubescens
White Baneberry. Actcea alba Poison Ivy. Rhus radicans
.
.
....
Blue or Mountain Fly Honeysuckle.
Snowberry.
.
.
Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum
Low Hairy Ground
.
....
alternifolia
Vibernum dentatum
Panicled Cornel.
.
Vaccinium corymbosum
Vaccinium vacillans
.
.
Tupelo. Nyssa sylvatica Black Nightshade. Solanum nigrum Viburnum acerifolium Maple-leaved Viburnum. Withe-rod. Viburnum cassinoides
Sweet Viburnum.
.
PAGE
....
316 319 322
INTRODUCTION IF in country drive or ramble we happen upon an unknown flower, it is a comparatively easy matter, by means of the illustrations and the color guides of the modern field books of wild
The lack of similar identify it. reference books for identifjdng a plant by its fruit was forcibly brought to my notice during flowers,
to
Our journeyings led a drive in early autumn. us along a wooded roadway where it was no longer the brilliance of the flowers which demanded our attention, but rather the attractive
masses of fruits. fruits
of varying
There was one shrub bearing colors in
stages of attractive and
different
development which was very which I did not know. I naturally wished
make
its
to
acquaintance.
Here the aforesaid
field
books failed to give
their ready aid. Any system of analysis was of no avail, as the flower which preceded this I was surprised special fruit was unobtainable. at the meagerness of the descriptions of the fruits
which
I read,
hoping to find
my
specimen
INTRODUCTION
XIV
among them.
It
was
this difficulty of
scarcity of material
the plant's
approach
fruited plant, and the relating to this aspect of
to the identification of
my
that suggested the present book. I have attempted to deal with those plants only which bear attractively colored fruits. life,
These fruits are the more noticeable ones they do not, in most cases, develop until the blossoms have entirely disappeared and they naturally ;
;
into a class by themselves, being adapted for the same method of seed dispersal. The fall
list
will
A
trees.
naturally include herbs, shrubs, and guide based on the kind and struc-
ture of the fruit will aid in determining the
family to which a plant belongs, and under each family the species are grouped by colors.
The
illustrations
will
also
aid
in
identifying
specimens. If the acquaintance of approximately two hundred plants of our northeastern section in their fruited stage is made more accessible ; if added attention is attracted to the result of the
work
of the flower,
making our knowledge of life more complete, the
the cycle of the plant's
work, fragmentary though
it
be,
may have
a
place.
The order
of
arrangement of the Plant Fami-
IN TR Ob UCTION
XV
The of and nomenclature arrangement species is The essentially that of Britton and Brown. the term used in name is additional Gray's lies
follows that of Engler and Prantl.
sixth
In
edition.
the
classification
of
the
Blackberries I have followed the general plan of L. H. Bailey, who has made a recent and careful study of them. I am indebted to many a work of reference " for aid Gray's Manual," Britton and Brown's :
Flora of the United States and " Emerson's Canada," Report of the Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," Card's "Bush Fruits," " Evolution of our Native Fruits," KerBailey's "Illustrated
ner and Oliver's
and
"The Natural History of
Plants,"
others.
To
who have kindly furnished would extend my sincere gratitude.
the friends I
specimens There have been of a
many who, by the expression need for help such as the present book
hopes to give, or by suggestion and encouragement, have strengthened my purpose to carry on the work to its fulfillment. I hold them all in grateful
remembrance.
ADAPTATIONS OF FRUITS AND SEEDS FOR DISPERSAL AND PROTECTION THE
how it suggests both the perfected fruit backward and the forward look backward over :
the stages of growth which have produced it, to the stages of growth which are
forward
potential within "
it.
awed within me when I think great miracle which still goes on In silence round me the perpetual work Of thy creation, finished, yet renewed
My
heart
is
Of the
Forever."
BRYANT.
Miracle, indeed, it is that inclosed within the seed is the power to burst its bonds, to utilize its
stored food material, to gather nutriment air, to grow and to produce again
from earth and
a seed capable of continuing the from which it has sprung.
For the development of
this,
conditions are necessary. The have room in earth and air for
life
of the species
however, certain
new its
plant must
best growth.
If the seeds of a plant all started life in xvii
the
xviii
DISPERSAL AND PROTECTION
immediate vicinity of the parent, and
were
this
continued year after year, it is easy to see that there would soon be no room for new growths. The necessity of a means of dispersal seems to be fundamental to the fruit or seed.
Examine
and the varied and adequate structures for their dissemination are found to be most interesting. The winged fruit of the maple, the tufted seed of the milkweed, and the plumed fruit of the clematis are a few of numerous examples of fruits fitted for dispersal by means of the wind. Some fruits have mechanical devices which throw their seeds to a necessarily short distance. fruit after fruit or seed after seed,
Have you not
violated
the
command
of
the
touch-me-not, just to see the parts of the pod curl up and throw out the seeds ? This method of dispersal
is
not especially advantageous, and
It is confined to comparatively few plants. to note that as a rule, grow in these, interesting is
spots sheltered from the wind, where its agency would be unavailing in scattering their seeds. Water is an agent in transporting a relatively
small
number
of fruits.
The cocoanut is admimeans of dispersal, and
rably adapted for this the existence of the cocoanut palm on widely
separated coral connection.
islands
is
interesting
in
this
DISPERSAL AND PROTECTION
xix
own
experience with burdocks, agrimony, sticktights, and beggar ticks has been sufficiently emphatic to render unnecessary
Doubtless your
further mention of those fruits or seeds which, fastening themselves to men and animals, are
Plants by them hither and thither. bearing such fruits naturally grow most profusely by the side of the road or footpath. Animals and especially birds are instrumental carried
in scattering seeds in still another way, using a part of the fruit for food and ejecting the seeds. It
is
this class of fruits
with which this book
is
chiefly concerned.
That seed dispersal is accomplished by the means noted above has been a matter of dispute
among
botanists, but carefully conducted experi-
ments have proved, without a doubt, that many Interbirds eject the consumed seeds unharmed. esting accounts of these are given in Kerner and " Natural History of Plants." It has been found that while some birds grind up and destroy even the hardest coated seeds, Oliver's
and jackdaws, destroy the while thrushes and soft-coated seeds only unharmed a blackbirds eject large majority of the seeds eaten. The small seeds pass entirely
others, like the ravens
;
through the intestinal tract while the larger ones are separated from the pulp in the crop,
DISPERSAL AND PROTECTION
XX
the pulp passing on into the gizzard and the seeds being thrown up. plants whose seeds are scattered by birds grow along the fence rows. The significance of this is apparent, the seed being dropped by the
Many
bird as he rested
upon the
fence.
The
parallel between the interdependence of the flower and the insect and that of the fruit and the bird is striking. The flower sets forth
honey and sometimes a surplus of pollen
for its
guests, its color decorations are arranged most effectively, while often a subtle odor is a sign of
welcome or repulse to wandering
insects.
The
bee or other insect responds to these attractions and duly regales himself. In return for the hospitalities extended,
he serves as the flower's
messenger, bringing to the pistil of the flowerhost pollen from a neighboring bloom, or bearing away with him freshly gathered pollen grains to
upon a near-by pistil. Cross fertilization, by means of which more vigorous seeds are prodeposit
duced %
thus accomplished. Turning to the fruit, we find similar attracis
tions offered to the birds.
A
pulp
is
usually
developed for food, an odor is sometimes present, as in the case of the strawberry, grape, and pineapple, and the different color schemes are fascinating.
DISPERSAL AND PROTECTION
XXI
In what setting will the red fruit appear to In a green one, surely, and greatest advantage ? the plants whose fruit ripens while the surrounding foliage is still green, or whose foliage it is
evergreen, which usually bear red fruits. Amidst the brightly colored leafage of autumn, is
how
effective are the blue
berries
and black drupes and
Sometimes the dark-colored
!
fruits are
borne on red stems, producing a similar result. White fruits grow usually on plants which shed their leaves early, the white being brought into
contrast with the bare branches, or, if low plants, The with the floor covering of fallen leaves. fruits are etc.,
often massed in close heads, spikes,
rendering them
still
more conspicuous.
The
bird recognizes the sign of his especial hostelry from afar, and comes to the feast spread for him. As we have seen, he renders his host
a mutual various
service,
places,
depositing
some
of
offspring in will doubtless
its
which
prove auspicious for the seed's development. Bears are fond of berries and are said to scatter
Dana speaks
of the berry of the wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) serving as food in winter for the hungry deer.
their seed.
Mrs.
Until the seeds are ripe, many features serve to protect them from destruction by the agent
afterward so useful in dispersing them.
The
DISPERSAL AND PROTECTION
xxii
fruit has a disagreeable taste, is
It has
no scent and
sometimes even is
inconspicuous, poisonous. Some fruits, like being green, like the foliage. the chestnut, walnut, etc., have an especial protection in the surrounding involucre. Some ripe fruits have certain means of protection against foes that destroy the seed as well as
Mice are fond
the pulp.
of rose hips
and the
contained seeds, but do not venture along the thorny way by which they are reached. Fallen are
cherries
eagerly eaten
by centipedes, but
hanging on their lengthened stalks they are comparatively safe from them.
Our knowledge
is
as yet not sufficiently detailed
to state definitely that all of the fruits described in this work are used as food by birds or animals
that scatter their seeds.
Such
fruits are included
as seem adapted for transmission in this way. do know that many of them are eaten by
We
birds and
know
also the kind or kinds of birds
Dr. C. F. Hodge, in his book, using them. " Nature Study and Life," has an interesting table of birds
number
and their foods which includes a
Numerous investigations Birds from are along being made. various sections are sent to government experts, who, from an examination of the contents of of these fruits.
this
line
their food tracts, are enabled to determine
many
DISPERSAL AND PROTECTION
xxiii
by them.
Observation of living birds and the foods they choose is urged. Full of meaning is the study of fruits and of the foods eaten
their adaptations,
and includes
preted problems, making that the more wood, '
us
many
feel,
we know,
impressive becomes the unknown."
uninter-
with Calderthe
more
DEFINITIONS THE
the ripened ovary,
is
fruit
and any other parts that are with
its
contents, closely connected
it.
A
berry is rather thin-skinned, and has its seeds loosely imbedded in soft pulpy or succuAn orange, a grape, a currant, lent material. are illustrations.
A
drupe has for its distinguishing feature a The portion surroundstone inclosing the seed. as in it the peach fibrous, as be fleshy, may ing ;
in the cocoanut
or leathery, as in the walnut. has its seeds and their cartilaginous pome or bony surrounding membranes inclosed in a ;
A
which
fleshy mass,
is
times partly receptacle.
thickened calyx or someApple, pear, and quince
are examples.
..
Aggregate fruits are masses of several carpels of the same flower which, when ripe, may or may not remain fast to the receptacle on which they are borne.
Raspberry and blackberry are famil-
iar examples.
Multiple fruits
are
compact masses of the
of
many flowers. Pineapple ripened product and mulberry are the usual illustrations. Accessory fruits are simple fruits which have incorporated with them, as part of their mass, the developed surroundings or supports of the Gaultheria has its capsule surrounded by pistil. thickened fleshy calyx. XXV
GUIDE TO PLANT FAMILIES REPRESENTED GYMNOSPER1VUE
I. , " Ovules
.
,.
,
PAGE OF FAMILIES AND SPECIES
,
naked upon a scale, bract, or disk. Globose, formed by coalescence of fleshy 1 to 6 bony seeds. PINACE.E
scales.
.....
Cup-shaped fleshy disk nearly inclosing bony
....
TAXACE^:
II.
Pistil consists of closed
and becoming the 1.
xxxii
seed.
ANGIOSPERMJE ovary containing the ovules
fruit.
MONOCOTYLEDONES
Stem without central pith or annual layers, but with vascular bundles scattered through them. Leaves are mostly parallel-veined. Parts of flowers usually arranged in threes. Embryo has but one cotyledon.
FRUIT A BERRY Growing
in close heads on fleshy stalks.
ARACE.E
Woody
.....
xxxii
or herbaceous vines.
SMILACE.E All others.
....
CONVALLARIACE.E xxvi
.
.
xxxiii
xxxii
GUIDE TO PLANT FAMILIES
2.
XXvii
DICOTYLEDONES
Stems have bark, wood, and pith. Leaves are net-veined. Parts of flowers in fours or
Embryo
fives.
has two or more cotyledons.
(A) FRUIT A
BERRY PAGE OF FAMILIES AND
Calyx persistent.
I.
(a) Berry
SPECIES
crowned with shriveled remains of calyx. GROSSULAKIACE^E .
(6)
.
Calyx teeth or top of tube crowning summit of fruit. Vaccinium,Oxycoccus, and Chiogenes in VACCINIACE.E .
xxxvi
xli ' xlii
.
Fruit in clusters on sterns from the axils" of the leaves.
Symphoricarpos and Lonicera in CAPRIFOLIACE.E .
(c)
.
Calyx persistent at base of fruit and sometimes inclosing
it.
Plumlike fruit containing 4 to 8 hard seeds. Calyx thickened.
....
EBENACE.E
Many
seeds arranged around an axial plawhich sometimes extends far into
centa,
the
each.
(a)
SOLANACE^E
cells.
Kacemes.
II.
xlii
Calyx absent,
Several-seeded.
Berry
5- to 16-celled,
....
xlii
one seed in
PHYTOLACCACE^E
.
.
xxxiv
GUIDE TO PLANT FAMILIES
XXV111
heeds DlClOSed in Arils pulpy. placenta in
PAGE OF FAMILIES AND SPECIES
A.TllS
Seeds covering large lateral
two rows.
Podophyllum in BERBERIDACE.E Arils fleshy.
ANONACE^E
.
xxxv
....
xxxv
.
Seeds not in Arils Fruit growing in racemes. Actaea in
(6)
RANUNCULACE.E
.
.
xxxv
Parasitic.
LORANTHACE.E
.
.
xxxiv
Climbing shrub.
VITACE^E
One- to few-seeded. .
xxxix
Sour berries in drooping racemes. Berberis in
BERBERIDACE^E Others.
Ligustrum OLEACE^E (B) FRUIT A Berrylike
I.
(a)
.
xxxv
.
in xlii
DRUPE
Drupe
Calyx persistent.
Calyx teeth or top of tube crowning summit of drupe.
About 5 nutlets, flattened or somewhat three,
angled. Embryo small. Roots, bark, fruit aromatic. ARALIACE.E . .
Ten small seedlike
xl
.
.
nutlets.
Gaylussacia in
VACCINIACE^E Double drupe with calyx teeth of 2 RUBIACE.E
.
.
xli
.
flowers.
....
3
nutlets
Juicy drupes containing borne in cymes. Sambucus in
CAPRIFOLIACE^E
and .
.
xlii 1
GUIDE TO PLANT FAMILIES
xxix PAGE OF FAMILIES AND
(6)
SPECIES
Calyx persistent at base.
....
Four to eight nutlets. ILICACE.E Five to ten nutlets. shrub.
xxxviii
Trailing or depressed
Arctostaphylos in
ERICACEAE
.
.
.
.
xli
Low
evergreen shrub with leaves rolled backwards until the margins meet.
Empetrum in EMPETRACE.E II.
.
.
.
xxxviii
Calyx absent.
THYMELEACE.E . Single nutlet. Two to four nutlets of cartilaginous texture.
RHAMNACE.E
.
.
.
xxxix
.
xxxix
Typical Drupes I.
Calyx persistent.
(a) Calyx teeth or top of tube crowning the summit.
Small drupe with usually globose stone. One-seeded, flattened or tumid, thin, crustaceous stone. Viburnum in
CAPRIFOLIACE.E
.
.
.
.
Dryish drupe with usually 3 nutlets. Triosteum in
CAPRIFOLIACE.E (6)
xliii
Calyx persistent at base. Drupe borne on fleshy red pedicel. Sassafras in
LAURACE^E Drupes
DRUPACE^E Drupes
....
xxxv
in elongated racemes. Primus serotina in
in loose panicles.
....
xxxviii
Chionanthus in
OLEACEJS
....
xlii
XXX
II.
GUIDE TO PLANT FAMILIES PAGE OF FAMILIES AND SPECIES
Calyx absent. Globose.
Embryo
curved.
....
ULMACE^E
xxxiv
Globular, with mark of stigma near base.
MENISPERMACE.E
.
xxxv
LAURACE.E
xxxv
.
Aromatic trees or shrubs.
Oblong
or obovoid drupe.
Benzoin
in
Fleshy, globular drupe.
Fleshy cotyledons.
Prunus, except P. serotina in
DRUPACE.E
xxxviii
Dry Drupes Exocarp covered with white wax.
MYRICACE.E Small, 1-seeded.
....
ANACARDIACE.E
.
.
xxxiv xxxviii
(C) FRUIT A POME Fleshy or berrylike. Two to five papery carpels, each 2-seeded.
....
POMACES
xxxvii
excepting Amelanchier
and Crataegus. Small, 10-celled, 1 seed in each
cell.
Amelanchier in
POMACE^E Drupe-like, 1 to 5
bony
XXXVii
carpels.
Cratsegus in
POMACES
xxxvii
(D) AGGREGATE FRUITS Cone-shaped. The berrylike seeds hanging by a thread from each
carpel,
which
opens when ripe along the back.
MAGNOLIACE.E
.
.
.
xxxiv
GUIDE TO PLANT FAMILIES
xxxi PAGE OF FAMILIES AND SPECIES
Ovoid head, of
2-seeded berries, each with a short curved beak at the tip. 1- to
Hydrastis in
RANUNCULACE^E
.
xxxv
.
Head of small drupes on spongy or juicy 1 xxxvi, Rubus
receptacle.
in
ROSACES
xxxvii
.
J
Dry achenes borne on surface of enlarged pulpy receptacle.
Fragaria in ROSACE^E
xxxvi
(E) MULTIPLE FRUITS Achenes covered by the succulent calyx, the united spike forming a multiple fruit.
....
MORACE.E
xxxiv
(F) ACCESSORY FRUITS Four -cleft calyx inclosing ovary and becoming berrylike in fruit. Lepargyraea in
EL^AGNACE^E Five-toothed
calyx
berrylike fruit.
inclosing
.
.
.
xxxix
in
capsule
Gaultheria in
ERICACEAE
.
.
.
.
xl
(G) MISCELLANEOUS stalks bearing 2 naked seeds resembling drupes in their fleshy blue
Thick seed
coverings.
Caulophyllum in
BERBERIDACE^E
.
.
xxxv
Bony achenes in rather fleshy calyx tube. Rosa in ROSACES
Somewhat pod with
xxxvi
fleshy, dehiscent, 2- to 5-parted
ariled seeds.
CELASTRACE.E
.
.
xxxix
FAMILIES AND SPECIES I.
GYMNOSPERMJE PINE FAMILY
PINACEJE Blue Juniperus communis L. Juniperus nana Willd Juniperus Virginiana L. Juniperus Sabina L
.
.
.
.
.
.
Common Juniper. Low Juniper. Red Cedar. Shrubby Red Cedar.
YEW FAMILY
TAXACEJE Red
or Reddish Purple
Taxus minor (Michx.) Britton
II.
(a)
.
American Yew.
ANGIOSPERMJE
MONOCOTYLEDONES ARUM FAMILY
ARACE^E
Red
or Reddish Purple
Arisaema triphyllum (L.) Torr. Arisaema dracontium (L.) Schott. Calla palustris
L
Indian Turnip.
Green Dragon. Water-arum.
Green PeltandraVirginica (L.) Kunth.
LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY FAMILY
CONVALLARIACEJE
Red
.Green Arrow-arum.
or Reddish Purple
Asparagus officinalis L. Vagnera racemosa (L.) Morong. .
.
.
Asparagus.
Wild Spikenard.
AND SPECIES
FAMILIES
Vagnera trifolia (L.) Morong. Unifolium Canadense (Desf.) Greene
xxxiii
Three-leavr ed Solomon's Seal.
False Lily-of -the-Valley.
Disporum lanuginosum (Michx.) Nichols Streptopus amplexifolius(L.)DC.
Hairy Disporum. Clasping-leaved
Twisted
Stalk.
Streptopus roseus Michx. Trillium sessile L
Trillium nivale Riddell
.
.
Sessile-leaved Twisted Stalk.
Sessile-flowered Wake-robin. .
.
.
Early Wake-robin.
Trillium grandiflorum (Michx.) Large-flowered Wake-robin.
Salisb
Trillium erectum
L
Trillium cernuum
Ill-scented Wake-robin.
L
Nodding Wake-robin.
Trillium undulaturn Willd.
.
.
Painted Wake-robin.
Black or Dark Purple Clintonia umbellulata (Michx.)
White
Torr
Vagnera stellata (L.) Morong. Polygonatum biflorum (Walt.)
Hairy Solomon's
Ell
Polygonatum commutatum
&
Clintonia.
Star-flowered Solomon's Seal.
Seal.
(R.
Smooth Solomon's Seal. Indian Cucumber Root.
S.) Dietr
MedeolaVirginianaL
Blue Clintonia borealis
(Ait.)
Raf.
Yellow Clintonia.
SMILAX FAMILY
SMILACEJE
Red Smilax Walter! Pursh
or Reddish Purple
....
Walter's Greenbrier.
Black or Dark Purple Smilax herbacea L Smilax tamnifolia Michx. Smilax glauca Walt
Carrion Flower. .
.
Halberd-leaved Srnilax.
Glaucous-leaved Greenbrier.
Smilax Smilax Smilax Smilax
AND
FAMILIES
XXXI v
...
rotundifolia L.
hispida
Muhl
Pseudo-China L. Bona-nox L
(6)
.
.
.
SPECIES
Greenbrier.
Hispid Greenbrier. Long-stalked Greenbrier. Bristly Greenbrier.
DICOTYLEDONES BAYBERRY FAMILY
MYRICACEJE White Myrica Carolinensis Mill
.
.
.
Waxberry.
ELM FAMILY
ULMACEJE Black or Dark Purple Celtis occidentalis
L
Sugarberry.
MULBERRY FAMILY
MORACE^E
Black or Dark Purple
Morns rubra L
Red Mulberry. White
Morus alba L
White Mulberry.
MISTLETOE FAMILY
LORANTHACEJE White Razoumofskya pusilla (Peck) Kuntze Phoradendron flavescens (Pursh) Nutt
Small Mistletoe.
American
Mistletoe.
POKEWEED FAMILY
PHYTOLACCACEJE
Black or Dark Purple Phytolacca decendra L.
.
.
.
Poke.
MAGNOLIA FAMILY
MAGNOLIACE^E
Red Magnolia Virginian a L. Magnolia acuminata L.
or Reddish Purple .
.
.
.
.
.
Laurel Magnolia.
Cucumber
Tree.
AND SPECIES
FAMILIES
XXXV
CUSTARD-APPLE FAMILY
ANONACEJE
Yellow
Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal.
.
North American Papaw.
CROWFOOT FAMILY
RANUNCULACE^E Red
or Reddish Purple
Hydrastis Canadensis L. Actsea rubra (Ait.) Willd.
.
.
.
Orange Root.
.
Red Baneberry.
.
White
White Baneberry.
Actsea alba (L.) Mill
BARBERRY FAMILY
BERBERIDACEJE
Red Berberis vulgaris
or Reddish Purple
L
Common
Barberry.
Blue Caulophyllum thalictroides (L.)
Michx
Blue Cohosh. Yellow
Podophyllum
peltatum L.
.
.
.
May
Apple.
MOONSEED FAMILY
MENISPERMACEJE
Blade or Dark Purple
Menispermum Canadense
L.
.
Canada Moonseed.
LAUREL FAMILY
LAURACEJE
Red
or Reddish Purple
Benzoin Benzoin (L.) Coulter
.
Spice Bush.
Blue Sassafras Sassafras (L.) Karst.
.
Sassafras.
AND SPECIES
FAMILIES
xxxvi
GOOSEBERRY FAMILY
GROSSULARIACEJE
Red
or Reddish Purple
Ribes oxyacanthoides L.
.
Hawthorn or Northern Goose-
.
Eastern Wild Gooseberry.
.
.
Swamp
.
.
.
.
berry.
Ribes rotundifolium Michx.
Ribes lacustre (Pers.) Poir. Ribes prostratum L'Her. Ribes rubrum L .
Gooseberry. Fetid Currant.
Red Currant.
Black or Dark Purple Ribes Cynosbati L Ribes floridum L'Her
Wild Gooseberry. Wild Black Currant.
ROSE FAMILY
ROSACEJE
Red Rubus Rubus Rubus Rubus Rubus
odoratus
or Reddish Purple
L
Purple-flowering Raspberry.
Chamsemorus L.
.
.
.
strigosus Michx.
.
.
.
....
neglectus Peck Americanus (Pers.) Brit-
.
Fragaria vesca
.
.
L
Americana
L
Swamp Rose. Low or Pasture
humilis Marsh
Rose. Northeastern Rose.
nitida Willd
canina
L
rubiginosa
Northern Wild Strawberry. European Wood Strawberry.
American Wood Strawberry. Smooth or Meadow Rose.
blanda Ait Carolina
Virginia or Scar let Strawberry.
(Porter)
Britton
Rosa Rosa Rosa Rosa Rosa Rosa
Wild Red Raspberry. Purple Wild Raspberry. Dwarf Raspberry.
ton
Fragaria Virginian a Duchesne Fragaria Canadensis Michx. Fragaria
Cloudberry.
Dog
L
Rose.
Sweetbrier.
Black or Dark Purple
Rubus Rulms
occidentalis L. villosus Ait
...
Black Raspberry.
Low
Blackberry.
AND SPECIES
FAMILIES Rubus Rubus Rubus Rubus Rubus Rubus Rubus
hispidus L cimeifolius Pursh
.
Running Swamp Blackberry. Sand Blackberry. High Bush Blackberry.
.
.
nigrobaccus nigrobaccus, var. sativus Allegheniensis Porter
XXX vii
Short Cluster Blackberry. Mountain Blackberry.
.
argutus Link Canadensis L
Leafy Cluster Blackberry. Thornless Blackberry.
APPLE FAMILY
POMACEJE
Red
or Reddish Purple
Sorbus Americana Marsh. Sorbus sambucifolia (C.
American Mountain Ash.
.
.
&
S.)
Roem
Western Mountain Ash.
Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Ell. Amelanchier Botryapium (L.
Red Chokeberry.
.
.
f .)
DC
Shad Bush.
Amelanchier Canadensis Medic Cratsegus Crus-Galli L.
(L.)
Juneberry. .
Cratsegus punctata Jacq. Cratsegus coccinea L
.
.
.
.
Cratsegus macracantha Lodd. Cratsegus mollis (T. & G.) Scheele
.
Cratsegus tomentosa L.
.
.
.
Cockspur Thorn. Large-fruited Thorn. Scarlet Thorn. Long-spined Thorn. Red-fruited Thorn. Pear Thorn.
Black or Dark Purple Aronia nigra (Willd.) Britton Amelanchier oligocarpa (Michx.) .
Roem
Black Chokeberry. Oblong-fruited Juneberry.
Yellow Cratsegus uniflora
Muench.
.
.
Dwarf Thorn.
Green Pyrus communis L
Malus coronaria (L.) Mill. Malus angustifolia (Ait.) Michx. .
.
Choke pear. American Crab Apple. Narrow -leaved Crab Apple.
AND
FAMILIES
XXXVlil
SPECIES
PLUM FAMILY
DRUPACE^E
Red Primus Prunus Prunus Prunus Prunus
or Reddish Purple
Americana Marsh. nigra Ait niaritima
Wang.
Pennsylvanica L. Virginiana
.
.
.
.
.
f.
,
.
L
Wild Yellow or Red Plum. Canada Plum. Beach Plum. Wild Red Cherry. Chokecherry.
Black or Dark Purple Prunus Prunus Prunus Prunus
Allegheniensis Porter spinosa
pumila
.
L L
serotina
Porter's
Plum.
Sloe.
Dwarf Cherry. Wild Black Cherry.
Ehrh
CROWBERRY FAMILY
EMPETRACEJE
Black or Dark Purple
Empetrum nigrum L
Black Crowberry.
SUMAC FAMILY
ANACARDIACEJE
Red Rhus copallina L Rhus hirta (L.) Sudw Rhus glabra L Rhus aromatica Ait,
or Reddish Purple
Dwarf Sumac. Staghorn Sumac.
Smooth Sumac.
....
Fragrant or Sumac.
Sweet-scented
White
Rhus Vernix L. Rhus radicans L
......
Poison Sumac. Poison, Climbing, or Threeleaved Ivy.
ILICACE^
HOLLY FAMILY
Red Ilex opaca Ait Ilex monticola A.
or Reddish Purple
American Holly.
Gray
.
.
Ilex verticillata (L.) A. Gray Ilex l8evigata(Pursh) A. Gray
.
.
.
Ilicioides mucronata (L.) Brittou
Large-leaved Holly. Black Alder.
Smooth Winter Berry. Wild or Mountain Holly.
AND SPECIES
FAMILIES
xxxix
Black or Dark Purple Ilex glabra (L.) A.
Gray
.
.
.
CELASTRACE^
Inkberry.
STAFF-TREE FAMILY Red
or Reddish Purple
Euonymus Americanus L.
.
Euonymus obovatus Nutt. Euonymus atropurpureus Jacq. .
Celastrus scandens L.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Strawberry Bush.
Running Strawberry Bush. Burning Bush. Shrubby or Climbing
Bitter-
sweet.
RHAMNACEJB
BUCKTHORN FAMILY Black or Dark Purple
Rhamnus Rhamnus Rhamnus
...
cathartica L.
lanceolata Pursh
.
.
alnifolia L'Her.
.
.
.
Buckthorn. Lance-leaved Buckthorn. Alder-leaved Buckthorn.
GRAPE FAMILY
VITACEJE Black or Dark Purple Vitis Labrusca
L
Northern Fox Grape.
Michx LeConte
Summer
Vitis sestivalis
Vitis bicolor Vitis vulpina
....
L
Vitis cordifolia
Grape.
Blue Grape. Riverside
or
Sweet-scented
Grape. Frost or Chicken Grape.
Michx
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.)
Planch
Virginia Creeper.
MEZEREON FAMILY
THYMELEACEJE
Red Dirca palustris
or Reddish Purple
L
Leatherwood.
OLEASTER FAMILY
ELJEAGNACEJE
Red LepargyrsBa
Greene
or Reddish Purple
Canadensis
(L.)
Canadian Buffalo Berry.
xl
AND
FAMILIES
SPECIES GINSENG FAMILY
ARALIACE^E
Red
or Reddish Purple
Panax quinquefolium Lo
.
Ginseng.
.
.
Black or Dark Purple Aralia spinosa L Aralia raeemosa L
Hercules' Club.
American Spikenard. Wild or Virginian Sarsapa-
Aralia nudicaulis Lo
rilla.
Aralia hispida Vent,
....
Bristly Sarsaparilla.
Yellow
Panax trifolium
L
Dwarf Ginseng.
DOGWOOD FAMILY
CORNACEJE
Red L
or Reddish Purple
Low
Cornus Canadensis Cornus florida L
or
Dwarf Cornel.
Flowering Dogwood.
Black or Dark Purple Nyssa sylvatica Marsh
Tupelo.
Blue Cornus circinata L'Her.
.
.
.
....
Cornus Amonum Mill. Cornus alternifolia L f.
.
.
.
Round-leaved Cornel or Dogwood. Silky Cornel. Alternate-leaved
Cornel
or
Dogwood.
White Cornus stolonifera Michx.
.
Cornus candidissima Marsh.
.
.
.
.
Cornel or Dogwood. Panicled Cornel or Dogwood. Red-osier
HEATH FAMILY
ERICACEJB
Red
or Reddish Purple
Gaultheria procumbens L.
.
.
Spring or Creeping Wintergreen.
FAMILIES AND SPECIES Arctostaphylos
Uva-Ursi
xli
(L.)
Red Bearberry.
Spreng
Black or Dark Purple Mairania alpina (L.) Desv.
.
.
Alpine or Black Bearberry.
HUCKLEBERRY FAMILY
VACCINIACEJE
Red
or Reddish Purple
Vaccinium Vitis Idsea L.
.
.
.
(L.)
MacM.
Oxycoccus macrocarpus
(Ait.)
Oxycoccus oxycoccus
Mountain Cranberry. or European Cran-
Small
berry. PerSc
Large
American Cran-
or
berry.
Black or Dark Purple Gaylussacia resinosa (Ait.) T.
&G
Black or High-bush Huckleberry.
Gaylussacia
dumosa (Andr.) T.
&G
Dwarf
or
Bush Huckleberry.
Vaccinium atrococcum (A. Gray) Black Blueberry.
Heller
Vaccinium nigrum (Wood)
Brit-
Low
ton
Black Blueberry.
Blue Gaylussacia frondosa (L.) T.
&
G
Blue Tangle.
Gaylussacia brachycera (Michx.) A. Gray
Vaccinium uliginosum L. Vaccinium csespitosum Michx. Vaccinium coryrnbosum L. Vaccinium Pennsylvanieum Lam. Vaccinium Canadense Richards. Vaccinium vacillans Kalm. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
Box Huckleberry. Great Bilberry.
Dwarf
Bilberry.
High-bush or Tall Blueberry.
Dwarf Blueberry. Canada Blueberry.
Low
Blueberry.
AND
FAMILIES
xlii
SP.ECIES
Yellow
Vaccinium stamineum L.
.
.
.
Deerberry.
White Chiogenes hispidula (L.) T.
&
G.
Creeping Snowberry.
EBONY FAMILY
EBENACEJE Yellow Diospyros Virginiana L.
.
.
.
Persimmon.
OLIVE FAMILY
OLEACEJE Black or Dark Purple Chionanthus Virginica L. Ligustrum vulgare L
.
.
Fringe Tree. Privet.
POTATO FAMILY
SOLANACEJE
Red Physalis Philadelphia
Solanum Dulcamara
Lycium vulgare
or Reddish Purple
Lam.
L.
.
.
.
.
(Ait. f.) Dunal.
Philadelphia Ground Cherry.
Nightshade.
Matrimony Vine.
Slack or Dark Purple Solanum nigrum L Black or Garden Nightshade. Yellow Physalis pubescens L.
.
.
.
.
L
Physalis angulata
Physalis heterophylla Nees. Solanum Carolinense L. .
Ground Cherry.
.
Clammy Ground
.
.
Horse Nettle.
Cherry.
MADDER FAMILY Red
or Reddish Purple
L
Partridge Berry.
CAPRIFOLIACE^
HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY Red
or Reddish Purple
Sambucus pubens Michx.
Viburnum
Hairy Ground Cherry.
.
RUBIACE-ffi
Mitchella repens
Low
Cut-leaved
.
.
Red-berried Elder.
alnifolium Marsh.
.
Hobble Bush,
.
AND SPECIES
FAMILIES Viburnum Opulus L Viburnum pauciflorum Trieste um
Pylaie perfoliatum L. .
.
.
xliii
Cranberry Tree. Few-flowered Cranberry Tree. Feverwort.
Symphoricarpos Symphoricarpos (L.)
MacM
Coral Berry.
Lonicera Caprifolium L.
.
.
.
Italian or Perfoliate
Honey-
suckle.
Lonicera hirsuta Eaton Lonicera dioica
.
.
.
.
.
.
L
Lonicera sempervirens L.
Hairy Honeysuokler Smooth-leaved or Glaucous Honeysuckle. or Coral
Trumpet
Honey-
suckle.
Lonicera oblongifolia (Goldie)
Hook Lonicera ciliata
Swamp Muhl
Fly Honeysuckle.
American Fly Honeysuckle.
Black or Dark Purple .
.
.
.
.
.
American Elder. Maple-leaved Arrowwood. Downy-leaved Arrowwood.
.
.
.
Withe-rod.
Sambucus Canadensis L. Viburnum acerifolium L. Viburnum pubescens (Ait.) Pursh Viburnum cassinoides L. Viburnum nudum L Viburnum Lentago L Viburnum prunifolium L. .
.
Larger Withe-rod.
Nannyberry. Black Haw.
Blue
Viburnum dentatum L. Viburnum molle Michx. Lonicera coerulea
.
.
.
Arrowwood.
.
.
.
Soft-leaved Arrowwood.
L
Blue or Mountain Fly Honeysuckle.
White
Symphoricarpos racemosus Michx
Snowberry.
Symphoricarpos pauciflorus (Robbins) Britton
Low
Snowberry.
EED OR REDDISH PURPLE
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE AMERICAN YEW Taxus minor.
Yew
Taxus Canadensis
The
Family
is drupelike the hard, oval seed bony, dark-colored, being nearly inclosed in a red, pulpy cup, which is the devel-
Fruit.
fruit
;
The drupe is solitary, oped fleshy flower disk. growing at the end or the side of the branches. It is bracted at the base.
The
Leaves.
long, pointed,
leaves are about half an inch
and green on both
sides.
They
are arranged spirally around the branches.
The
Flowers.
The
flowers are mostly dioecious. fertile ones, are solitary, and the sterile ones
consist of a
This branches.
especially It is
few naked stamens.
low It
shrub
has
delights
favoring the
in
April,
spreading,
May. crooked
a shaded situation,
shelter
of
evergreens.
sometimes called Ground Hemlock from
resemblance to young hemlock growths.
its
The
AMERICAN
YBW 4
(Taxus minor)
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE wood
of the
Yew
tough and
is
5
elastic,
and was
used by the Indians in making their bows. It extends south to New Jersey and along the Alleghanies to Virginia. It also ranges
northward from Minnesota and Iowa.
INDIAN TURNIP.
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT Arum Family
Arisaema triphyllum
Fruit.
shining, scarlet
Bright,'
berries
are
crowded together in an ovoid head. Each fruit bears the tip of the stigma at the top. One or
two seeds are embedded
in a scant, juicy pulp.
August.
One
Leaves.
two
or
and
usually overtop flower
three-parted
leaves
The
leaflets
fruit,
are ovate and mostly entire.
times wither and
Flowers.
The
fall
-The leaves some-
before the fruit develops.
flowers are borne at the base
of a club-shaped spadix
which
is
nearly inclosed
in a sheathing spathe, the top portion of
which
The curves over, forming a sheltering roof. flowers are mostly dioecious, although one plant sometimes bears both staminate and pistillate flowers.
They
are
fertilized
by small insects
6
HOW
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
which crawl around within the sheathing spathe and cover themselves with pollen.
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT (Arissema triphyllum)
The plant has a
turnip-shaped, wrinkled, pep-
pery corm, which contains much
starch.
The
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE Indians are said to have cooked
They also cooked and ate the The color of the hood and
it
1
for food.
berries. its
markings is sometimes very variable, light green with light markings, and sometimes dark with purple I
stripes.
was
interested, one spring, to see
if
the light green spathes really did inclose male flowers and the dark ones female, as some authorities think probable.
about thirty-six specimens. ones, fourteen were pistillate
Of sixteen
one day, Of twenty dark
I gathered,
light ones, five
and were
six staminate. pistillate
and
eleven staminate. The majority seem to bear out the supposition. Another interesting matter came to my attention from the examination of the specimens. leaves,
and of these
Sixteen plants each had two fifteen
were mostly
pistillate
and the other one had about as many staminate as pistillate blossoms. Of twenty specimens with one
and four
were mainly staminate Later observations tend to
leaf, sixteen pistillate.
show that the two-leaved specimens usually have pistillate flowers, and the one-leaved staminate. Jack-in-the-pulpit loves rich, we"t woods, and extends as far west as Minnesota and eastern
Kansas.
HOW
TO
KNOW WILD
GREEN DRAGON.
FRUITS
DRAGON ROOT Arum Family
Arisaema Dracontium
The orange-red berries grow in a large ovoid head. They are one- to few-seeded. The usually solitary compound leaf Leaves. Fruit.
has nine to eleven radiating leaflets with the The leaflets two side ones somewhat lobed. are pointed and oblong-lanceolate. Both staminate and Flowers. flowers usually
pistillate
The much prolonged and
grow on the same spadix.
upper part of the spadix
is
extends considerably beyond the pointed spathe.
Both spathe and spadix are green.
The range is about that of Jack-in-the-pulpit. Around the main club-shaped bulb, cluster many tiny bulblets, producing an effect which to a strong imagination might suggest the foot and toes of a
monster and be responsible for the
common name
of Dragon Root. The radiating a bit suggestive of a dragon's claws. Leaves and flowers are both green, the only bit
leaflets are
of
gay coloring that the plant
in the bright fruit cluster.
affords appearing
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
9
WATER ARUM Arum Family
Calla palustris
The few red berries grow in an The seeds are few and inclosed oblong head. in jelly. The spa the is persistent in fruit. Fruit.
July, August.
Leaves.
The
leaves
are
heart-shaped, and
borne on erect or spreading stems. Flowers. The flower stem is nearly as long as those of the leaves. The open, spreading spathe has a white upper surface and is green beneath. The spadix is much shorter than the spathe, and is covered with flowers, the lower of
which are perfect and the upper ones often
staminate. It is a
low plant,
less
than a foot in height,
and resembles the cultivated
Calla.
by a slender, creeping rootstock, in masses.
landers in
The rhizomes
making a kind
it
Spreading often occurs
are used by the Lap-
of bread.
It flourishes
in cold bogs in Virginia, Wisconsin,
and northward.
and Iowa,
HOW
10
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
ASPARAGUS Asparagus
officinalis
Lily-of-the-Valley Family
The red
Fruit.
berries are globose,
as large as a small huckleberry.
and about are soli-
They
tary or in pairs, and grow on a slender, jointed stem from the axil of a scale, which is really a modified leaf. The berry is three-celled, with
two seeds
The calyx
in each cell.
the base of the berry. The true Leaves.
lobes are at
August, September. leaves
appear as scales
From the axils, along the stem and branches. along the branches, grow three tiny threadlike branchlets which are often mistaken for leaves. The
Flowers.
flowers are small, bell-shaped,
and greenish yellow.
They grow on drooping,
June.
jointed pedicels.
The Asparagus was introduced from Europe, and has become quite a frequent roadside escape. very attractive in fruit, making one think of a miniature Christmas tree, with its gay It is
decorations of
red balls.
spring are edible, large scales,
plant until
which
fall.
The thick shoots
of
and bear the true leaves as persist
on the base
of
the
RED OE REDDISH PURPLE
11
WILD SPIKENARD Smilacina racemosa
Vagnera racemosa.
Lily-of-the- Valley
The
Fruit.
berries
grow
Family in a long racemose
cluster at the terminus of the leafy,
stem.
They
are globular, and
in late September, are
Before
red in color. iarly speckled
fully ripe,
and a
translucent
dull
they present a peculappearance, being whitish, with this,
red dots and splashes.
many
when
unbranched
While the ovary
The
flesh is thin.
three-celled, with two ovules in each, the developed berry contains but one or two large seeds. The fruits have an aromatic flavor.
is
September.
Leaves.
The
leaves
are
alternate,
nearly
and have tiny hairs along the entire wavy margins. Each is oval-lanceolate, with stemless,
a long, tapering point. They are so arranged the stem that the along plane of the upper surface is nearly parallel with the drooping stem, thus exposing
it
most advantageously to the
light.
Flowers.
grow
The
small, white, six-parted flowers
in terminal, pyramidal clusters.
May, July.
WILD SPIKENARD
Vagnera racemose)
(
12
H
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE Both
and
in flower
fruit this plant lends its
attractiveness to the woodside road. is
zigzag and
is stout.
somewhat
The rootstock
inclined.
It extends south to
to Missouri
The stem
Georgia and west
and Arizona.
THREE-LEAVED SOLOMON'S SEAL Vagnera
Smilacina
trifolia.
trifolia
Lily-of-the-Valley Family
The globular berries grow in a fewfruited raceme. They are red when ripe. Leaves. The leaves are usually three in number, although two or four occasionally Fruit.
occur.
They
are oblong, and
rowed sheathing
base.
They
taper to a narare acute at the
apex.
Flowers.
The white,
smaller than in V.
six-parted flowers are
stellata.
a smaller plant than False Spikenard casual obor Star-flowered Solomon's Seal.
This
is
A
server might
confuse
it
with Unifolium Cana-
be distinguished from it by the narrowed sheathing base of its leaf and its dense, but it
may
six-parted flowers.
It
grows in bogs and v
et
HOW
14
woods
TO
New
in
KNOW
England,
WILD FRUITS
New
Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, and Michigan.
FALSE LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY. TWOLEAVED SOLOMON'S SEAL Maianthemum Canadense
Unifolium Canadense.
Lily-of-the- Valley
The berry
Fruit.
Family
is
whitish, thickly speckled with red until late in the season, when it becomes a dull red. The fruits grow in a termi-
nal cluster, and are
much
like those of
Vagnera
trifolia.
The
Leaves.
leaves are ovate to lanceolate,
There are usually with a heart-shaped base. three on the stem. two, sometimes They are sessile or
nearly so. The four-parted, small, Flowers. flowers grow in a simple raceme.
The heart-shaped base
white
the leaf and the " earmarks " of the
of
species.
perianth are This is a tiny plant, growing profusely
in woods,
sometimes in patches, sometimes alone.
four-parted
It is quite
common throughout
southern Canada
and south to North Carolina, Iowa, and South Dakota.
FALSE LILY-OF-THE- VALLEY (Unifolium Canadense) 15
HOW
16
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
HAIRY DISPORUM Disporum lanuginosum
The red berry
Fruit.
and
is
Lily-of-the- Valley is
pointed at the top.
and
single,
on a terminal stem.
pointed,
oblong or ovoid, It is pulpy, three-
celled,
Leaves.
Family
three- to six-seeded.
It is usually
The ovate-oblong leaves are tapersomewhat rounded at the base, and
They are downy beneath. Flowers. The greenish yellow,
stemless.
drooping
flowers
grow on
terminal,
lilylike,
slender
stems.
May. The Disporum is a low, pubescent plant, with The rootstock erect, somewhat branched stems. " double is creeping. means seed," in Disporum reference to the two ovules in each cell of the ovary. It is
western
found in rich woods from Ontaria to
New
York, Tennessee, and Georgia.
CLASPING-LEAVED TWISTED STALK Streptopus amplexifolius
Fruit. three-celled,
The
Lily-of-the- Valley
Family
red, globose, or oval berries are
with
many
seeds, arranged in
two
CLASPING-LEAVED TWISTED STALK (Streptopus amplexifolius) 17
HOW
18
rows,
each
in
KNOW WILD
TO
cell.
The
FRUITS
berries
are
usually
and grow on sharply bent peduncles which spring from the leaf axils. August. solitary
Leaves.
The
ovate, light green
leaves
are
taper-pointed, heart-shaped, and clasping at the base,
and are very smooth.
The
greenish white flowers almost hidden beneath the leaves. June.
Flowers.
are
The Twisted Stalks somewhat resemble the Solomon's Seal. They are, however, more branched. Streptopus is Greek, meaning twisted foot or The stalk, in reference to the bent peduncles. plant is quite generally distributed over the parts of
America north
Michigan, and
New
of
North Carolina, Ohio,
Mexico.
SESSILE-LEAVED TWISTED STALK Streptopus roseus
Fruit.
The
Lily-of-the- Valley
Family
fruit is a globose red berry, simi-
lar to that of the preceding.
This species
is
distinguished by Lack of bloom on the under leaf surfaces.
Hairy
leaf margins.
Purplish pink flowers.
:
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
19
Less abruptly bent flower stalks. Earlier period of blooming.
Georgia, Michigan, and Oregon are ern limits.
its
south
SESSILE-FLOWERED WAKE-ROBIN Trillium sessile
Fruit.
Lily-of-the-Valley Family
The
red, sternless berry
and about half an inch long. three-celled, and many-seeded. Leaves.
wise
sessile.
The
globular
It is six-angled,
three whorled leaves are like-
They
are ovate, with acute tips,
are often spotted with lighter
Flowers.
is
The
and darker green.
sessile flowers are
occasionally greenish.
and
a dull red,
They have narrow sepals
and an agreeable odor. April, May. This plant of moist woods grows in Pennsylvania and southward to Florida. Minnesota and
petals,
and Arkansas are
its
western limits.
EARLY WAKE-ROBIN Trillium nivale
Lily-of-the-Valley Family
Fruit. The round, flattened berry is small, about a third of an inch in diameter. It is red
HOW
20
KNOW WILD
TO
and has but three rounded
FEUITS This and
divisions.
Trillium erythrocarpum are the only three-angled
Trillium fruits.
The berry
The three
Leaves.
ovate,
The
whorled leaves
and have short stems.
are blunt at the apex,
Flowers.
short-stemmed.
is
flowers are small
and white,
with erect, spreading petals. March, May. This is a dwarf species, only two to five inches It grows in woods from Pennsylvania and south to Tennessee and Iowa. Ohio,
high.
LARGE-FLOWERED WAKE-ROBIN Trillium grandiflorum
Fruit.
Lily-of-the- Valley
The red berry
and from one-half inch
The
is
to
Family
slightly six-angled
an inch
in length.
sepals persist at the base as do also the
which remain green. The berry is The globular, three-celled, and many-seeded. peduncle is sometimes three inches long. filaments,
Leaves.
broad as
Somewhat
four-sided,
Trillium erectum.
and nearly stemless
in
They the
but not are
usual
as
pointed
whorl of
three.
Flowers.
The
flowers are large, with erect
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE
21
and spreading white petals that later grow pink. They grow on long, erect stems. This to
is
a native of rich woods from
Vermont
North Carolina, with Minnesota and Missouri
as the western
boundary of
its
range.
ILL-SCENTED WAKE-ROBIN. Trillium erectum
Lily-of-the- Valley
The dark
red,
distinctly six-angled.
A
Fruit.
BIRTHROOT Family
round ovate berry dry stigma
is
is
at the
junction of each two of these angles or ridges. The persistent dry sepals and remnants of the petals are at the base.
The
somewhat about an inch
The berry is The brown seeds are
long,
reclined long.
numerous and horizontal Leaves.
The
fruit is
borne on a
stem.
in each cell.
August.
leaves are broadly four-sided,
with scarcely any stems. The apex is acute. The leaves grow in a whorl of three at the the plant stem. At the time of fruiting they are apt to be torn, faded, and
summit
of
brown. Flowers.
somewhat
The terminal, solitary flower is and varies much in color
reclined
;
22
HOW
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
ILL-SCENTED WAKE-ROBIN (Trillium erectwri)
white, pink, dark red, yellow, and even greenish blossoms having been found. The odor is very
unpleasant.
April, June.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
When
23
driving in early spring along a wooded
have found great patches of this curiously colored blossom growing near streams I
roadway,
or in
swampy
grounds.
I
was quite content,
however, to admire them from a distance, objecting to the odor which a closer acquaintance entails.
This odor and the color of the flower serve the
plant
a useful purpose in attracting the
which Clarence M. Weed says
flesh fly,
most useful
is
the
insect in disseminating the pollen
The color of the flower resembles raw meat, and the yellow specimens saw were quite the color of fat beef.
of this plant.
that
of
which
I
This species grows as far w est as Minnesota and Missouri, and south to North Carolina. r
NODDING WAKE-ROBIN Trillium
cernuum
Fruit.
Lily-of-the-Valley Family
The reddish ovate berry
six-angled, and
is
recurved stem.
is
somewhat
borne on a short inclined or It
is
about three-quarters of
an inch long. Leaves. so.
They
The
three leaves are sessile or nearly
are very similar to Trillium erectum.
HOW
24
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The white
Flowers.
or pink flowers have
wavy-margined petals that roll backwards. They grow on a curved stem and are often hidden beneath the leaves.
April- June.
This Wake-robin favors rich woods, and ranges from Ontario to Georgia and Missouri and west to Minnesota.
PAINTED WAKE-ROBIN Trillium undulatum.
Trillium erythrocarpum
Lily-of-the- Valley
Fruit.
quarters of
Family
The bright red berry is about three an inch long, and is borne terminally
on a nearly erect stem. It narrow end rather pointed,
is
ovate, with the
is
obscurely three-
angled, and crowned with the persistent stigmas. Its three angles instead of six, lack of wings,
and ovate shape distinguish Trillium fruits.
it
from
all
The three spreading
persistent at the base as are also dry
the other sepals are
remnants
The skin is thin, the pulp white and the brown seeds numerous, ovate,
of the petals.
and scanty, and arranged horizontally. Leaves.
Each
The
leaves are in a whorl of three.
leaf is petioled.
The stems
unite,
forming
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE
25
a triangular surface, from the center of which The leaves are broadsprings the flower stem. ovate, with a long tapering point.
The recurved white
Flowers.
marked with crimson
stripes at the base.
Wake-robin bears one of
the
are
petals
This
most beautiful
flowers of the genus.
The Painted Trillium grows
in profusion
the Catskill and Adirondack mountains, and
in is
found in damp woods as far west as Wisconsin and Missouri and south to Georgia.
WALTER'S GREENBRIER Smilax Family
Smilax Walteri Fruit.
The
coral-red, globose berries are in
umbels, growing on flattened stems which scarcely equal the petioles in length. two- to three-seeded. Leaves.
The ovate
The
berries are
or ovate-lanceolate leaves
are thick and green on both
sides.
They
are
somewhat heart-shaped at base, but are seldom lobed. The apex is bristle pointed. Flowers. The blossoms are brownish, and grow
in umbels.
April- June.
HOW
26
This
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
the only Greenbrier in our section which bears red berries. Smilax Walteri has a is
low stem, somewhat prickly below and unarmed It grows in swamps and moist places as above. far north as
New
Jersey.
LAUREL MAGNOLIA Magnolia Virginiana.
Magnolia glauca
The small
Fruit.
Magnolia Family
conelike fruit consists of
many coherent carpels, which are crowded upon the enlarged receptacle. When mature, the conelike its
mass
outer side.
is
red and each carpel splits along The one or two contained red
seeds escape, but, for a time, each remains hang-
The seeds are ing by a slender white thread. slightly bitter, but are used as food by the birds. September, October. Leaves.
The oval
leathery appearance.
or elliptical leaves have a
They
are light green
and
shining above and much whitened beneath. In the South, they usually remain on the tree
during the winter, falling in the spring to give place to
new
and tapering.
growths.
The
petioles are short
LAUREL MAGNOLIA (Magnolia
27
Virginland)
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE Emerson says: " The
Flowers.
inches broad,
or. three
is
as beautiful
as fragrant as a water lily."
and terminal.
solitary,
The
white
soft
It
is
29 flower,
two
and almost
creamy white,
June.
amidst
flowers,
the
glossy
green foliage, yield one of the pleasures found
among
the
of early summer, The gradual transi-
swamp growths .the coast.
especially along
from one part of the flower to another is The sepals are much like the petals interesting. tion
and
The
the stamens retain a fruit
mass
flies
petal-like character.
the red-seed banners to at-
In our section the plant along the Gulf of Mexico it beIt has been found as far north as
tract the bird carriers. is
a shrub
comes a
;
tree.
Cape Ann.
The bark
young growths
is
is
usually brown, but on
light gray.
CUCUMBER TREE. MOUNTAIN MAGNOLIA Magnolia acuminata
Fruit.
The
Magnolia Family
structure of the fruit
to that of the small Magnolia, but larger.
It is pink with red seeds.
it
is
similar
is
much
The resem-
blance of the green fruit to a cucumber cause of one of its common names.
is
the
HOW
30
KNOW
TO
The fragrant
WILD FEUITS
flowers are greenish white
and
rather inconspicuous, being so nearly the color of the foliage. It occurs This plant is rare in our section. It is a in western New York and southward.
tree sixty to ninety feet high,
with brown bark.
YELLOW PUCCOON. YELLOW ROOT YELLOW INDIAN PAINT. ORANGE ROOT. GOLDEN SEAL Crowfoot Family
Hydrastis Canadensis
The
Fruit.
raspberry.
fruit
somewhat
It is a small
seeded crimson berries.
resembles
a
head of one- to two-
The head
is
ovoid and
blunt, and the
fleshy carpels are tipped with curved beaks. short, There is a single roundish root leaf Leaves. and near the top of the stem are two more
rounded
leaves.
These are
five- to seven-lobed,
doubly serrate, and heart-shaped at the base. Flowers. The blossoms are borne at the top of the stem. They are greenish white and inconspicuous.
The
sepals fall
when
the flower
RED BANEBERRY
32
(Actsea rubra)
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE There are no
opens.
stamens and several This high.
petals,
just
33
numerous
pistils.
a low, hairy perennial about a foot Its rootstock is thick, knotted, and is
The plant grows
yellow.
New York
to
in rich
woods from
Minnesota and southward.
RED BANEBERRY Actaea rubra.
Actaea spicata, Var. rubra
Crowfoot Family
The
Fruit.
cherry-colored, oval berries
grow
in terminal ovate clusters about three inches in
A
white berry is occasionally found. Each fruit is borne on a slender stem, and has
length.
a groove along one side extending from the stem to a black spot at the opposite end, the remnant
The flesh of the berry is white thin. The seeds are smooth and
of the stigma.
and rather
packed in two horizontal rows, with the points of attachment to the flesh on the grooved side. This fruit
ment
of
is
a good illustration of the develop-
a simple
pistil.
The
seeds differ
in
shape according to the position each occupies in the row. July, August.
HOW
34
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
This perennial bears two or three
Leaves.
twice- or thrice-compound
The
leaves.
leaflets
lobed and sometimes the lower end
are often
ones are compound. They are coarsely toothed. The small white flowers grow in Flowers. The sepals fall when terminal ovate clusters.
The stamens, protruding opens. the petals, give the raceme a feathery beyond The stigma, maturing before the appearance. the
flower
shed
anthers
fertilization,
This
with
is
its
their
which
is
pollen, effected
necessitates
by
cross
small bees.
a plant of the woods, and the fruit, beautiful rich coloring, brightens the
Near by the July. are Sarsaparilla drupes blackening, while in
wooded roadside
in
Wild more
open spaces the Red and the Black Raspberries offer their delicious fruits. Its
range
is
from Maine, south to
New
Jersey
and Pennsylvania, and westward.
COMMON BARBERRY Berberis vulgaris
Fruit.
The oblong
Barberry Family
grow in Each clusters, which are usually drooping. has one is and erect which seed, berry commonly scarlet berries
COMMON BARBERRY 35
(Berberis vulgaris)
HOW
36
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The fruit is covered with a hard, brittle coat. It makes very acid but is eatable when cooked.
is
a delicious
jelly.
The
berries are eaten
by birds
and the seeds thrown up from the crop instead of passing through the entire
digestive
tract.
September.
The
Leaves.
from the
leaves seem to
axils of the spines.
grow in rosettes They are oval to
obovate and bristly toothed. This spiny shrub generally grows in thickets and waste grounds in eastern New England,
having become thoroughly wild there. It varies in height from one to six feet. The wood and inner bark are yellow. The spines, in groups of seven or three, are modified leaf structures and protect, against destruction
the fresh
from grazing animals,
shoots, with their leaves or flowers,
which grow from their axils. The flowers show ingenious arrangements protecting the pollen against for
securing
cross
dew
for
or rain, and
The yellow
fertilization.
blossoms
grow in drooping, many-flowered racemes, and the concave petals of each bloom
thus act as a roof for the pollen borne by the
stamens which they cover. The lower third of each stamen
is
sensitive to
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
37
Both the hive bee and the the slightest touch. huinblebee come to the flower in quest of the honey which is produced by the saffron-colored swellings on the petals and in getting it are almost sure to touch the base of the stamens.
These spring up and cover the head and parts of the fore legs and proboscis of the bee with pollen. " All
down the loose-walled lanes in archin' bowers, The barb'ry droops its strings o' golden flowers, Whose shrinkin' hearts the school-girls love to try " With pins, they'll worry yourn so, boys, bimeby !
LOWELL'S Sunthin'
in the Pastoral Line.
The peasants of Europe, long before science explained the phenomenon, declared that barberry bushes caused wheat to rust. The fungus causing wheat rust often lives but part of its life on wheat.
There
is
one stage of
its
growth which
Its prestakes place on leaves of the barberry. ence there is manifested by groups of little " cluster cups," which orange-colored cups, called leaf. the under the on surface of grow
The
state legislature of Massachusetts, as early
as 1760, passed " An Act to
prevent
Damage
arising from Barberry Bushes."
to English Grain
HOW
38
TO
ENOW
WILD FRUITS
There are certain grasses, however, upon which the "
summer
"
spore
" stage of the
wheat rust"
This stage does not need, in the spring, the intermediate host of the barberry leaf, but will grow directly on the is
produced throughout the year.
Eradication of the barberry, therefore, while necessary, and of advantage, does not
young
grain.
always eradicate the trouble.
WILD ALLSPICE. BENJAMIN BUSH FEVER BUSH. SPICE BUSH Benzoin Benzoin.
Liniera Banzoin
Laurel Family
The oval drupes are red and shining, with thin, yellow flesh and a large stone. They grow in small bunches, of from two to five, on Fruit.
stout, short stalks.
short-pointed at the base.
The under
Yellow
is
September.
The oval
Leaves.
the
Flowers.
or
elliptical
leaves
are
apex and narrowed at the
surface
is
paler than the upper.
fall color.
The
usually dioecious.
flowers are small, yellow, and They open before the leaves
appear in the spring. April, May. This is one of the early blooming spring shrubs.
The
flowers
and
leaves,
especially
if
SPICE BUSH (Benzoin Benzoin)
39
HOW
40
bruised, have
KNOW WILD
TO
FRUITS
an aromatic odor which, to some,
It belongs to a family very disagreeable. which includes such plants as the Camphor and Cinnamon. Its home is in damp woods. North is
Carolina, Tennessee,
and Kansas
limit its south-
ern range.
HAWTHORN OR NORTHERN GOOSEBERRY Ribes oxyacanthoides
Gooseberry Family
The reddish purple berry is round or round-ovoid, smooth, and covered with a bloom. Fruit.
Like the other species, at
the
keeps the dried calyx
it
summit, and has similar seeds.
July,
August. Leaves.
The
leaves are deeply three- to five-
lobed, with the lobes toothed
and
cut.
The base
of the leaf is heart-shaped or wedge-shaped.
Flowers.
The greenish
grow .in few-flowered This
is
flowers
or purplish
clusters,
on short
pedicels.
a low, usually smooth, shrub, with
When
crooked or reclined branches. occur, they are scattered,
and the
grow singly or in threes. wet woods as far south as
spines,
prickles if
any,
The plant grows
New
in
Jersey and west
HAWTHORN GOOSEBERRY 41
(Ribes oxijacanthoides)
HOW
42
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
from Newfoundland to Northwest Territory and It is also found in the Rocky British Columbia.
Mountains as far south as Utah and Colorado.
EASTERN WILD GOOSEBERRY Ribes rotundifolium
The
Fruit.
Gooseberry Family small, purplish, globose berry
is
from prickles and delicious in flavor. It is borne on a slender, smooth stem and bears the free
mark
of the calyx at the tip.
The
gelatinous-
covered seeds are suspended in a pulpy mass. Leaves. The small, roundish leaves are three-
or
five-lobed,
with short and blunt
The pubescence
visions.
the leaf
is
slight
if
di-
any, and
shining above.
is
The
Flowers.
flowers are greenish, with the
lobes sometimes a dull purple.
They grow on a
short two- or three-flowered stern.
This
is
branches
a shrub three or four feet high. are
single, spines.
spreading,
The
with
steins are
short,
smooth.
The
usually
Emer-
son says that this is the most promising of our native gooseberries for cultivation. This species prefers
mountainous
from Massachusetts
to
habitats,
and ranges
North Carolina.
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE
43
SWAMP GOOSEBERRY Ribes lacustre
Gooseberry Family
The berry
Fruit.
of the
small, about one-sixth
It
is
It
is
in raceme-like sists
Swamp
Gooseberry
an inch through. prickly, although the bristles are weak. reddish or dark purple, and often grows
is
at
clusters.
the summit.
of
The dried calyx perThe seeds have crusta-
ceous coats, surrounded by gelatinous ones, and are suspended by tiny threads. The flavor is unpleasant. Leaves. its
July, August. characteristic of the species
One
deeply cut, five-lobed leaves.
are slender
and
hairy.
The
leaf
The is
hairy along the veins beneath. The greenish flowers Flowers.
is
petioles
thin,
grow
and in
many-flowered racemes, differing in this respect
from the other gooseberries. Riles lacustre seems
to
be an intermediate
form between gooseberries and currants. The young steins are quite prickly, and the spines The older are weak and single or clustered. branches are smooth, excepting a few axillary spines.
The plant favors wet woods
or
swamps
HOW
44:
TO
SNOW
WILD FRUITS
from Pennsylvania north to Newfoundland, and west through British Columbia and our northern boundary
states.
MOUNTAIN CURRANT PROSTRATE CURRANT
FETID CURRANT.
Ribes prostratum
Fruit.
slender
Gooseberry Family
The round, light red berries grow in The berries and their short racemes.
stems are covered with glandular bruised, they smell like
The
JJeaves.
bristles.
When
Skunk Cabbage.
leaves are deeply five- to seven-
The lobes are ovate, acutish, and doubly serrate. The leaf stems are slender. The greenish flowers grow in erect, Flowers.
lobed.
slender, several-flowered racemes.
Prostrate stems, sometimes rooting, are characteristic
of this' species.
The branches have
The unpleasant prickles nor spines. odor, when bruised, of both plant and fruit is " Fetid Currant. " It responsible for the name neither
favors cold,
wet woods, and extends south from
Labrador, especially along the Alleghanies, to North Carolina, along the Rockies to Colorado, and throughout southern Canada.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
45
RED CURRANT Ribes rubrum.
Ribes rubrum, Var. subglandulosum
Gooseberry Family
Fruit.
in
The smooth, round,
drooping racemes,
red berries
grow and in appearance and
taste are similar to the cultivated currant.
The Wild Red Currant
very similar to the garden one, although that is probably a cultivated form of a European species. The currant is
The native to America, Europe, and Asia. Red Currant and the Fetid Currant are the only species with red berries, and the Fetid is easily is
distinguished by agreeable odor.
glandular bristles and disThe range of our native fruit
its
woods, from Labrador to Alaska and south to New Jersey, Indiana, and Minnesota.
is
in cold
PURPLE-FLOWERING RASPBERRY Rose Family
Rubus odoratus Fruit.
The tiny red drupes
packed together into a separates
readily
Withered
stamens
from and
are
flat, close head,
the
broad
recurved
closely
which
receptacle.
calyx
lobes
46
HOW
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
PURPLE- FLOWERING RASPBERRY (Rubus odoratus)
surround the base. ters
on bristly stems.
The fruits grow " The " berries
in clus-
are acid.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
47
The large leaves are pubescent on They are from three- to five-lobed
Leaves.
both surfaces.
and
finely toothed.
Flowers.
purple,
roselike
blossoms
in loose clusters.
grow It
Large,
for
is
rather
the attractiveness
than value of
Flowering
Raspberry
fruit
of
that
known.
is
the
flowers
the Purple-
The
large
peculiarly colored blossoms, so like the single rose in shape, appear advantageously against " the large, soft, green leaves. Grape leaves/'
Small Boy calls them, and they are quite similar. The shrub has no thorns, but recent growths stems, leaves, and calyx are densely clothed The plant occurs in with glandular hairs. rocky woods as far south as Georgia and Ten;
nessee and west to Michigan.
BAKED-APPLE BERRY MOUNTAIN RASPBERRY
CLOUDBERRY.
Rose Family
Rubus chamaemorus Fruit.
The
fruit
drupes borne on a
flat,
a few small
broad receptacle, from
which they separate when the ripened
of
consists
ripe.
fruit is pleasant,
The
flavor of
being sweet and
HOW
48
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
The ovate calyx
honeylike.
lobes support the
It is yellow or amber-colored
fruit at its base.
and usually tinged with red on the surface exposed to the sun. It is solitary and borne on a terminal stem.
Two, simple, roundish, five- to ninelobed leaves, somewhat like geranium leaves, grow on the unb ranched stems. They are serLeaves.
rate
and
alternate.
The blossoms
Flowers.
are white.
nate flowers grow on one plant; another.
This
is
a
low
prickles, which, in
herbaceous
New
England,
Stami-
pistillate,
plant is
on
without
found along
the coast of Maine and on the highest peaks of the White Mountains. It grows quite abun-
dantly in Nova Scotia, Labrador, Newfoundland, in the northern part of Quebec. It flour-
and
ishes in greatest profusion
even farther to the
north, being an Arctic plant in Europe and Asia as well' as in America. The northern berries are superior in size
The Indians berries in
and
quality.
Quebec cook the a sugar made from birch juice, and the in
northern
dwellers in the posts of the Hudson Bay make from them a jam of rare flavor.
Company
RED OE REDDISH PURPLE
49
WILD RED RASPBERRY see
(For illustration,
Rubus
182.)
Rose Family
strigosus
Fruit. fruit,
page
The
so-called berry
consisting of
many
is
an aggregate
small, united drupes,
the juicy pulp arising from the outer coat of the contained nutlet. The styles are persistent over the hemispherical surface of the fruit, and the When persistent stamens surround the base. ripe, the fruit separates
from the white, spongy,
The fruits are oblong receptacle. borne in a loose cluster, either terminally or from a leaf axil. The fruit stems are thickly or
conical
covered with recurved
bristles.
The
fruits are
red and delicious in taste and fragrance.
July-
September.
The compound
Leaves.
of three or five leaflets.
irregularly serrate,
leaves are composed These are coarsely and
and the
lateral ones are ses-
They are rounded at base and acute at The under surface is whitish and downy. apex. The white flowers grow in loose Flowers. sile.
clusters.
Aside from
Raspberry
is
dissemination by seeds the Suckers run spread from the root. its
HOW
50
out in
all
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
from the central root ana
directions
It is common send up new shoots in fresh soil. to find the Raspberry growing in patches by the
roadside, along fence rows, or in corners.
Our Wild Red Raspberry
is
the ancestor of
The cultivated " considered a sport."
the various cultivated varieties.
White Raspberry is Eubus neglectus,
Wild Raspberry, is an intermediate form between the Wild Red It is a Raspberry and the Black Raspberry. or Purple
plant with comparatively few bristles or prickles.
The fruit is borne on upright stems, is dark red, and nearly hemispherical. In cultivation the fruit is yellow.
DWARF RASPBERRY Rubus Americanus. Fruit.
that of the
Rubus
Rose Family
triflorus
This fruit resembles in appearance
Low
being dark red
Blackberry.
when
ration of the few,
ripe,
two
and
It differs in color,
also in the sepa-
to five, grains
which com-
from the receptacle, when the fruit is pose mature. Each grain is a juicy drupe inclosing it
a single hard-coated seed. a slender stem.
July.
The
fruit is
borne on
DWARF RASPBERRY
(Rubus Awericanus)
51
HOW
52
TO
The
Leaves.
from three to
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
compound
leaves
five thin, nearly
consist
smooth
of
leaflets.
These are coarsely and doubly serrate. The flower cluster grows on a Flowers.
slen-
der stem and consists of from one to three smallish
white flowers.
often
or
six
The
sepals
and petals are
seven in number, while those of
the other species number but five. This vine is ascending or trailing,
slightly
woody and hairy, but has no prickles. The fruit is borne on upright stems. It favors moist woods, and ranges from Labrador as far south as New Jersey and westward.
VIRGINIA OR SCARLET STRAWBERRY Rose Family
Fragaria Virginiana
The receptacle of the ripened fruit has become much enlarged, pulpy, sweet, and Fruit.
scarlet in color its
;
and
bears,
sunken
surface, several achenes.
subtends the aggregate
the leaves.
The lobed calyx The fruits of this
They grow on drooping small clusters, and are overtopped by
species are
stems, in
fruit.
in pits over
globular.
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE The
Leaves.
53
radical leaves consist of three
leaflets which are thick and leathery. The leaflets are obtuse, bluntly The leaf stems are hairy, as toothed, and hairy.
broadly oval or obovate
are also the stipules at the base of the petioles. Flowers. The white flowers grow in small
racemes on naked, hairy stems.
They have
bright yellow stamens, which form pleasing contrast with the white petals.
many
This
is
the
common
field
a
strawberry of our
The strawberries, aside from propagation by means of seeds, spread by runners, and section.
the plants are usually found growing in patches. Fence corners, sandy knolls, and around rocks are
spots
which often reward our search
the berries.
The common
for
attractive color com-
bination of red and green is seen in the leaves as At the time of well as in the leaves and fruit. fruiting
some
of the leaflets are often a bright
red.
a,
Nor do the fruits depend upon color alone as means of allurement, but send forth upon the
breezes a deliciously perfumed notice that they are ready for guests. Have you not encountered it
and, following
bluebirds,
its lead,
shared with the robins,
and downy woodpeckers, the
delicious
HOW
54 feast
KNOW WILD
TO
The wild
?
FRUITS
flavor of the berries
is
beyond
the power of cultivation to produce or retain.
A
strawberry bearing white fruits grows in
the Alps. F. Virginiana
grows from
New
Brunswick
southward and as far west as South Dakota.
Frag aria Canadensis
or Northern
Wild Straw-
berry, described as a separate species
and Brown,
is
by Britton
especially a northern plant.
The
oblong or narrowly obovate, and have comparatively few teeth. The fruit is oblong or leaflets are
somewhat rounded
at the summit.
The achenes
are sunken in pits.
EUROPEAN WOOD STRAWBERRY Fragaria vesca
Rose Family
The achenes
Fruit.
are not sunken in pits
but are borne on the nearly smooth surface of the conical or hemispherical fruit. The calyx lobes are sometimes spreading, sometimes reflexed.
The
Leaves. leaves
fruit cluster rises
The
above the leaves.
thin, light green, three-parted
grow on stems that are shorter than the
flower stems.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE This species belongs to
mon
fields
and rocky
from Europe, and
It is naturalized
55 places.
is less
com-
than Fragaria Virginiana.
Frag aria Americana, American Wood Strawberry, is by some considered a variety of Fragaria vesca, but is described by Brit ton and Brown as a distinct species. The leaflets are thinner and the fruit ovoid, or like a prolonged cone.
The berry has a smooth, shining
surface,
looking almost as if varnished, and the achenes It is an inhabitant adhere but slightly to it. of rocky woods,
sylvania and
and does not extend below Penn-
New
Jersey.
Oregon
is its
western
boundary.
THE ROSE The
rose,
with
its
dainty pink coloring, and its' a general favorite. Both in
subtle fragrance, is blossom and in fruit tures of structure.
that protects
its
presents interesting feaThis is one of the plants it
pollen from rain
and dew by
You pitching a petal tent over the stamens. surely remember the overlapping, folded aspect of the petals in the early morning or on a cloudy day.
The
rose produces
no honey for the
bee, but
HOW
56
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The mass does offer a liberal supply of pollen. of carpels at the center of the flower affords a convenient landing place for the insect and a substantial platform on which he may stand gathering the pollen stores, which are yielded by the numerous stamens circled about. while
During his harvesting the bee carries pollen from one blossom to the receptive stigmas of another, and accomplishes the cross fertilization of the flower at the same time that he is gather" ing material for his bee bread." The fruit of the rose is peculiar to itself and is
known
as a hip.
It is considered
and by Britton and Brown
by Gray
to be a fleshy calyx
cup with a contracted mouth which incloses the bony achenes. Kerner and Oliver consider the hip as a hollow receptacle which contains carpels that are entirely distinct from the wall of the
The remnants of the styles remain the mouth of the hip, which may or may not
receptacle.
at
be surrounded by the calyx lobes. The fruits are eaten by birds and the seeds scattered by them.
hips but
gnaw and
Mice, too, are fond of the
destroy the seeds instead of Some rose hips were aiding in their dispersal. from the bushes and scattered along gathered
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE the near-by path.
57
In the morning, these were
found to have been nibbled or eaten by the mice, while the hips on the bushes were left untouched,
having been protected by the sharp thorns and These also hinder snails and caterprickles. pillars
from reaching and destroying the fresh
foliage.
There are
five native species quite
common
in
our section.
SMOOTH OR MEADOW ROSE Rosa blanda Fruit.
Rose Family
This globose, bright scarlet hip
is
generally smooth and retains the calyx lobes, which are erect on the fruit and somewhat hairy.
September. Leaves.
The
leaflets
are
five
to seven
in
number, obtuse at the summit, narrowed at the base, and simply and sharply serrate. They
have short stems or are
sessile.
The
stipules
are broad and dilated.
Flowers.
The pink
corymbs. Rosa blanda feet high.
is
flowers are solitary or in
a low bush not more than four
It occasionally bears a
few prickles
HOW
58
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
but entirely lacks spines, this feature being a The stems distinguishing mark of the species. are a dark red.
It favors moist,
west to
rocky places
New
from Newfoundland south to
Jersey and
and Ontario.
Illinois
SWAMP ROSE Rose Family
Rosa Carolina
The
Fruit.
hip is globose or deIt and the stem are set with
scarlet
pressed-globose.
The spreading
hairs.
glandular
calyx lobes are deciduous. during the winter. nine
leaflets,
are simply
They at
pointed
and
reflexed ;
remains
leaves have five to
usually seven.
narrowly oblong and
They
September
The compound
Leaves.
or
are usually either
end.
finely serrate, dull green,
and pale or pubescent beneath. Even in midsummer they often become a dull reddish color,
which
js
the
regular
autumnal
shade.
The
stipules are dilated.
Flowers.
grow
in
The bright pink corymbs,
August. This rose of
seldom
swamps and
flowers usually
solitary.
June-
stream
borders
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
59
suckers freely arid often grows in clumps.
It
from one to eight feet in height. The spines are stout and often recurved. Prickles freis
The range quently occur along the stems. It throughout the Eastern United States. one of the most
common
is is
species.
LOW OR PASTURE ROSE Rosa humilis Fruit.
Rose Family
The depressed globular
or
globose
with their pedicels, are hairy and glandular. The calyx lobes are not persistent. September
hips,
and
persistent.
The
Leaves.
usually five. thin, acute at
The
stipules
leaflets are
from
five to seven,
are coarsely serrate, rather apex, short-stemmed or sessile.
They
are
narrow and
entire.
Bright
reds and orange are the autumnal colorings. The solitary or two- to threeFlowers. clustered pink flowers have a glandular calyx
with lobed calyx lobes. May-July. The Pasture Rose is usually low, about three feet high.
The
and the bush
is
and
straight,
less prickly.
It is a
spines are slender
more or
60
HOW
TO
KNOW WILD
Low OR PASTURE ROSE
(Rosa humilis)
and spreads rapidly by suckers. extends south to Georgia and Louisiana, and
rose of dry soil It
FRUITS
west to Wisconsin.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
61
NORTHEASTERN ROSE Rosa nitida
Rose Family
The hip is globular, scarlet, and The calyx lobes fall. glandular hairs. Fruit.
is
bears Fruit
persistent.
The
Leaves.
are usually narrowly oblong and pointed at either end. They are leaflets
The sharply serrate, bright green, and shining. are and broad somewhat stipules generally glandular. Bright orange and red are the fall colors.
The
Flowers.
flowers are in small clusters.
June, July.
A
marked
sign of this species
is its
red shoots
with their prickles, which are nearly as stout as It is a plant of low stature, the slender spines. Its range is quite about two feet in height. limited from Massachusetts north to New-
foundland.
DOG
ROSE.
Rose Family
Rosa canina Fruit.
CANKER ROSE
The
reflexed calyx lobes fall
from the
long ovoid hip, which is usually smooth. fruit is red when mature. September.
The
HOW
62 Leaves.
The
five to
SNOW
TO
The stipules seven
WILD FRUITS
are glandular
and broad.
leaflets are quite thick,
nearly
smooth above, somewhat pubescent below, and sharply toothed. The flowers are often light pink or Flowers. white.
They
are
usually
solitary,
sometimes
few-clustered. It This species is sometimes ten feet high. It is similar to the has stout spines with hooks. It has following species, but is not fragrant. It frequents been naturalized from Europe.
roadsides
south
New
to
Jersey
and
eastern
Pennsylvania.
SWEETBRIER.
EGLANTINE
Rosa rubiginosa Fruit.
Rose Family
The ovoid hip changes from yellowish
It is usually smooth, sometimes slightly prickly with a prickly pedicel.
to red in ripening.
The calyx Leaves. finely
lobes usually fall.
The
toothed.
September.
usually doubly and under surface is densely
leaflets are
The
The apex is generally hairy and resinous. obtuse and the base rounded. The leaf stems are prickly
and the
stipules are
broad and glan-
SWEETBRIER (Rosa 63
rubifjinoso)
HOW
64 dular.
The
TO
KNOW WILD
foliage
FRUITS
when crushed
or bruised
is
very fragrant. The blossoms are smallish but such Flowers. a wonderful
lack
They strangely
deep pink.
June, July. In this naturalized species,
fragrance.
tine of English fame.
The
we have
the Eglan-
delicious fragrance
It is very thorny, with unique. stout spines which curve downwards. Virginia and Tennessee mark its southern range.
of the leaves
is
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH Sorbus Americana.
Pyrus Americana
Apple Family
The bright red, berrylike fruits show externally their pome characteristics by the fiveFruit.
pointed, starlike calyx teeth at the summit.
shows the seeds
cross section
around the
heavy
core.
clusters.
The
A
in their five cells
fruits
grow
in
large,
September, October.
The compound
leaves consist of from
six to eight pairs of leaflets
with a terminal one.
Leaves.
Their stem late or
is
reddish.
The
leaflets are lanceo-
oblong oval, sharply serrate, and pointed The under surface is paler than the
at the tip.
upper.
They
are yellow in the
fall.
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE Flowers. flat
The small white
compound cymes.
flowers
65
grow
in
May, June.
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH (Sorbus Americana)
The Mountain Ash Tree is gorgeous in fruit. The birds, however, do not seem to care for the fruit,
neglecting
The American
it
if
species
other food closely
is
available.
resembles
the
HOW
66
FRUITS
the one usually grown on native tree has a darker bark,
European, which
Our
lawns.
KNOW WILD
TO
is
smoother leaves and stem, more sharply toothed leaves,
and darker, smaller
more slender
The
tree is
in its growth.
The range tains of
fruit.
is
from Newfoundland to moun-
North Carolina, west to Michigan and
Minnesota.
Sorbus is
Gray)
sambucifolia
much
like
(Pyrus sambucifolia of the preceding but with
It smaller cymes and larger fruit and flowers. is a more northern tree, northern New England
limiting
its
southern range.
It
occurs
near
Lake Superior and westward.
RED CHOKEBERRY. DOGBERRY Aronia arbutifolia.
Pyrus arbutifolia
Apple Family
The fruit grows in an erect cymelike Each pome, small and berrylike though it be, shows its resemblance to an apple in the calyx teeth and the dried stamens which it bears at the apex. A vertical section shows the " and a cross section the five cells with core," Fruit.
cluster.
-
their normally
two
seeds.
The
flesh is reddish or
RED CHOKEBERRY
(Aronia arbutifolia)
67
HOW
68
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
dark in color and not very thick.
The separate
are reddish, globose or pear-shaped,
fruits
about the
size of
a large huckleberry.
and
They are They often
sweet but rather dry and astringent. remain long on the bushes, as birds do not seem to care for them.
The margins
Leaves.
oblong leaves
have
petioles are short
narrowed midrib
the apex
and the
;
is
;
of the oblanceolate or
rounded teeth.
fine
is
obtuse or sharply
The upper
base, narrowed.
glandular.
The
The under
surface of the
When
the leaves change they woolly. assume dark red and orange shades. leaf
is
The
Flowers.
rose-shaped
flowers
grow compound downy corymbs. The chokeberry is a shrub from one
to three
white,
in
feet
high,
occasionally
reaching
a
height of and moist
twelve feet. It is largest in swamps thickets but often grows in dry places.
common from Nova to Minnesota.
It is
Scotia south, and westward
JUNEBERRY (Amelanchier Canadensis) 70
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
SERVICE BERRY.
71
JUNEBERRY.
MAY
CHERRY Amelanchier Canadensis
Fruit.
from a red
The
Apple Family
berrylike
pomes vary
to an almost violet-blue.
in
color
They
are
covered with a slight bloom. The calyx lobes ? at the summit, inclose several dried filaments.
The ovary is five-celled with two ovules to a cell, but as the fruit develops a false partition grows between the two ovules of each cell, making the fruit ten-celled
with one seed in each,
The
ovules develop.
if all
the
fruits are generally globose,
racemes on rather long, slender stems. They are sweet and delicious in flavor. They ripen in June hence the name of June-
and grow
in
;
berry.
Leaves.
The ovate
or
ovate-oblong leaves
are sharply toothed, rounded or heart-shaped at When young the base, and acute at the tip.
they are hairy, but become smooth. The white flowers, with their strapFlowers. shaped petals, grow in loose, drooping racemes at the ends of branchlets.
This species
is
a tree from ten to thirty feet in
HOW
72
It
height.
is
soon robbed of robins, cedar
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
said to fruit sparingly its
fruit
birds, I
woodpeckers.
know
TO
by the birds,
orioles,
to be
bluebirds,
downy and hairy
have been fortunate enough
in prolific seasons,
it
and
when
to
the trees stood
laden with red and purplish fruits for two or three weeks.
Amelanchier is a plant which is much influenced by climatic conditions. Two apparently different types exist east and west of the Rockies.
merge
On
into
the
each
Rocky Mountains the two other
until they cannot
be
distinguished.
The
fresh
and dried
fruits of
one variety are
said to have been used by the Indians. Dr. Hooker says they make a pudding which is nearly equal to plum pudding. Amelanchier Botryapium, or Shad Bush, is a lower plant, sometimes a shrub. The young leaves are more woolly, the racemes shorter and thicker, and the fruit smaller, on shorter It grows in low wet stems, and more juicy.
or in
swampy woods.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
73
COCKSPUR THORN Crataegus Crus-Galli
Fruit.
Apple Family
The external appearance
that of a pome, with
is
decidedly
its five, persistent,
sharply The seeds pointed calyx lobes at the summit. The are, however, bony, like those of a drupe. fruit is red
and nearly globular.
September and
throughout the winter. Leaves.
The
leaves are inversely egg-shaped,
with pointed or rounded apex. The leaf tapers toward the base, the margin of which is entire.
The remainder
margin is toothed. The upper surface is smooth and shining and the lower one is paler. Yellow and red are the colors of the
of the fall foliage.
Flowers.
The fragrant white
flowers
grow
in irregular corymbs.
This Thorn becomes a small slender, sharp thorns.
a native, but
is
tree.
It is not
very
It
has long,
common
well adapted for cultivation.
as
HOW
74
TO
SNOW
WILD FRUITS
LARGE-FRUITED THORN. DOTTEDFRUITED THORN Apple Family
Crataegus punctata
The red
Fruit.
or
yellow globular pomes with whitish dots. They grow on
are dotted
dotted hairy peduncles in leafy corymbs. The bony nutlets are rounded and somewhat grooved.
The
dry and tough but rather pleasant The calyx lobes crown the summit.
flesh is
flavored.
The
fruits are
abundant.
The
Leaves.
September.
egg-shaped leaves or rounded at the apex and taper
are acute
inversely
toward the base, finally forming winged petioles. The margin above the middle is serrate. The veins beneath are prominent and usually hairy. The leaves are rather thick and firm.
Flowers.
what
leafy
The white clusters.
flowers
grow
The flower
in some-
stems
are
downy. This
is
branches.
grows in
a thick spreading tree with horizontal It is not very tall. It frequently thickets.
The bark
is
thorns are sharp and light brown.
The The Duke of rough.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE Argyle
is
said to
have introduced
English gardens. The seeds of the Thorn
75
this tree into
fruits, or
haws, are so hard that it requires a considerable time for In some parts of France their germination.
when a hawthorn hedge are fed to turkeys. The
is
wanted, the haws
seeds are uninjured by the digestive process but the hard coats are
somewhat
softened,
It extends
readily secured. nies into Georgia
Ontario are
its
and germination
is
more
along the Allegha-
and Alabama;
Quebec and
northern limits.
SCARLET THORN Crataegus coccinea
Apple Family
The globose or ovoid pomes grow in small clusters, two or three fruits in each. They are bright red, on slender stems, and bear The flesh is thin. The calyx lobes at the top. Fruit.
three or four nutlets are deeply ridged along the The fruit is rather sweet and dry. Sepback.
tember, October. Leaves.
The broad-ovate
leaves
grow
alter-
nately on slender stems which are grooved above.
SCARLET THORN
(Cratsegus coccinea)
76
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE The
77
and deeply cut, almost lobed along the upper half. The outline somewhat resembles that of a White Birch leaf.
The
leaves are
under
Yellow
is
surface
the
Flowers.
finely toothed
fall
is
paler
than the upper.
color.
The rather
grow on slender stems,
large
white flowers
in clusters.
They have
a strong, disagreeable odor. May. This is a low tree with crooked, spreading branches, ashy gray or light brown bark, and stout thorns attaining maturity on third-year The plants like moist soil but will growths. in pasture lands, where they form thickets, the thorns protecting them from destruction by grazing animals. In New England this thorn is
grow
generally larger than the other species. Cratcegus macracantha has longer thorns, thicker leaves, stouter stems, and larger flowers
and
fruits.
The
leaves are sometimes doubly
serrate.
Cratcegus
mottis
varies
chiefly
from
Cratce-
gus coccinea in having hairy leaves, twigs, and leaf stems. It is about two weeks earlier. Partridges are fond of the Thorn fruits, and when snaring the birds
in the good old days,
was not " prohibited by law," the bright
little
HOW
78
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
apples were used for bait.
an
said
boy," other day, the snow
elderly
"we
"When to me
I
was a
only the
used to dig narrow paths in up two sticks with a string
set
;
man
stretched across them, and a loop of horsehair
hanging from the string; scatter Thorn-apples Many a along the path and await results. ;
we found the next morning, unable to free himself from the horsehair loop, through which he endeavored to reach the plump
bird have
edible fruits beyond."
PEAR THORN Cratasgus tomentosa
Fruit. like
pome
Apple Family
The pear-shaped, seldom round, drupeis
red or orange-red.
It is
crowned
erect calyx lobes. The flesh is thin and the seeds are bony. They are rounded, and have on the back two faint grooves. September,
by the
October, and persistent. Leaves.
The
and are borne on to the base is
leaves are firm petioles
and leathery,
which are margined
by the tapering leaves.
The margin
doubly serrate, and sometimes so deeply cut
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE near the apex as to form lobes. surface is downy along the veins. Flowers.
The
ill-scented
79
The under
white flowers grow
corymbs on downy flower stems. The calyx lobes are likewise covered with down. This small tree has dark brown to gray bark in leafy
and sharp axillary thorns.
It
is
quite widely
distributed throughout the country, but so
common
in the
York contains
Northern
states.
is
Central
flourishing growths of
it.
not
New The
fruits cling to the tree until spring.
WILD YELLOW. OR RED PLUM Plum Family
Prunus Americana
The
Fruit.
yellow or reddish, somewhat whitened with a bloom. It is globose, fleshy drupe
is
with a slight depression at the tip. It grows The laterally on a stout, rather short, stem. thick and tough, the flesh quite thick, and the stone rather smooth, with quite sharp skin
is
edges.
August, September.
Leaves.
The ovate
leaves
are
coarsely or smooth, or
They are nearly somewhat hairy along the veins on the lower The apex terminates in a long tip. surface.
doubly serrate.
WILD YELLOW OR RED PLUM (Primus Americana) SO
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE The white
Flowers.
and
leaves,
April,
in
grow
81
flowers
lateral
precede the sessile umbels.
May.
Authorities differ
much
as to its range.
I
have known the tree along Connecticut roadsides,
the eastern portion of the tree is small and thorny, and is
especially in
The
state.
quite prolific,
CANADA PLUM. HORSE PLUM Plum Family
Prunus nigra fruit.
This plum differs from the preceding It is from an inch to one
in being oblong-oval.
The red or orangeand a half inches long. colored skin is tough, and the flesh clings to the flat stone.
Leaves.
It is of pleasant flavor.
The ovate
August.
or obovate leaves are not
so sharply serrate as those of
Prunus Americana,
The apex is long-pointed nor bristle-tipped. and the base wedge-shaped or somewhat heartshaped. Flowers.
The white
in the preceding after
opening. flowered umbels.
flowers are larger than species, and change to pink
They grow May.
in two- to three-
HOW
82
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
a species of more northern range than In Canada the fruits are Primus Americana.
This
is
extensively preserving.
marketed, being used raw or for The plant occurs in northern New
England, but has not been reported in Connecticut, and is but occasional in Massachusetts.
Lawrence valley and as
It flourishes in the St.
far west as
Lake Manitoba.
It follows streams,
grows along fences, and springs up
in thickets.
BEACH PLUM Plum Family
Primus maritima
Fruit.
The purplish
or
red bloom-covered
drupe is globular and from one-half to one It hangs by a slender stem. inch in diameter. The stone is thin and sharp on one edge and
rounded on the other. each end. Leaves.
It is usually pointed at
August, September.
The ovate
or oval leaf has a rounded
base and- an acute apex. It is finely serrate. The leaves are arranged alternately. They often
have one or two glands at the base. and orange are the autumnal colors. Flowers. in umbels
The white along the
flowers
sides
of
Dark red
grow profusely the
branches-
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE before
They open May.
the
leaves
This rather low shrub
83
appear.
April,
a habitant of sandy
is
or stony beaches, and sometimes grows in waste It grows in places twenty miles or so inland.
clumps and often
when
are sweet
fruits ripe,
The plums some places are
abundantly.
and
in
gathered and sold for preserving.
WILD RED CHERRY. BIRD CHERRY. PIN OR PIGEON CHERRY Plum Family
Prunus Pennsylvanica
Fruit. clusters of
The small from two
grow from the of
leaves
leaf
the end
at
light red drupes to
axils
of
These
five.
or take
grow
in
clusters
the place
the
previous year's often a leafless They occupy space of six or more inches along the branches, with shoots.
leaves fruit
size of a pea,
and retains at the
of the style. is
slender
from three-quarters to an inch Each cherry is globular, about the
is
in length.
stone
The
above and below them.
stem
large
The in
flesh is thin
tip a
and
remnant
sour.
The
comparison with the whole
WILD RED CHERRY (Prunus 84
Pennsylvanica)
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE fruit,
is
nearly
and
globular,
grooves and ridges along one Leaves.
The
leaves
are
85
has side.
noticeable July.
oblong-lanceolate,
with pointed apex and rounded base. are finely serrate,
and
nate or in pairs.
in
They
arrangement are alterare a
They
bright In
autumn
The
petioles
green above and lighter beneath. they change to a bright yellow.
shining
are slender and grooved.
Flowers.
The white
cherrylike flowers
grow
in umbels of from five to eight blossoms
The Wild Red Cherry
is
a small tree from
twenty to thirty feet high. It is especially a tree of the Northern forests, but extends south-
wards along the mountains, attaining est size in the mountains of Tennessee.
its
great-
It often
springs up abundantly over cleared lands and
is
found along ravines.
George Emerson
tells of
using the dry beds
streams as a footpath and of finding there numerous stones of the Wild Red Cherry, although there were no trees of the kind within of
hill
a considerable distance.
Water, as well as
seems in this case to act
in scattering the seeds.
The bark
of the tree
is
raised, rusty-looking dots,
birds,
reddish brown with
and has the common
HOW
86
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
cherry characteristic of peeling off in horizontal strips.
CHOKE CHERRY Plum Family
Prunua Virginiana Fruit. size
of
The drupes, which are ahout the peas, grow in long drooping clusters
at the ends of leafy branches of the season's
growth.
Each cherry
is
borne on a short stem
It is globular or nearly equal to oval, with a thin, shiny, dark red or nearly black skin. Yellow fruits have been found. The pulp it
is
in length.
The
cherries
in flavor, but in all cases are
more or
yellow, juicy, and rather sweet.
vary much
less astringent.
Leaves.
July, August.
The oval or obovate
leaves
grow
from rounded stems which are grooved on the
Two or four glands are borne upper surface. on the margins of these grooves. The leaves are rounded or wedge-shaped at the base and The margins are sharply pointed at the apex.
sharply serrate. is
The upper
surface of the leaf
bright green and the lower one is lighter. Flowers. The small, white, cherrylike flow-
ers
grow
in loosely flowered, erect, or spreading
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
87
The petals are more rounded than Wild Black Cherry. April, May.
racemes.
those of the
This shrub sometimes becomes a small
The
tree.
growths are found in Nebraska, Indian Territory, and Texas. The trunk rarely has a diameter of more than two or three inches. largest
The plant ters of
of
decorative in fruit, with
is
shining, jewel-like
some shrubs
is
quite
spheres.
its clus-
The
fruit
pleasant to the taste,
while one cherry from another will "pucker" tongue, and roof of mouth, and set one's The skin seems to possess more teeth on edge. lips,
of the astringent quality than the flesh.
Bluebirds, robins, birds,
cedar birds,
hairy woodpeckers, and
of the fruit.
crows,
flickers are
king-
fond
Bears are said to aid in scatter-
As for children, how they will ing the seed. fur their tongues with bunch after bunch of the cherries
!
It is
almost impossible to remove the
stain of this fruit
from clothing.
The Choke Cherry has an extended range from within the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico
and across the continent. It is a familiar feature of roadside and fence-row growth and often grows near streams.
HOW
88
TO
KNOW
DWARF SUMAC
WILD FRUITS
(Rhus copallind)
DWARF SUMAC Rhus
copallina
The panicle of bright red fruit is Each drupe is compressed and open.
Fruit.
quite
Sumac Family
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE rather
89
bearing the stigmas at the top. Gray dots are scattered over the fruits. The
berry
short,
is
acid.
Leaves.
Persistent.
There are from nine to twenty-one
with noticeable wings along either side of the stem between them. This is a distinleaflets,
guishing feature of
the
The
species.
are often entire and shine above as
if
leaflets
polished.
The under surface is lighter and downy. In autumn the leaves become a rich' purple. Flowers. The fertile and sterile flowers are in separate clusters, the pistillate in
much
smaller
ones than the staminate.
This sumac, like Rhus hirta, may be readily distinguished
seemingly jointed, petioles. is
somewhat misleading,
is
pubescent, but
by its winged, " The term " Dwarf
as the plant sometimes
reaches a height of eighteen or twenty feet. is a beautiful shrub, growing on rocky hills.
It
STAGHORN SUMAC Rhus
hirta.
Rhus typhina
Sumac Family
The small dry drupes are borne in a terminal, compound, compact cluster. Each fruit is one-seeded, has a very thin coat, and is thickly Fruit.
90
HOW
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
STAGHORN SUMAC (Rhushirta)
covered with silky hairs. the base.
The
fruits
The calyx
are
acid.
persistent through the winter.
persists at
August, and
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE Leaves.
The
leaves are
91
compound and odd-
pinnate, with from eleven to thirty-one leaflets. The petioles are red above and green below and The leaves are densely covered with hairs. alternate.
The
leaflets
are
oblong-lanceolate,
at the tip and sharply serrate, rounded at the base. They are paler beneath and The autumnal colors are brilliant; red, hairy.
acute
sessile,
yellow, and orange.
The
Flowers.
sterile
and
fertile flower pani-
on different plants, although they occasionally on the same one. They are
cles are usually
are
greenish yellow.
Rhus
June, July.
sometimes called Velvet Sumac, and appropriately so, for branches and stalks are
so
hirta
is
densely
coated
with soft
hairs
as
to
resemble, both to the sight and touch, a velvet
This hairy appearance, together with covering. the irregularly forked branches, somewhat re-
sembling the horns of a young stag, has given rise to its other popular name, Staghorn Sumac. It
sometimes reaches the stature of a small
The
autumnal foliage is a great addition to the hills which it frequents. Sometimes a whole pasture is aglow with it. tree.
brilliancy of its
For two successive springs
I
have seen
my
first
HOW
92
robin on the
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
sumac bushes, dining on the
which have been preserved for
The
winter.
The
the
in
through the in
taste of the berries after
their exposure to the cold of winter
acid than
fruits
sumac drupes
catbird includes
his spring diet.
it
fall.
is
much
The bark and
less
leaves,
because of their astringent qualities, are useful in tanning.
SMOOTH SUMAC Sumac Family
Rims glabra
The dry drupes grow in a more open, compound cluster than those of Rhus liirta. The Fruit.
smaller clusters composing the fruit panicle altermuch the same fashion as the leaves.
nate in
The calyx which is
is
persists at the base
covered with fine red hairs.
rounded and flattened on two
and
of each
sides.
drupe,
The
fruit
September,
persistent.
The compound pinnate leaves, with leaflets, grow on smooth, reddish petiAuthorities differ as to the number of
Leaves.
terminal oles.
the
leaflets.
They
are oblong-lanceolate, sessile,
toothed, and have a long point at the apex and
rounded base.
They
are whitened beneath and
11ED OR
REDDISH PURPLE
smooth.
The
and gold
in the fall.
is
The greenish
Flowers. nal,
foliage
98
gorgeous in crimsons flowers
grow
in termi-
much-branched heads.
This
June, July. a smooth sumac which does not at-
is
tain the size often reached
by
velvet-coated
its
The two sumacs frequently grow
brother.
to-
Their deep roots rengether and form clumps. der them difficult of extermination. The berries are sometimes used in dyeing reds.
FRAGRANT OR SWEET-SCENTED SUMAC Rhiis aromatica.
The
Fruit.
Sumac Family
Rhus Canadensis globose, red,
downy drupes
are
in short clustered spikes.
Leaves.
The compound
composed of and two lateral
leaf is
a terminal, short-stalked leaflet The terminal one sessile ones.
The bruised leaves In autumn the leaves
three-cleft.
grant.
is
sometimes
are rather fraare orange and
red.
The
yellowish green blossoms appear before the leaves and are borne in short
Flowers.
spikes.
HOW
94
This
TO
ENOW WILD
FRUITS
a low, straggling shrub, growing in It occurs in patches on sandy or rocky banks. west to Minnesota. and thence western Vermont is
It is not poisonous.
AMERICAN HOLLY Ilex opaca
Fruit.
on short
Holly Family
The globular red drupes stalks along the recent
are borne
growths or from
the leaf axils, looking like big red-headed pins The remnant partly stuck into the branches. of the stigma at the
summit appears
as a black
The usually four-parted calyx lobes Each drupe contains four to the base.
spot.
are
at
six
small nutlets, which are ribbed, veiny, or onegrooved on the back. They are somewhat tri-
angular in shape. thin.
The
flesh is
yellow and rather
Persistent.
The thick, leathery, evergreen leaves Leaves. are shining above and paler beneath. They have large teeth which terminate in spines. They are oval in outline, with pointed apex and pointed or
angular base. Flowers. These are usually dioecious. The small white or greenish blossoms appear in June.
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE
The
sterile or partly sterile
usually
in
the
axils.
95
ones grow in clusters, fertile ones are
The
solitary.
AMERICAN HOLLY
(Ilex opacd)
a small tree with light gray bark, lighter than that of the beech, which it some-
This
is
what resembles.
Its evergreen leaves
and bright
HOW
96
TO
persistent berries
mental.
In
KNOW
make
WILD FEUITS
the fertile tree very orna-
native wilds,
its
it
often presents a
weird appearance, so overhung
is
it
with
soft,
grayish lichens.
The
leaves of the lower branches have the
sharpest spines, preventing the tree's destruction by grazing animals. On the upper branches,
beyond the reach of such enemies, the spines are less prominent, and at the tip of the tree they nearly disappear. "
reader
!
hast thou ever stood to see
The The eye
holly-tree ?
that contemplates Its glossy leaves
well perceives
it
Ordered by an intelligence so wise
As might confound "
the atheist's sophistries.
Below, a circling fence,
its
leaves are seen
Wrinkled and keen
No
;
grazing cattle through their prickly round Can reach to wound ;
But as they grow where nothing is to fear, Smopth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear." .
The
glossy leaves
SOUTHEY'S The Holly-Tree.
and showy
berries
have long
been associated with the Christmas season.
wood It
is
The
hard and capable of a beautiful polish. used for cabinet making, whip handles,
is
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
97
Our species closely resembles engraving, etc. the European Holly, differing from it in having less glossy leaves
and duller
Holly occurs
New England and New from New Jersey along
more or
less frequently in
York.
It is
abundant
fruit.
the coast to the south, and in the Gulf States.
dependent upon sea air, and will not grow much more than a hundred miles inland. Holly
is
Ilex monticola, or Large-leaved Holly, grows in the Catskills
Alabama.
and along the Alleghanies
to
usually a shrub, rarely becoming a tree. It bears a reddish drupe containing ribbed The leaves are thin, deciduous, ovate, nutlets. It
is
and sharply toothed. The fertile flowers grow on very short stems and are solitary. The sterile ones are clustered. f
BLACK ALDER. VIRGINIA WINTER BERRY (For illustration, see Frontispiece.')
Hex
verticillata
Fruit.
The
Holly Family
bright, scarlet, glossy drupes are
about a quarter of an inch in diameter. The dark stigma is at the top and the persistent The pulp is yellowish, and calyx is at the base.
HOW
98
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
contains three to eight- lunate smooth nutlets. The fruits grow on short stems and are solitary or
in
clusters.
They appear
as
if
arranged
The flicker is September, and clinging
spirally around the branches.
said to eat the berries.
long after the leaves
The
Leaves.
They
fall.
leaves turn black in autumn.
are oval or wedge-lanceolate, acute at the
apex, toothed, smooth above and hairy below, along the depressed veins.
Flowers. flowers
The
small,
are solitary or
polygamo-dioecious the axils.
clustered in
May, June. The fence and stone-wall growth is brightened in the fall by the Black Alder with its scarlet These are said to be eaten by flickers, growth along fence rows would suggest The bushes with the dispersal by birds.
berries.
and its
its
berries snow-laden are a beautiful sight.
recognize these bright glad the windows of New York to
I
wild fruits City
was in
florists,
placed amidst fantastic orchids and customary The plant ranges Christmas decorations. the eastern throughout part of the United States as far west as Missouri. in
Nova
Scotia.
It also occurs
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
99
SMOOTH WINTER BERRY Ilex leevigata
Fruit."
Holly Family
The
rich orange-red drupes are larger
than the preceding and ripen earlier. They on in grow peduncles length equaling their diameter.
September.
The
Leaves.
thin, light green, oval or
oblong
leaves have a glossy luster on either side.
apex
is
base
is
The
acute and often has a twisted point ; the The leaves are obscurely also acute.
They are bright yellow in the fall. The small white flowers are perFlowers. fect or dioecious, and grow in the leaf axils on
toothed.
slender stems.
The extent
of this species
is
from Maine
to
Its range is much the mountains of Virginia. more limited than that of the preceding plant. Its yellow
autumnal coloring
ing feature.
is
one distinguish-
HOW
100
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
WILD OR MOUNTAIN HOLLY Ilicioides mucronata.
Nemopanthes
fascicularis
Holly Family
The
Fruit.
crimson, nearly globular, berrylike drupe grows from the leaf axil, on a The flesh red stalk, an inch or more in length. pale
yellowish and incloses four or five faintly ribbed stony nutlets. September. is
Leaves.
The oblong deciduous leaves grow They are entire or faintly
on slender stems.
toothed and acute or bristle-tipped at the apex. Flowers. The flowers are small, white, and polygamo-dicecious. May, June. The long, threadlike peduncles are distinctive features of this much-branched shrub.
It
has
an ash-gray bark. Its habitat is in damp woods along the mountains in Virginia, and northwards.
It is
found west to Indiana and Wis-
consin.
STRAWBERRY BUSH Euonymus Americanus Fruit.
opens
its
Staff-tree
Family
The rough, warty, crimson capsule usually five pods and discloses the
BED OR REDDISH PURPLE scarlet arils of the seeds.
seeds in each Leaves.
101
There are one to four
cell.
The
ovate
nearly sessile, leaves pointed apex. Flowers.
are
The small
to
oblong-lanceolate,
green with a
bright
flowers
grow
in loose
June. cymes from the leaf axils. This is an erect shrub, sometimes six feet high. It grows along the wooded banks of streams
from
New York
Euonymus
and
Illinois,
obovatus,
southward.
Running
Strawberry
low and straggling. The leaves are inBush, verse egg-shaped, and grow on short stems. The is
and earlier than in the preThe fruit is usually three-celled.
flowers are smaller
ceding species. It has a more limited range than Strawberry Bush, its southern boundaries being Pennsylvania, Indiana,
and Kentucky.
BURNING BUSH. WAHOO. SPINDLE TREE Euonymus atropurpureus
Staff-tree
Family
The smooth fleshy pod or capsule is The three- or four-lobed and purple in color. the disclose pods open, when mature, enough to Fruit.
\*
BURNING BUSH (Eiionymus atropurpureus) 102
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE bright red ariled seed.
The
fruits
grow on
103 long,
drooping stems and hang late on the branches. The fruit is said to be poisonous. October.
The thin
leaves are ovate or elliptical, pointed at the apex and pointed or blunt
Leaves.
They are finely toothed. The dark purple flowers grow Flowers.
at base.
in
few-flowered clusters on drooping stems. In New England this plant appears only as a
In
New
York, west to Wisconsin and Nebraska, and southward, it is found In Arkansas and along the wood borders. Indian Territory it reaches tree size.
cultivated shrub.
WAXWORK. SHRUBBY OR CLIMBING BITTERSWEET Celastrus scandens
Staff-tree
Family
The yellow or orange berrylike capsule opens and bends backward its two to Fruit.
three valves, disclosing the scarlet arils which surround the seeds. There are three cells, with
one or two brownish oblong seeds in each. fruits grow in a loose, spikelike cluster. tember.
The Sep-
HOW
104
TO
KNOW WILD FEUITS
SHRUBBY OR CLIMBING BITTERSWEET
Leaves.
The ovate-oblong
(Celastrus scandens)
leaves are usually
They are pointed at the apex and at the base. in arrangement. slightly toothed and alternate
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE The
Flowers. flowers often
staminate
grow on
different
and
105 pistillate
They
plants.
form long, loose spikes. June. The fruit of this plant is highly decorative, and gathered before the capsule opens will develop in the house and remain in good condition if
throughout the winter.
upon
itself,
The woody vine
and climbs over fences and
coils
trees.
I
never forget the glory which a roadside The nook revealed one bright autumnal day. shall
dark Pine and White Birch were growing together, and winding in and out and over both
gleamed the bright berries of the Bittersweet. It was too beautiful to spoil/ and we left it undisturbed.
grows from North Carolina
It
northward, but
said to be rare in the
is
White
Mountain country.
LEATHERWOOD. MOOSEWOOD Mezereon Family
Dirca palustris
The
Fruit. solitary or
oval, shining, reddish drupes are
from two to three
fruit
contains a
flesh
is
thin
in a cluster.
Each The
compressed ovate seed. The fruit matures
and tough.
rapidly and falls early.
HOW
106
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
The leaves are oval or inverse eggThe under surface is much lighter than shaped. The petiole is short. the other. The light yellow flowers appear Flowers. before the leaves. Usually three come out of Leaves.
the same bud, with their short stalks cohering. April.
from the toughness of its bark that this The shrub receives its name, Leatherwood. It is
wood
is
quite brittle, but
to break the bark.
quality and utilized are used in basket
it
is
almost impossible
The Indians knew of this it for The twigs thongs.
making with good effect. The plant grows in moist places in woods from New Brunswick to Minnesota, and south.
CANADIAN BUFFALO BERRY Lepargyraea Canadensis.
Oleaster Family
>
Fruit. berry.
The fruit externally resembles a The fleshy, four-cleft calyx, however,
incloses a
smooth nut or an achene, making the
accessory fruit drupelike. oval,
Shepherdia Canadensis
small, and
insipid.
It is yellowish
July, August.
red,
RED OH REDDISH PURPLE
On
Leaves.
107
short, hairy stems are borne the
ovate or .oval opposite leaves. These are entire, obtuse at apex, narrowed toward the base, densely silvery scurfy beneath, and smoother and greener above. The scurf is often brownish.
The small yellow
Flowers.
The
cious.
pistillate
flowers are dioe-
have the ovaries inclosed
in a four-parted, urn-shaped calyx tube, closed
at the
A
mouth by an
eight-lobed disk.
low, thornless shrub
falo Berry.
It
rocky banks.
down
into
is
the Canadian Buf-
has scurfy young shoots. It likes It is a northern plant, extending
Vermont and New York.
GINSENG Panax quinquefolium.
A r alia quinquefolia
Ginseng Family
The
grows in a simple umbel. The berries are bright red, and sometimes in Fruit.
joined
pairs.
fruit
They
are
somewhat
drupelike, and have two or three
flattened,
seeds.
The compound leaves grow in a whorl of three. Each leaf has five leaflets, and its appearance is somewhat seldom more, Leaves.
HOW
108
like that of a
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
Horse-chestnut
leaf.
Each
leaflet
ovate or obovate, thin, and sharply toothed, with a pointed apex and narrowed or rounded is
base.
Flowers. flowers
grow
The greenish yellow, polygamous in
small,
simple umbels.
July,
August.
The for
its
root of the Ginseng
is
in such
demand
supposed medicinal value that the plant
has become quite rare. Recently Ginseng plantations have been started to supply the demand
The Chinese, especially, prize it as a remedy for fatigue and a preventive against old The Chinese name for it is JincJien, meanage. for the root.
ing manlike, from its fancied two-legged shape. Its range is south to Alabama and west to Minnesota, Nebraska,
and Missouri.
LOW OR DWARF CORNEL. BUNCHBERRY Cornus Canadensis
Dogwood Family
The bright red drupes grow in a comThey pact bunch at the summit of the stem. Fruit.
are globose and bear the calyx teeth at the tip The solitary stone is smooth and nearly globular.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
BUNCHBERRY (Cornus
Leaves.
The upper
109
Canadensis)
leaves are nearly stem-
less, in a whorl of four or six at the top of the
stem.
One
or
two
pairs
of
scalelike
leaves
HOW
110
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
sometimes occur along the stem. The leaves are or oval. entire, acute at each end, and ovate Flowers. -
-
The small greenish
flowers are in
a close cluster, and surrounded by four white
May-July.
bracts.
The Bunchberry
among
fusely
Adirondacks. "
But," said a
the It
reported as growing proWhite Mountains and the
is
is
very attractive
woman who was
" them, the people
live
time don't
their
who even know
in
fruit.
exclaiming over
among them
all
the
names and hardly
them."
Truly, many there are who, having eyes, see not the beauties of their comnotice
mon
environment.
New
Jersey, Indiana,
limits of southern range.
and Minnesota are the It extends far north-
ward and westward.
FLOWERING DOGWOOD Cornus
florida
Dogwood Family
The small ovoid drupes red and grow in small bunches. Fruit.
are bright
They
are
ovoid and bear at the tip the calyx and the remnant of the style. The flesh is bitter and
FLOWERING DOGWOOD (Cornus
111
florida)
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE The stone
unpleasant. neled.
113
smooth and chan-
is
September.
The
Leaves.
oval with a proare narrowed at the base
leaves
are
They The upper surface is shining and The the lower one lighter and often downy. longed apex.
and
entire.
autumnal
are
colorings
rich
in
scarlets
and
crimsons.
The inconspicuous greenish flowers heads, surrounded by a showy white
Flowers.
grow
in
involucre of four parts, often mistaken for the petals.
This shrub or small tree grows readily in the shade of other trees. It is showy in springtime,
with
its large white bracts surrounding the flower clusters and acting as signals to the insects that assist in the fertilization of the incon-
spicuous blossoms.
developed bud plant thrown
These bracts
scales, off
are, in reality,
which are not
when
in
this
their protective offices
against the cold and storms of winter have been " The blossom is the " corn sign performed. of the
New England
In the
tumnal
fall,
farmer.
the red fruit clusters amidst the au-
foliage present a fine showing.
lingers throughout the
fall,
The
fruit
and after the frosts
HOW
114
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
have somewhat changed its taste is eaten by The bitter bark is somewhat similar robins. Peruvian bark and
in its action to
substituted for
is
sometimes
it.
The plant grows in dry woods from southern New England west to Ontario and Minnesota and south to Florida and Texas.
OR CREEPING WINTERGREEN CHECKERBERRY. BOXBERRY
SPRING
TEABERRY Heath Family
Gaultheria procumbens
Fruit.
with
many
The
actual fruit capsule is five-celled, seeds in each cell. It is like a
flattened sphere in shape, thin.
and
This capsule, however,
its flesh
is
in a thickened, fleshy, red calyx,
is
nearly inclosed
which gives
the whole the appearance of a berry.
The
veloped calyx plainly shows its five lobes. subtended- at the base by two small bracts.
The
very to de-
It
is
grow on short, drooping stems from the leaf axils. They are usually The berry is dry and mealy, but has a solitary. so-called berries
delightful aromatic flavor similar to the sweet birch.
HOW
116
TO
KNOW WILD
The usually few,
Leaves.
FRUITS thick, evergreen
leaves are borne at the ends of
They
are alternate, ovate
the branches.
and glossy above with
a whitened under surface.
toothed with bristle-like
The young
short and reddish.
and delicious in ding flowers are
When we
leaves are tender
flavor.
The usually
Flowers.
June
They are sparsely The petioles are teeth.
waxy and
solitary, white, nod-
vaselike.
search woods and moist banks in
for the "
"
Young Wintergreen
we
are apt
The
to find last year's berries
still
new
and serve during the
fruits ripen in the fall,
lingering.
winter as food for the birds.
This plant is one example of red fruits contrasted with evergreen leaves. The branches grow from a creeping or
underground stem. ous
Its
localities.
Maine and west
The plant range
is
is
found in vari-
southward from
to Michigan.
RED BEARBERRY Heath Family
Arctostaphylos Uva-TJrsi
Fruit.
The drupes grow
in
short clusters
and retain the calyx at the base of each They are red, and the flesh is mealy and
fruit.
taste-
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE less.
The
five nutlets
Each shows a
117
become inseparably united.
line along
its
back.
The
fruits
remain on the plant during the year.
The thick evergreen leaves are inThe apex is obtuse and the versely egg-shaped. base narrows to a short, downy stem. The upper leaf surface is shining and the lower one paler both are smooth. The margin is entire or hairy. The leaves are somewhat crowded towards the Leaves.
;
ends of the branches. face becomes
In winter, the upper sur-
somewhat brown and the under
one reddish.
The
Flowers. pitcher-shaped
len. filled
white a
in
or
pink,
end
short
The stigma matures from two
cluster. five
drooping, flowers grow
to
hours before the anthers shed their polThe opening of the flower is bearded or
with a "woolly thicket"
winged
to
keep
out
insects.
This evergreen
shrub
trails
over rocks and
abounds Alps and in sandy wastes. other mountainous sections of Europe, as well as in the northern countries of Europe and Asia. It
It prevails
Jersey,
in the
throughout Canada and south to
New
Michigan,
Ne-
Pennsylvania,
Illinois,
braska, Colorado, and California.
HOW
118
TO
KNOW
nomenclature
Its
known
as Foxberry,
WILD
varied, the plant being
is
Bear's
The
Barren Myrtle, for grouse and partridges. etc.
Grape, Mealberry, serve as food
fruits
The plant
used in
is
tanning, especially in parts of Europe, and is The Indians smoke the also used for dyeing. leaves as a preventive against malarial disorders. It is known among them as Kinnikinic.
COWBERRY. MOUNTAIN CRANBERRY FOXBERRY Vaccinium Vitis-Idaea
The
Fruit.
Huckleberry Family
four- to five-celled,
many-seeded It is dark and often bitter. red, acid, berry less than half an inch in diameter. The fruits is
grow
in short terminal clusters.
tember, and Leaves. leathery,
August, Sep-
persistent.
The evergreen leaves are thick and with somewhat shining upper faces
and paler under ones that are dotted with black points. They are box leaves but darker.
somewhat
They
bristly
similar
to
are obovate or
oval and short-stemmed.
Flowers.
The nodding, white
or pink, bell-
shaped flowers are in short terminal June.
clusters.
RED This
is
0/
'
k
REDDISH PURPLE
119
essentially a northern plant, extending
and appearing in our range in the mountains and along the coast of New England and west to the northern shore of Lake far to the north,
It
Superior.
Europe and Asia. nourishes profusely, and
also occurs in
In northern Europe it is there used in making a jelly which is served with roast beef and deer flesh. It is also used for colds fruit
and
The
sore throats.
flavor of the
seems to improve towards the north, much
the bitterness being lost. Birds feed upon large quantities of the berries during their
of
migrations.
Bears,
too,
fond
are
them.
of
They uproot the bushes to get the hidden fruit near the ground. The shrub is low, only about a foot high, with the upright branches growing from creeping stems.
SMALL OR EUROPEAN CRANBERRY Oxycoccus Oxycoccus.
Vaccinium Oxycoccus
Huckleberry Family
Fruit.
young
is
The globose berry often
spotted.
It
red and
is is
than the American Cranberry,
rather is
acid,
when
smaller
and not
HOW
120
TO
KNOW
The berry
often
marketed.
celled
and many-seeded.
The
Leaves.
whitened
are
entire.
The
The apex
is
heart-shaped. Flowers.
WILD FRUITS four- or
is
five-
August, September.
small, thick, evergreen leaves
beneath.
They
are
ovate and
margins are rolled backwards. pointed and the base rounded or
The
pale
rose-colored,
nodding
blossoms have the corolla nearly divided into The anthers converge to four or five parts. form a cone. May- July.
The ascending branches from
six inches to a foot
rise
to a height of
and a half from a
creeping stem which sends out roots at the nodes. Patches of cranberries are thus formed, usually in peat bogs.
New
Jersey and
They grow
as far south
In Michigan. Canada they extend from Labrador to Alaska and British Columbia. They also grow in as
Europe and Asia.
west
to
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
121
LARGE OR AMERICAN CRANBERRY Vaccinium macrocarpon
Oxycoccus macrocarpus.
Huckleberry Family
The berry
Fruit.
varies in shape
globular, ovate, or oblong. sides of the branches. It
European Cranberry, and has been cultivated. four- or five-celled,
It is
and
It is
;
nearly
grows from the larger than the
the species which red when ripe, acid,
is
several-seeded.
Septem-
ber, October.
The
Leaves.
leaves are similar to those of
the preceding species, but are oblong and obtuse at the apex.
The nodding pink
Flowers. clusters.
flowers
grow
in
June August.
This variety
is
larger
preceding and, like
and stronger than the
It peat bogs. grows throughout the north and in the states as far south as North Carolina and west to it,
grows
in
Minnesota. It
was
region
still
cultivated in Cape Cod, which holds the highest reputation as a cran-
first
berry section.
Cranberry plantations have been
also established in
New
Jersey and Wisconsin.
122
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
123
Eight hundred thousand bushels are estimated to represent a year's production of cultivated The wild Cranberries are also Cranberries.
marketed.
One plantation employs a thousand
who camp
pickers,
in tents or cabins during the harvest-
Bailey thus describes the pleasures of the workers " This picking time is a sort of a long and happy picnic all the happier for being a
ing.
:
busy one.
The
pickers look forward to it from They are invigorated by the
year to year. change and the novelty, and they must come near to nature in the sweet and mellow October
Those of our readers who have cast their
days. lot
who have camped in the blackberry time, or who have
with hop-pickers, or
clearings
in
joined in the excursions to huckleberry
swamps,
can know something of the cranberry picker's Yet I fancy that one must actually experiences. pick the cranberries in the drowsy Indian sum-
mer
to
like."
know
fully
what cranberry picking
Evolution of our Native Fruits.
is
HOW
124
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
PHILADELPHIA GROUND CHERRY Potato Family
Physalis Philadelphia
Fruit.
Like
all
genus the
berry
is
calyx.
When
even opens
it
the
other fruits of
inclosed
ripe, the berry at the mouth.
in fills
this
the
enlarged the calyx or
The undeveloped
ten angles and is depressed about the stem. The berry is reddish or purple, It grows on a slender quite large, and pulpy. fruit calyx
shows
its
stem from the leaf
axil.
The numerous
seeds
are flattened.
Leaves.
The ovate
to ovate-lanceolate leaves
usually slant toward the base. They are entire or slightly wavy. are smooth or a trifle They
hairy above. Flowers.
The
flowers are yellowish
brown
with purplish centers. July-September. This annual is nearly smooth and is tall and upIt ranges from Rhode Island to Georgia right.
and Texas and west to Minnesota and Nebraska.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
BITTERSWEET
NIGHTSHADE. Solanum Dulcamara
Potato Family
The oval
Fruit.
from the
125
berries
grow
in
clusters
In ripening, the berries change from green through yellow and sides of
the stem.
orange to a bright red, often making a brilliant
The
array of colors in the cluster.
berries are
translucent with a thin skin, red pulp, and seeds arranged around an axial placenta. five-pointed, starlike calyx
berry, which itself.
is
many The
at the base of the
borne on a stem about as long as The general consensus of opinion seems is
to be that the berry
is
eaten in any quantity.
poisonous, especially It
begins to ripen in
July and hangs long upon the Thoreau, in describing this
Solanum Dulcamara which grow
know any
in
berries
vines.
says another
fruit,
are
:
"
The kind
do not
I
drooping clusters.
clusters
if
more graceful and beautiful
than these drooping cymes of scented or translucent, cherry-colored, elliptical berries.
they
considered
are
at surely.
poisonous
.
?
.
.
poisonous
;
.
not
.
.
to
Yet look
But why should they not be
Would
it
not be bad taste to eat
NIGHTSHADE (Solanum Dulcamara)
126
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE these berries which are ready to sense
127
feed
another
" ?
The lower leaves
Leaves.
are heart-shaped
and the upper ones have two lateral lobes at the These lobes are sometimes separated from base. the leaf, forming two lateral are entire and alternate.
The
Flowers.
leaflets.
The
leaves
blue, five-parted, wheel-shaped
flowers are rendered attractive by the contrast of
the blue corolla with the yellow conical group of stamens in the center.
The Nightshade from
is
a climbing vine, sometimes
five to six feet long.
lection of
it
is,
as seen
My
most vivid
recol-
from a bridge, growing
over a small tree by the side of the river. The tree seemed hung with the graceful, decorative It is a member of the family which clusters. includes such cultivated plants as the potato and
egg plant. It
was introduced from Europe.
the side of
It
grows by
streams, around houses, and some-
times trails over the stone walls by the roadsides.
MATRIMONY VINE (Lycium 128
vulgare)
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
129
MATRIMONY VINE Potato Family
Lycium vulgare
The oval orange-red
Fruit.
berries are soli-
tary or few in the leaf axils. They are small, with the calyx persistent at the base.
The small
Leaves. ceolate
leaves are oblong or lan-
The mar-
and taper into a short stem.
gins are entire.
Flowers. are solitary or
The purplish two to five in
or greenish flowers
the leaf axils.
In cultivation, this woody shrub is trained over trellises. When growing wild, it trails in masses over any handy support. are
long and drooping.
smooth.
often occurs
It
Its
The vine as
is
branches usually
an escape from
cultivation.
PARTRIDGE BERRY Madder Family
Mitchella repens
Fruit.
The
scarlet berrylike fruit is really a
double drupe, bearing at the summit the teeth of Each ovary is four-celled the two flower calices.
with one ovule
to a cell,
and some fruits have four
HOW
130
TO
KNOW WILD
hard nutlets to each flower the ovules do not develop.
FRUITS but often some of
;
The
fruit is edible
The pulp is white and tasteless. on the vines for a remain The berries mealy. long time, and it is quite common to find flowers, fruit, and even tiny green fruits at the same but rather
time.
Leaves.
shiny
leaves
The round-ovate
heart-shaped,
vary from light to dark green.
Some have prominent white grow
or
veinings.
They
and are evergreen. The flowers grow in pairs and are
in pairs on short stems
Flowers.
united by their ovaries.
They
are very dainty
with their white linings of soft fine hairs at the throat and an outside coloring of pink. They
have a delicate fragrance. This vine and its near relative, the Quaker
also
Ladies, are our northern representatives of the family which includes such tropical plants as coffee
and cinchona, the
latter yielding quinine.
Mitchella repens, besides belonging to our range, grows in the forests of Mexico and Japan. It
frequents dry woods, especially pine forests, and trails its vines in masses around the foot of trees,
the base of rocks, and over carpeted space.
a pine needle The contrast of the green vine
many
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE and
133
bright berries with the brown of the needles is so charming that one wonders that it its
has not been copied for our indoor carpetings. A low glass dish filled with wood earth and containing a root or two of Ebony Fern, a little Rattlesnake Plantain, and a few vines of the Partridge Berry will serve all winter to shut-ins as
a most delightful reminder of the woods. The plant is named for Dr. John Mitchell, an early Virginian botanist.
RED-BERRIED ELDER Sambucus pubens.
Sambucus racemosa
Honeysuckle Family
The red
Fruit
berrylike
drupes grow in
compact pyramidal clusters. Each fruit is globular and crowned with remnants of calyx and style.
The
inclosed
from three to Leaves.
with
five to
The opposite
nutlets
leaves are
seven ovate-lanceolate
and
are finely toothed
Flowers.
seedlike
The
number
June.
five.
compound
leaflets.
These
acute.
small
cream- white
flowers,
with their pale yellow stamens, grow in com-
pound pyramidal cymes.
April,
May.
HOW
134
TO
For two weeks
KNOW I
WILD FRUITS
had been looking, without red berries which this
success, for the bright
When
almost in despair over securing a specimen, I chanced to be trolleying in the vicinity of Mt. Tom, when my eye sudElder bears.
denly caught a gleam of red against a rocky background. I knew at once that it was my coveted prize. Fortunately a switch was near, car waited there I was able to and while the
hurry back, get my specimen, and resume my This especial plant w as growing out journey. In general, it is found in of a wall of rock. r
rocky woodlands and has a wide rang'e from New Brunswick south to Georgia and westward A variety with white across the continent. berries
is
said to
have been found in the Catskill
Mountains.
The shrub grows from two to twelve feet The older stems are brown and warty. high. In blossom and in fruit the plant may be readily distinguished from the Common Elder, and at other times the brown pith in the young shoots serves as a determining
shrub,
sumac.
at a
distance,
feature.
The
fruited
looks something like
a
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
135
HOBBLE BUSH. WAYFARING TREE Viburnum
alnifolium.
Viburnum lantanoides
Honeysuckle Family Fruit.
The
large ovate drupes are coral-red,
Each contains an obtusely pointed and The drupes grow in
turning later almost black. oblong-oval nut, which is grooved on both sides.
scanty clusters. Leaves.
The leaves
are large, light
green,
heart-shaped, abruptly pointed, sharply toothed, and have rusty wool on the veins beneath.
In the
fall
the leaves turn to red and orange
shades.
Flowers.
The
flowers are in broad,
cymes with larger, showy, usually around the margin. May.
The
reclining
showy
sterile flowers
branches of this shrub often
take root, making loops which "trip the way" Hobble Bush " is a name which is farer." suggested by the appearance of the plant with its looping branches. It grows in low, moist
woods from
New Brunswick
to
Ontario
and
south to Pennsylvania and in the mountains to
North Carolina.
\ HOBBLE BUSH (Viburnum
136
alnifolium)
CRANBERRY TREE (Viburnum
138
Opidus)
BED OR EEDDISH PURPLE
CRANBERRY TREE. Viburnum Opulus
139
GUELDER ROSE Honeysuckle Family
The
beautiful globose drupes grow in terminal cymes. They are bright red when ripe, Fruit.
having changed from green to greenish yellow and yellowish red. The separate fruits are about the
size of
Choke
At the The fruits
Cherries.
tip
the calyx teeth. are fleshy and inclose a flat stone with a thin crustaceous coat. The stone is without furrows or are traces of
The fruit is acid and a trifle bitter. August, and persistent. The leaves are opposite. They are Leaves. grooves.
strongly three-nerved and three-lobed.
They
are
sparingly toothed, being usually entire along the margins of the sinuses. The developed leaves are dark green above and paler beneath. red or purple are the autumn colors.
Flowers.
The white
flowers
grow
Dull
in a flat
The marginal ones are larger and neuthe central ones smaller and perfect. June,
cyme. tral,
July.
This
is
an interesting and attractive shrub. it bears its showy white flower
In the spring,
HOW
140 clusters,
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
with their margins of large flowers,
"just for show," to attract the roving insect to the
encircled
blooms.
By
cultivation
of
the
European form, the central flowers have been changed
to large neutral ones like those at the
margin, the flower head has become spherical, and the Snowball Tree of the garden is the reThe wild shrub not only yields a graceful sult. bloom, but
is
erect
clusters
These
lose
frost,
The
most attractive of
in fruit,
brilliantly
somewhat
of
their
colored
with
its
drupes.
brilliancy after
but are conspicuous throughout the winter. make a good jelly and an agreeable
fruits
sauce.
The plant extends north from Pennsylvania to New Brunswick and west to Michigan, South Dakota, and Oregon.
FEW-FLOWERED CRANBERRY TREE Viburnum pauciflorum
This species
is
Honeysuckle Family
fewer flowered than the preced-
ing and lacks the marginal neutral fruit clusters are small.
red and contain
flat,
flowers.
The drupes
The
are light
scarcely grooved stones.
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
141
grows in cold mountainous woods nearly throughout Canada, in New England, and PennIt
sylvania,
and in the Rockies
in
Colorado and
Washington.
WILD OR WOOD TINKER'S WEED. IPECAC. WILD COFFEE. HORSE GINSENG. FEVERWORT Trioateum perfoliatum
Fruit.
The
Honeysuckle Family
rather
dry orange
or
scarlet
drupes are borne at the junction of leaf and The long lobed calyx remains plant stems.
The drupes are covered with fine hairs and inclose three bony
attached to the fruit summit.
nutlets.
Leaves.
The
leaves
are
ovate to
broadly
oval, acute at the apex, abruptly or gradually
narrowed at the base, and stemless or united about
the
stem.
They are soft pubescent beneath and somewhat hairy above. The purplish brown flowers are Flowers. June. usually clustered. This is a coarse hairy
Canada and New and Alabama.
growing from England southward to Iowa herb,
HOW
142
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
INDIAN CURRANT.
CORAL BERRY
Symphoricarpos Symphoricarpos. Symphoricarpos vulgaiis
Honeysuckle Family
The
Fruit.
coral-red to reddish purple.
globose, mit.
ripening from
in
varies
fruit
It is small, ovoid-
and bears the calyx teeth
The skin
thin
at the
sum-
the flesh
is dry, mealy, there are four cells, and, although the seeds are but two in number, two ovules
and insipid
is
;
The
being abortive.
The
;
berries
most of the
grow
seeds are white
in clusters
The
leaves.
and hard.
from the
axils of
fruits persist
during
the winter.
The
Leaves.
entire oval or ovate leaves are
on short stems and opposite. They are a dull green and somewhat hairy beneath. They are usually obtuse both at apex and base.
The pinkish
Flowers. are
grow
somewhat
hairy
at
bell-shaped
the
in clusters in the leaf axils.
This plant sists after
is
most
which per-
the leaves have dried and fallen.
it
length of
with their weight.
They
July.
prolific in fruit,
clusters extend nearly the
and bend
flowers
throat.
The
the stem
INDIAN CURRANT (Symphoricarpos Symphoricarpos) 143
no w TO KSO\V WILD FRUITS
144
The plant grows wild
New
Jersey and Pennsylvania, along the banks of the Delaware in
New
York, and west to Dakota. It reaches Georgia and Texas on the south. often cultivated and sometimes escapes. River, in
is
OR
AMERICAN WOODBINE. ITALIAN PERFOLIATE HONEYSUCKLE Louie era Caprifolium.
It
Louie era grata
Honeysuckle Family Fruit.
The red
berries are in a sessile termi-
nal cluster, subtended by a united pair of leaves. The calyx teeth crown the summit of the several-
seeded fruit. Leaves.
united
by
The two their
or three upper pairs are
bases.
The lower ones
without stems or have very short stems. are obovate or oval and entire.
are
They
The fragrant flowers are whitish with purple tubes. They are strongly twoFlowers.
lipped.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania are the northern limits of this climbing vine in its wild state. It is often cultivated,
and sometimes
escapes.
EED OR REDDISH PURPLE
145
HAIRY HONEYSUCKLE Louie era hirsuta
Honeysuckle Family
The red berries grow The calyx teeth are
Fruit.
nal spikes. arid the berry
is
in short termi-
at the
summit
several-seeded.
The leaves are large and have hairy and under leaf surfaces. The base is margins rounded or narrowed and the apex obtuse. One or two upper pairs have united bases, the others Leaves.
are stemless or have very short stems.
The orange-yellow blossoms grow interrupted spikes. They are two-lobed
Flowers. in short
and the tube
is clammy-pubescent. July. This twining shrub is a coarse species, with
flowers.
It
and hairy branches, leaves, and grows from Maine to Pennsylvania,
and west
to
Michigan and Minnesota.
large
leaves
SMOOTH-LEAVED OR GLAUCOUS HONEYSUCKLE Lonicera dioica.
Lonicera glauca
Honeysuckle Family Fruit.
composed
The of
berries
form a compact
cluster,
a series of usually three whorls.
HOW
146
KNOW
TO
The whorls are more
WILD FRUITS
or less imperfect,
owing to
the nondevelopment of some of the berries. The cluster is borne on a short terminal stem.
Each
fruit
several-seeded and has persistent
is
calyx teeth
at
the
without stems.
summit.
They vary
The
in color
berries
are
from orange
to red, the red ones being the ripest.
They
are
The pulp is similar in The berry is translucent.
covered with a bloom. color
the
to
skin.
July, August.
Leaves.
from two of
the
The
leaves are mostly oblong and to three inches in length. The bases
one
four upper
to
pairs
are
united.
The leaves not united by their bases are stemless. The terminal pair varies in shape from oblong to oval,
and with
its
rich green coloring forms a
most attractive setting for cluster which it surrounds. are entire
clusters.
The
and the under surface
Flowers. *
the bright
The
They
flowers
is
grow
leaf
berry
margins
whitened. in
terminal
are greenish yellow, sometimes
The tube expands into two tinged with red. lips, the lower one narrowed and the upper one broader and four-lobed. The inside of the tube, the style, and the bases hairy.
of
the
filaments
are
SMOOTH-LEAVED HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicera
H7
dioica)
HOW
148
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
This twining vine is from three to five feet in length, and is a most attractive feature of the
wooded roadside
in July,
when
the brilliant ber-
The gleam from their green background. from New plant has a northern range England ries
and Pennsylvania.
TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE. CORAL HONEYSUCKLE Lonicei a sempei virens
Fruit.
The
Honeysuckle Family bright,
translucent,
shining,
coral-red berries bear the tiny calyx teeth at
the
summits.
seeded fully
They
and grow
in
are
ovoid
and
several-
a spike of more or
less
developed whorls, somewhat separated from
There are usually three or four of these whorls with sometimes a solitary berry at each other.
the top. August-October. Leaves. The entire leaves are smooth and are whitened on the under surface. in pairs, with the bases of the
The flower and
They
are
upper pairs joined.
fruit clusters proceed
from
this
united pair of leaves. They are evergreen at the south and deciduous at the north.
TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE
(Lonicera sempervirens)
149
HOW
150
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The long trumpet-shaped flowers They are red or grow in interrupted spikes. The humming bird is one of the yellowish. Flowers.
principal agents in securing the cross fertiliza-
tion of the flowers.
April-October. another of our wild climbing vines Flowers and beautiful in cultivation.
Here that
is
is
fruit often occur together well into the fall.
grows in copses in Massachusetts
It
and Connecticut,
southward and west to Nebraska.
SWAMP FLY HONEYSUCKLE Lonicera oblongifolia
Honeysuckle Family
The reddish
Fruit.
or purple ovoid berries
on long slender stems. They are usually distinct, but occasionally become some-
grow
in pairs
what
united.
The oval-oblong leaves do not have hairy margins. They are nearly smooth on both Leaves.
when
the leaves are mature.
Flowers.
The greenish yellow
sides
is
pair of flowers
borne on a slender stem from the leaf
This
is
a bog or
swamp
axils.
shrub growing in
RED OR REDDISH PURPLE
New England and New
northern
151
York, and
west to Minnesota.
AMERICAN FLY HONEYSUCKLE Lonicera ciliata
Honeysuckle Family
Two
Fruit.
are borne on the
globular or ovoid
The
teeth.
berries
same stem, which grows from The berries are not united at
the leaf angles. the base, and each bears at the
calyx
red
The
berries
summit minute
are
several-seeded.
bracts at their bases are minute.
June.
The thin, light green leaves are oblong-ovate, somewhat rounded or heart-shaped at the base and acutish at the apex. They are Leaves.
opposite and have hairy margins.
Flowers.
The
yellowish green, five-lobed flowers grow in pairs on a slender stem. This is a straggling shrub from three to five feet high.
in rocky
The stems
woods from
are brownish.
New
It grows Brunswick to Penn-
sylvania and west to Minnesota.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE WHITE CLINTONIA Clintonia umbellulata
Lily-of-the-Valley Family
The berry
Fruit.
of the
White Clintonia
is
black, not quite so large as that of the Yellow,
and has few
The
grow in umbels the hairy stem, which sometimes
seeds.
at the top of
fruits
bears also a single small leaf. Leaves. The leaves are oval or oblong, with The stalks of the two to four hairy margins. leaves sheathe the base of the flower stem.
Flowers.
The
flowers are white, often speck-
led with green or purple.
This
species
is
They
confined to
the Alleghany Mountains from Georgia.
155
are fragrant. rich
woods in
New York
to
HOW
156
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
STAR-FLOWERED SOLOMON'S SEAL Vagnera
Smilacina stellata
stellata.
Lily-of-the- Valley
The few
Fruit. cluster.
They
berries
grow
according
are,
and
Family in a terminal
to
Mathews,
becoming dull red. Gray says they are blackish, and Britton and spotted at first
Brown
that
later
they are
green
with
six
black
They are rather larger than Wild Spikenard, quite hard and
stripes, or black.
the fruits of
opaque.
The oblong-lanceolate leaves are The apex is acute or blunt. clasping.
Leaves. slightly
The
leaf is flat or a trifle concave.
Flowers.
The white
starlike flowers
grow
in a small terminal raceme.
This
a smaller species than V. racemosa, seldom growing over a foot high. Its rootstock is
is
rather- slender.
It favors
and moist meadows.
It
banks of streams
extends south to
New
Jersey and west to Kansas, and, according to Britton and Brown, to California.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
157
HAIRY SOLOMON'S SEAL Polygonatum biflorum
The berry
Fruit.
bloom.
Lily-of-the- Valley
It is
is
Family
nearly black, with a
pulpy, three-celled, with
one or
The stigma is at the summit. The berries grow on slender, drooping stems from the axils, and are solitary, or two in
two seeds
in each
cell.
a cluster, rarely three. Leaves.
The
ovate, alternate,
August, September.
light green leaves are oblong-
and
sessile.
are parallel-
They
The under ridged and acute at the apex. surface is whiter and hairy. The pale green flowers look like Flowers. hanging in drooping clusters of from one to three flowers from the leaf axils. May. The scars left on the thick horizontal roottassels
where the stalks of preceding years grew, give rise to this plant's common name, Solomon's Seal. These marks, which are indicative stocks,
of the age of
the root, are somewhat like the
impression of a low,
wood
wax
seal.
This
plant, with a curving
ing flower and fruit clusters.
is
a graceful,
stem and droop-
HAIRY SOLOMON'S SEAL (Polygonatum 158
biflorum)
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
159
SMOOTH SOLOMON'S SEAL Polygonatum commutatum.
Polygonatum giganteum
Lily-of-the-Valley Family
This globular berry is also nearly black with a bloom. It is larger than the preFruit.
ceding, in keeping with the larger proportions of the species. The clusters vary in the number of their fruits
from one to
six.
These grow on
long, stout, drooping stems
from the
leaf axils.
The berry
one
sometimes
is
three-celled,
cell
containing six seeds. Leaves.
The
August, September. large leaves are ovate and
They are smooth throughout, partly clasping. rather darker green than the smaller species and somewhat paler beneath.
The yellow
fall leaves
contrast well with the dark berries.
Flowers. The drooping jointed peduncles bear two to eight large, greenish, bell-shaped flowers. June.
The high,
tall,
with
stout stalks, sometimes seven feet their
large,
spreading,
gracefully
curved leaves and the numerous nodding clusters of black balls are imposing additions to the flora of
moist roadsides.
They
also
abound along
SMOOTH SOLOMON'S SEAL (JPolygonatum commutatum) 160
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE The
streams.
species
161
grows as far west as the
Rocky Mountains.
INDIAN CUCUMBER ROOT Medeola Virginian
Lily-of-the- Valley
The dark purple
Fruit.
the summit
Family
berries are borne at
plant on upright stems. They are globular, usually three or four in numThe mark of ber, three-celled, and few-seeded. the
of
the style is at the tip. September. The leaves are in two whorls. Leaves.
lower whorl
and
borne about
is
consists of
late leaflets,
from
the
of the
stem
five to nine obovate-lanceo-
which are stemless,
and netted-veined. of
midway
The
parallel-ribbed,
The upper whorl,
at the top
usually of three, occasionally more, smaller ovate leaflets.
stem,
is
The greenish yellow
Flowers.
flowers are
borne on drooping stems and are often nearly hidden beneath the upper whorl of leaflets. They are like small lilies and have recurved perianths,
six
recurved
three recurved stigmas.
reddish
stamens, and
June.
The flowers on their drooping stems are often tucked under the upper leaflets, which serve as
INDIAN CUCUMBER ROOT (Medeola Virginiana) 162
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
163
When
umbrellas for them.
the plant is fruiting the stems become erect, and, in the fall, when the
crowning leaflets and fruit dull with stems, tinged reds, serve as signals to the birds that harvest time has come. berries are ripe, the
The horizontal tuberous rootstock is a characteristic feature. It is white, and similar in taste to a cucumber.
u Its white tuberous root
and leaves cucumber.
is
crisp
and tender,
mouth distinctly the taste of Whether or not the Indians used it
in the
as a relish I do not
know."
BURROUGHS.
CARRION FLOWER Smilax herbacea
Fruit.
more or
The
Smilax Family flattened globose berries
less full
rounded
clusters.
grow
They
in
are
borne on long peduncles, sometimes six or even These stems grow from the eight inches long. axils of single leaves or
from the
axils of leafy
branches, which themselves spring from the leaf axils. The berries are black with a bloom w^hich
The flesh is thin, and often decidedly blue. the berry variable in the number of its seeds,
is
HOW
164:
two
to
It
six.
two seeds
KNOW
TO
is
normally three-celled, with
in each cell.
Leaves.
August, September.
The simple
to nine ribbed
WILD FRUITS
alternate leaves are seven
and are netted veined.
They are The apex is acute, someand the base is heartThe leaves are entire. A
usually round-ovate. times bristle-pointed,
shaped or obtuse. pair
of
tendrils
The under Flowers.
proceed from
surface
The
is
the leaf
stem.
lighter than the upper.
dioecious greenish flowers
grow
from twenty- to forty-flowered clusters. They are ill-scented, like " a dead rat in the wall," as in
Thoreau describes
it.
They are
fertilized
by
insects, especially carrion-loving ones.
The main stem
is neither woody nor thorny. of the means numerous tendrils it climbs By over any and every support it may encounter. The spherical clusters of bluish black fruits are
very attractive about the middle of August. They are a frequent sight amidst the roadside flower tangles, and flourish along streams and
They range east from Minneand Texas to the Atlantic. Missouri,
in moist places. sota,
CARRION FLOWER (Smilax herbacea)
165
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
167
HALBERD-LEAVED SMILAX Smilax Family
Smilax tamnifolia
The
Fruit.
fruit is a berry similar to that
The
of the Carrion Flower, but smaller.
clusters
are rather small and the peduncles shorter than in preceding species.
The berry
is
from one- to
three-seeded.
The
Leaves.
leaves are broad at the base
narrow decidedly about the middle of the
making the base almost leathery,
lobed.
and green on both
They
and leaf,
are thick,
sides.
This, like several other smilax species, has
its
northern range in dry or sandy portions of New It extends south to South Carolina and Jersey. Tennessee. lar stems
It is
unarmed, and usually has
circu-
and branches.
GLAUCOUS-LEAVED GREENBRIER FALSE SARSAPARILLA Smilax Family
Smilax glauca
Fruit.
The globose black
berries
grow
in
um-
on flattened peduncles, which are rarely twice the length of the petioles. The umbels spring
bels
HOW
168
from the incloses
TO
leaf
ENOW WILD The
axils.
FRUITS
flesh
from one to three large
thin and
is
seeds.
Sep-
tember.
The oval
vary in width. They are conspicuously whitened beneath. The apex is rather obtuse but ends in a sharp point. Leaves.
The near
leaves
petioles are rather short
their
bases.
The
and bear
leaves
are
tendrils
somewhat
persistent.
Flowers. are
The small greenish yellow
dioecious.
flowers
There are from six to twelve
blossoms in the flower umbel, which a flattened stem.
is
borne on
This woody vine sometimes bears scattered The stem is circular. prickles, sometimes none.
grows in thickets from Massachusetts to Florida and extends west to Texas, Missouri,
It
and Indiana.
GREENBRIER. Smilax rotundifolia
*
CATBRIER.
HORSEBRIER Smilax Family
The globular blue-black covered with a bloom. They grow Fruit.
berries are
in
umbels
on a flattened stem, which seldom exceeds
in
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE length ,that of the petiole.
They are
September and often
three-seeded.
The
Leaves.
169 one- to
persistent.
leaves are ovate or round-ovate,
somewhat heart-shaped or rounded at the base, and abruptly pointed at the apex. They are leathery, shining when mature, green on both Tendrils grow from the leaf stems and are modified forms of stipules. sides, entire,
Flowers.
and smooth.
yellowish green, dioecious flowers grow in rather small clusters on short cluster-stems. April-Jane. Small,
This Greenbrier ish
green stem
is
common. Its yellowround and the branches are
is
quite
somewhat four-angled. long
as
forty
feet,
It
and
sometimes grows as is
generally
armed
throughout with stout prickles. It grows in moist places from New England to Georgia
and as
far west as Minnesota.
HISPID GREENBRIER Smilax Family
Smilax hispida
Fruit:
The
bluish black berries are in umbels,
borne on stems that are over twice as long as the leaf stems.
They
are one- to three-seeded.
HOW
170
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The egg-shaped
Leaves.
on both
TO
sides,
leaves are thin, green
rounded or slightly heart-shaped at
the base, and pointed at the apex. The umbels are composed of flowers Flowers.
somewhat
larger than those of the Catbrier.
distinguished by the long black bristles which densely cover the lower portion of
This vine
the stem.
armed. It
is
The upper portion
Connecticut
is
its
is
generally un-
northern boundary.
in moist thickets.
grows
LONG-STALKED GREENBRIER Smilax Pseudo-China
Smilax Family
The umbels
Fruit.
flattened stems
grow on They are
of black berries
from the
leaf axils.
quite full, bearing eight to sixteen berries in a cluster.
The peduncles
than the
petioles,
being from one to three inches
The
firm, almost leathery leaves are
are considerably longer
long.
Leaves.
green on both sides. They are ovate or sometimes nearly lobed at the base. The apex is acute or bristle-pointed, and the edge is sometimes roughened with fine bristle-like teeth.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
171
Flowers. -- The flowers are dioecious and grow in full-flowered clusters
on long flattened stems.
July.
Long-stalked Greenbrier, as the bears
its
name
indicates,
flowers and fruits on long stems.
These
more than twice as long as the petioles. The main stem is circular and sometimes armed with
are
straight prickles along
the plant
unarmed.
is
from
its
lower part.
Most
of
It belongs to our southern
New
Jersey to Florida and west to Indiana and Missouri. It favors dry sandy soil.
section
BRISTLY GREENBRIER. Smilax Bona-nox
STRETCH BERRY Smilax Family
These berries are black with a bloom.
Fruit.
The umbels
are borne on a flattened stern about
twice the length of the leaf stem. The berry Its pulp is usually has but one large seed. elastic,
hence the name Stretch Berry.
Leaves. or often
The
leaves are round, heart-shaped, at the base and nar-
much broadened
rowed midway of their length, giving a someThe what two-lobed appearance to the base. apex
is
bristle tipped,
and the margin and mid-
HOW
1Y2
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
The upper and lower surThe stems faces are both green and shining. The leaves cling long to are tendril-bearing.
rib are often spiny.
the vines.
The
Flowers.
umbels.
quite full
dioecious
flowers
grow
in
April-July.
The prickles on this vine are few, short, stiff, The circular stem and the and scattered. angular branchlets are both green. It has been reported in Massachusetts, and extends from
New
Jersey to Florida, Texas, and Missouri.
and west to
Illinois,
HACKBERRY. SUGARBERRY Elm Family
Celtis occidentalis
The
Fruit.
as a pea.
about as large It grows from the leaf axil on a solitary drupe
The calyx is persistent, and the tip. The ripe fruit is dark
drooping stem. the stigma purple.
is
The
is
at
large.
and very sweet, September, October, and
The two
sides of the leaf are quite
flesh is rather thin
and the stone
is
persistent.
Leaves.
unlike, one being
much broader
at the base than
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE the other, which looks as
if
173
a piece of
cut off obliquely. The apex The margin is toothed except at Autumnal coloring is yellow.
been
This tree Its fruit is
The
trees
an elm
had
is
pointed. the base.
in appearance.
much
appreciated by the winter birds. which I have seen have been much
Its
banks, in
similar to
by numerous
disfigured leaves.
is
it
range
is
in
New England
insect
galls
upon the
woods and along
river
southward and west to
Minnesota.
RED MULBERRY Morus rubra
Mulberry Family
Fruit. The fruit seems at first glance to resemble a Blackberry in structure. It differs, however, in being the product of a spike of several flowers instead of the development of
several carpels of the rate
fruit
consists
same
of
flower.
Each
an achene or nut
sepasur-
rounded by the calyx lobes which have become Each achene bears at the summit the juicy. tips of the
two
styles.
Only one
ovaries of the flower develops. collective fruit
of the
two
The multiple
or
formed by the crowding together
HOW
174
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
about an inch long, is It grows on a short sweet, juicy, and edible. The stem, usually from the axil of the leaf. of-
the separate fruits
changes from green to red to
fruit in ripening
dark purple.
is
July.
The
Leaves.
leaves are variable in shape but
On young shoots they The margins are coarsely
are usually heart-ovate.
often
are
The upper
toothed.
be
lobed.
surface
shining and may lower surface is
The rough. Yellow is the autumnal color.
smooth or
lighter.
is
A tree
Flowers.
sometimes bears both stami-
nate and pistillate clusters of flowers, and sometimes but one kind. few pistillate flowers
A
are occasionally found in the staminate flower spikes.
The Red Mulberry is the only species native to America. The tree does not usually attain a great
size,
but sometimes reaches a height of
from sixty to seventy
feet.
The
to be foun'd along the lower Ohio sippi rivers.
finest trees are
and the
Missis-
They range from Massachusetts to The
Florida and west to Kansas and Nebraska.
leaves do not serve successfully as food for silk-
worms.
These flourish best on the White Mul-
berry leaves.
An
interesting feature occurs in
RED MULBERRY (Morus
175
rubrd)
HOW
176
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
connection with the pollination of the flowers. At the precise time that the anthers are ready to open, the filaments uncoil like a spring
and
throw the pollen upon the breezes.
POKE. SCOKE. GARGET. PIGEON BERRY Pokeweed Family
Phytolacca decendra
The dark purple
grow in long The berries lateral racemes opposite the leaves. are like a sphere flattened vertically and are Fruit.
from
berries
Each The berry is
five- to twelve-celled.
one vertical seed.
crimson
juice.
The calyx
cell
contains
filled
with a
persists at the base.
September. Leaves.
The
large coarse leaves are often
veined with purple. Flowers. The five sepals are white or pinkish and surround the conspicuous green ovary.^
The
corolla
This
is
is
lacking. a large rank
roots are poisonous but
cooked in early summer considered almost equal
The
large the young plants are " for Greens," and are perennial.
to
Asparagus.
The
sturdy plants often occur along the roadside, and I have seen a rocky hillside pasture overgrown
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE with them.
177
Birds of several different kinds eat
the berries.
POKE (Phytolacca
"Pokeweed
is
decendra)
a native American, and "
lusty, royal plant it is
!
BURROUGHS.
what a
HOW
178
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
CANADA MOONSEED Moonseed Family
Menispermum Canadense
The ovary
nearly straight, and has In the development of the stigma at the apex. the fruit an incurving takes place, bringing Fruit.
the
is
mark near
stigma
the base
of
the fruit.
This gives the stone the form of a crescent or ring; hence the name Moonseed, because of crescent shape.
its
ally,
are
and
is
globose-oblong,
bloom.
They grow
semble
Frost
clusters,
The stone
is
flattened later-
The drupes
wrinkled and grooved. one-seeded, in
Grapes
loose in
black with
clusters
and
appearance. the leaf
however, grow from
instead of opposite them. Leaves.
The
leaves
a re-
The axils
September. broad-ovate with
are
usually three to seven lobes. They are heartshaped at the base, and have a pale under surface. The leaf stem is slender and usually
attached within the edge of the leaf. Flowers. The small, greenish white, dioecious flowers
grow
in loose clusters
June, July. This woody
from the
climber, sometimes
leaf axils.
twelve
feefc
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE long,
is
179
readily distinguished from a grapevine,
position
somewhat resembles, by the of flower and fruit cluster.
common
along streams south to Georgia and
which
it
axillary It
is
Arkansas.
WILD GOOSEBERRY Ribes Cynosbati
Fruit.
Gooseberry Family
The
brownish
red
berry
usually
It is prickly, occasionally
smooth, grows singly. and has numerous seeds with crustaceous coats inclosed in gelatinous ones.
The
pended by tiny threads
pulpy mass.
in a
seeds are sus-
The
berry bears at the summit the shriveled remains The flavor is good, but the sharp, of the calyx.
awl-shaped prickles are objectionable. Leaves.
The
three- to
alternate or clustered.
August.
five-lobed leaves are
The base
and the lobes are incised or
is
heart-shaped, One or
serrate.
more spines are usually found at the base
of the
petioles.
Flowers.
The
greenish flowers grow singly or in a few-flowered raceme. This is a low shrub of rocky woods from New bell-shaped
Brunswick south, especially along the mountains,
180 to
HOW
TO
North Carolina.
KNOW WILD It extends
FRUITS west to Manitoba
and Missouri.
WILD BLACK CURRANT Ribes floridum
Gooseberry Family
The drooping racemes bear smooth, berries with a linear bract at round-ovoid black, Fruit.
The dried calyx is at the base of each pedicel. the top of each fruit. Each berry is manywith the seeds attached seeded, by tiny threads two opposite lateral placentae. The watery and insipid. July, August.
to
Leaves.
fruit is
Tiny resinous dots on the leaves
are characteristic.
The
five to
seven lobes of
each leaf are doubly toothed. The large whitish flowers grow in Flowers. drooping, loosely-flowered, bracted, and racemes.
This shrub
from three to
downy
and reaches a height of feet. It is found in woods
is erect,
five
from Nova Scotia south to Virginia and west to Kentucky, Iowa, and Nebraska.
182
SLACK OR DARK PURPLE
BLACK RASPBERRY. Rubus
THIMBLE BERRY Rose Family
occidentalis
The
Fruit.
188
drupes are packed in diminishing circles about the elongated receptacle, forming a flattened hemispherical, small,
black,
juicy
aggregate fruit. This separates when ripe from the receptacle and the reflexed calyx lobes at the
Each drupelet
base.
is
woolly near
its
points of
The remainder of contact with other drupelets. The fruits surface is smooth and shining.
its
grow are
in small terminal clusters.
set
with recurved prickles.
sweet and delicious in Leaves.
flavor.
The peduncles The fruit is
July.
There are usually three
leaflets to
each compound leaf. The two lateral ones have short stems. Scattered prickles are on the leaf stems.
The
leaflets are
much whitened
beneath,
coarsely doubly toothed, and acutely pointed. Flowers. The white blossoms grow in ter-
minal corymbs. Pull off one of the fruits from the receptacle, slip it over the tip of the little finger, and see if not a veritable " finger cap," worthy of its name Thimble Berry. The plant yields, each it
is
HOW
184
TO
KNOW WILD
FEUITS
year, beside the fruiting stems, gracefully curved leafy shoots, which will be the fruit-bearing portion of next year's growth.
The Kaspberry has
been generally cultivated. In its native haunts it is found drooping over rocks, growing in clumps about decaying stumps or trees
and in fence rows.
BLACKBERRIES
The Blackberry group seems
to be especially
L. H. Bailey, in " The Evolution of our Native his book on difficult of exact classification.
names
which are recognizable even by a non-expert, and I have departed somewhat from Britton and Brown's classification to adopt Bailey's more recent Fruits/'
certain varieties
nomenclature and divisions.
He
separates,
first,
the Blackberries from the
Trailing Blackberries, or Dewberries. The Dewberries are distinguished by their trailing habit of growth, their custom of rooting
and by the few scattered flowers in the flower cluster, the central one of which from the
tips,
blossoms
first.
The Blackberry
fruit,
in general, is a collec-
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
when ripe it is
drupes, which remains attached
small
of
tion
185
on which
to the juicy white receptacle
borne.
Our
principal Dewberries are
Low Running
two
number
in
:
Blackberry and Running Swamp
Blackberry.
LOW RUNNING BLACKBERRY Rubus
Rubus Canadensis
villosus.
The
Fruit.
Rose Family
grows in small
fruit
clusters.
The usually hemispherical drupelets are large, juicy, and rather sour until
It
or ovoid.
is
fully ripe,
when they
base of each fruit
berry separates
is
when
are quite sweet.
At
the
the calyx, from which the it falls,
leaving
many
dried
stamens visible in the calyx cup. The leaves have three to seven Leaves. oval or ovate leaflets, which are sharply doubly toothed. They are quite thick and large. Leaflike
bracts
grow on the flower and the
fruit
clusters.
This
and
is
is
the
common Dewberry
a frequent roadside trailing vine.
very variable. The rich dark reds of its
species
of the north,
The
is
fall leaves,
spreading
HOW
186
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
over stone walls, rocks, roadsides, and pasture lands, and contrasting with the yellow of the
Golden-rod and the blue of the Aster, are important factors in the autumnal color scheme.
The Rubus
villosus,
that
was
named and
described in 1789, has long been taken by bot-
Low RUNNING BLACKBERRY be the
anists
to
1898,
Bailey,
(Rubus
High-bush
after
specimens described
personally
viilosus)
In
Blackberry.
examining the
by Aiton as Rubus
villo-
sus, decided that they were specimens, not of the High Blackberry but of the northern Low
Blackberry or Dewberry. To this plant, then, the name Rubus viilosus rightfully belongs. "
For my taste the blackberry-cone, Purpled over hill and stone." WHITTIER'S Barefoot Boy.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
187
RUNNING SWAMP BLACKBERRY Rubus hispidus
The
Fruit. black.
Rose Family
It
is
fully
ripened
fruit
berries
The
August. small, usually three, obovate
are smooth, coarsely toothed, and blunt the tip. They are shining and firm and
leaflets
at
hispidus)
are borne on leafless stems which
are often bristly. Leaves.
nearly
small, consisting of but few grains.
RUNNING SWAMP BLACKBERRY (Rubus
The
is
appear evergreen.
HOW
188
TO
The
Flowers.
with few in the
The
KNOW
fall
WILD FRUITS and white,
flowers are small cluster. is
foliage
brilliant.
grows not
It
only in swamps, but in sandy places as well.
The
more
Blackberries, aside from their
erect
growth, are distinguished by their denser flower clusters, the lower or outer flowers of which are first to develop and also by their habit of " " " sucker " spreading instead of tip spreading.
the
;
SAND BLACKBERRY Rubus
The
Fruit.
and
Rose Family
cuneifolius
solid.
It
fruit is rather small
grows
but sweet
in small short clusters
leaves often growing below the
berries.
with July,
August. Leaves.
The compound
from three to
five
leaflets,
leaves
consist
of
which are obovate,
obtuse, toothed, and quite thick. They are dull green above, whitened and woolly beneath.
Flowers.
The white
or pinkish flowers
in short, usually terminal clusters of
This
is
few
grow
flowers.
a low variety, from one to three feet
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE high.
It is stiff
It favors
sandy
189
and armed with stout
prickles.
soil.
Of the High-bush Blackberries, Bailey makes Rubus nigrobaccus, Rubus arthree divisions :
Professor Porter gutus, and Rubus Canadensis. also describes another form which Bailey is inclined to accept as a separate one, gheniensis, or
Rubus
Alle-
Mountain Blackberry.
COMMON OR HIGH-BUSH BLACKBERRY Rubus nigrobaccus. Fruit.
Rubus
villosus
Rose Family
These so-called berries are oblong,
seedy, firm,
and sweet.
They grow
in
long
loose clusters, the lower berries usually ripening first.
The
five
long,
reflexed at the base.
narrow calyx lobes are July, August.
The leaflets are three or five in number. Each has a distinct stem, the terminal The leaflets are one having the longest stalk. The underand serrate. ovate, pointed, coarsely leaf surface is hairy and glandular. The large white flowers are borne Flowers. in long clusters. Each pedicel is long and forms Leaves.
HIGH-BUSH BLACKBERRY (Rubus nigrobaccus) 190
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE a broad angle with the axial stem. steins are hairy and glandular.
The stems
191
The
flower
of the
High Blackberry are furrowed, often recurved, and bear stout, hooked
They
prickles.
This
is
the
are
common
sometimes ten feet high. High Blackberry, and is
found in woods and along country roads and fence rows. Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas are its western limits and the North Carolinian Mountains its southern.
Through a confusion
in the identification of
early specimens, the name Eubus villosus has been applied to the High-bush Blackberry instead of to the Low Blackberry, which Gray calls
Rubus Canadensis.
This latter term, how-
ever, belongs to the Thornless Blackberry.
Low
Blackberry must bear
Rubus
and
villosus ,
its
rightful
this leaves the
berry without a name.
The title,
High Black-
Bailey has christened
it
Eubus nigrobaccus. The variety sativus, Short Cluster Blackberry, has rounder fruits, that grow in short clusters. The drupelets are loose and large. The leaflets are broader and the apex blunter. This
open
is
the
fields.
common High It
is
not
Blackberry of the
so tall as
the type.
HOW
192
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
MOUNTAIN BLACKBERRY Rubus
Rose Family
Allegheiiiensis
The drupelets are small and
Fruit.
form a long, narrow
The
flavor
is
fruit,
dry,
and
with tapering top.
spicy.
The smaller
teeth and long drawnout apex are distinctive features. This species has reddish branches and leaf
Leaves.
tain
by some
It is considered
stems.
form
of
Rubus
to be a
moun-
nigrobaccus.
LEAFY CLUSTER BLACKBERRY Rubus argutus
Rose Family
This species
Fruit.
is
distinguished
by a
shorter, leafy fruit cluster.
The leaflets are smaller and narsomewhat rower, rigid, nearly smooth, and Leaves.
coarsely serrate. It is a
straight,
lower species than R. nigrobaccus,
stiff,
and nearly smooth or quite
It is
so.
distinctly a southern species, taking the place there which is occupied in the north by R.
nigrobaccus.
It has a
wide range.
BLACK OR DARE PURPLE
193
THORNLESS BLACKBERRY Rubus Canadensis
The
Fruit.
Rose Family fruit ripens late
and
is
sweeter
than the other blackberries. This species is distinguished by smooth leaves and stems and its usual lack of thorns. The
and have a long acumistems are long and slender
leaves are long, narrow,
The
nation.
and the It
leaf
stipules are long.
grows as far south as North Carolina.
BLACK CHOKEBERRY Aroma
nigra.
Pyrus
arbutifolia, Var.
melanocarpa
Apple Family
This plant is smoother than Aronia arbutifolia, but the chief difference is in the fruit, this
pome being
larger,
more
juicy,
and black
in color.
The shrub often grows
in
the vicinity of
Huckleberry Bushes, and the two fruits someI well remember what resemble each other. the cautions which as a child I received against mixing the two, the Chokeberry being con-
BLACK CHOKEBERRY (Aronia 194
nigra)
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
195
sidered
them
I distinguished between poisonous. " by the red juice or flesh of the Dog-
early
we
as
berry/'
belief
called
in
its
it.
So strong was
my
"
" killing
qualities,
that,
despite the testimony of several books as to
sweetness, pleasant flavor,
them rather same as that
gingerly. of the
etc., I
its
confess I test
The range
is
nearly the
Red Chokeberry.
OBLONG-FRUITED JUNEBERRY Amelanchier oligocarpa
Fruit.
Apple Family
The pear-shaped pome
is
dark purple,
and covered with a thick bloom.
The thin oblong leaves are narrowed each end and often acute. They are sharply
Leaves. at
toothed.
Flowers.
soms
and
There are few, one to four,
in a raceme.
The
blos-
pedicels are rather long
slender.
a low, nearly smooth shrub, growing in wet places in Ontario, New England, and
This
is
along the shores of Lake Superior.
HOW
196
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
PORTER'S PLUM Plum Family
Prunus Allegheniensis
Fruit.
The dark purple globose drupe
small, only about half
an inch
in diameter.
is
It
The flavor is pleasantly acid. stone has a groove on one side and a slight elevation on the other. August.
has a bloom.
The
Leaves. leaves
are
The
lanceolate
finely
toothed,
or
ovate-oblong
and often have a
long pointed apex. The flowers resemble those of Prunus Americana.
a low tree or straggling shrub of the Alleghany Bluffs. It seldom bears thorns.
This
is
SLOE.
BLACKTHORN Plum Family
Prunus spinosa Fruit.
The globose drupe
inch in diameter.
It
is
is
about half an
black, with a bloorn,
and grows singly or in pairs from the sides of the branches. The stone has one sharp edge. Leaves. The ovate or oblong leaves are obtuse at the apex and narrowed at the base.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE are
They
sharply
toothed
197
and smooth when
mature.
The white
Flowers.
two
in a cluster.
flowers are solitary or
April,
May.
This thorny shrub was introduced from Europe,
and often occurs
sides
an escape along roadfrom Massachusetts to New Jersey and as
Pennsylvania.
A
Bullace
less
Plum, is thorny, and has hairy leaves and stems. variety,
imititia,
SAND CHERRY. DWARF CHERRY Plum Family
Primus pumila
Fruit.
The drupes
are about half an inch
long and are dark red or, when fully ripe, black. The flesh is rather They are without bloorn. thin
and the stone
is
large
and ovoid.
cherries are solitary or in small clusters.
shrub usually fruits abundantly. are sweet and edible. August. Leaves.
The leaves
with a narrowed base.
above
and
paler
The
The The
cherries
are obovate-lanceolate,
They
beneath.
are deep green
The
margin
is
toothed with the exception of a short distance
HOW
198
KNOW
TO
which
at the base,
to a deep red in
is
WILD FRUITS
The
entire.
leaves change
autumn.
The white blossoms grow
Flowers.
in few-
flowered clusters.
This trailing or prostrate shrub sends up erect branches which are sometimes four feet high.
The plant sends out suckers
freely, arid spread-
It grows in sandy ing thus soon forms clumps. the eastern coast south to New places along
Jersey.
It also occurs
along the shores of the
Great Lakes.
WILD BLACK CHERRY. RUM CHERRY Plum Family
Prunus serotina
Fruit.
The
black
drupes grow
in
loose
the ends of leafy branches. Many of the flowers do not develop, and the cluster
clusters at
often has a scraggly appearance. In ripening the fruits change from green through yellowish The separate red, red, and dark red to black. cherries are
A
spherical
tiny depression
is
is
at
persistent calyx
are short.
rather thin.
The
and flattened vertically. at the summit and the the base.
flesh is
The
pedicels and reddish or yellow
It is sweet,
and although some-
\
WILD BLACK CHERRY (Prunus 199
serotina)
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE what
bitter
has a
flavor.
pleasant
201
August,
September.
The dark green
Leaves. their
whitened
glossy leaves, with
under surfaces, are alternate,
and usually ovate or oval-lanceolate. The apex is pointed and the base rounded or narrowed.
The teeth The upper
are so incurved as to appear blunt. surface of the leaf stem is grooved
and bears two or more small glands near the base of the leaf. Yellow is the autumnal color. Flowers.
The small white
grow
in
May. June.
long, loose racemes.
The
flowers
sometimes grows to a height of The branches and bark eighty or ninety feet. of the young trees are reddish brown. The tree
trunks of the older trees are almost black and the bark
is
scaly.
beautiful close
The wood
grain.
It
is
hard and has a
red and darkens
is
with age, does not shrink nor warp, and is used for cabinet work and the inside finishings of houses.
It is
becoming
scarce.
The
cherries
are used in flavoring brandies and other intoxiBoth bark and fruit are ingredients in cants. certain medicines.
The
tree
out the eastern part of the
is
common
through-
United States and
extends west to Dakota, Kansas, and Texas.
HOW
202
KNOW WILD
TO
FRUITS
BLACK CROWBERRY Empetrum nigrum
The black drupe
Fruit. lar,
and
Crowberry Family berrylike, globu-
incloses six to nine seedlike nutlets with
The calyx
a seed in each. the stigma
the
at
is
and serve
The edges backward Leaves.
is
and
at the base
The drupes are They are juicy, acid,
apex.
solitary in the leaf axils. edible,
is
as food for the Arctic birds.
linear-oblong leaves roll their until
they meet.
They
are
dark green, thick, obtuse, and crowded along the branches. Evergreen.
The purplish
Flowers. small
and
dioecious flowers are
The
the upper axils. exserted.
solitary in
much
stamens are
The Black Crowberry appears south
to the
coast of Maine, the higher mountains of
England, in northern California.
Asia. leafy,
New
York, Michigan, and
is a native also of Europe and much-branched shrub, low, densely
It
It is a
New
and grows
in thick beds.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
INKBERRY.
208
EVERGREEN WINTER BERRY
Ilex glabra
Holly Family
The
berrylike black drupe is about a It is usually quarter of an inch in diameter. solitary in the leaf axils, with the calyx at the Fruit.
base and the
The
mark
of the stigma at the summit.
six seedlets are smooth.
The leathery evergreen leaves are The apex is obtuse wedge-lanceolate or oblong. or acute and sometimes few-toothed. The remainder of the margin is entire. The upper surface is dark green and shining and the lower Leaves.
one paler and dotted with black. Flowers. flowers
grow
The
small
dioecious
in the leaf axils.
on slender stems.
They
or
perfect
are borne
June.
This slender evergreen shrub is from two to It has long been cultivated in six feet high.
England, but with us occurs mainly in a wild It grows near the coast from Nova Scotia state. to Louisiana.
INKBERRY
(Ilex gldbra)
204
SLACK OR DARK PURPLE
2Qh
BUCKTHORN Rhamnus
Buckthorn Family
cathartica
The berrylike drupes grow in clusters. They are globose, somewhat flattened, black, and The pulp and juice of the fruits are a shining. The three or four inclosed nutpeculiar green. lets are grooved. The drupes are bitter and Fruit.
nauseating. Leaves.
August.
The
leaves are broadly ovate with
sometimes hairy, are finely toothed.
prominent,
They
beneath.
veins,
The small greenish flowers are dioacious. They appear a little later than the leaves. May, June. Flowers.
This
is
feet high.
a shrub or small tree ten or fifteen
The lower branches, while
leafy, are
and
stiff and end in sharp points, really the purposes of thorns. serving The berries were formerly used in medicines
short
as a purgative, but are so severe in their action
that their use in this direction to veterinary practice.
A
is
now is
confined
yielded green dye the a the over-ripe purple dye by by ripe berries, fruit, a yellow dye by the fresh bark, and a
brown one by the dried bark.
206
HO W TO KNOW WILD FRUITS
BUCKTHORN. (Rhamnus
cathartica)
The plant is an escape from hedges in New England and the Middle States, and was intro-
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE duced originally .from Europe. of northern Asia.
207
It is also a native
LANCE-LEAVED BUCKTHORN Rhamnus
Buckthorn Family
lanceolata
fruit. nutlets.
It
This berrylike drupe has two grooved is black and shining. The fruits
are in the leaf axils, sometimes in clusters of
two or
three.
Leaves.
The
leaves
are
oblong-lanceolate.
On
the flowering shoots the leaf apex is often The leaves are finely toothed and someobtuse.
what hairy on the veins beneath. Flowers. The yellowish green blossoms are solitary or clustered in the leaf axils.
The
Lance-leaved
Buckthorn
banks of streams and on vania southward.
hills
May.
grows along from Pennsyl-
It is a tall, thornless shrub.
ALDER-LEAVED BUCKTHORN Rhamnus
Buckthorn Family
alnifolia
Fruit.
The black
what pear-shaped.
berrylike drupes are some-
They
are fleshy and inclose
HOW
208
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
grooved nutlets. They grow from the axils of the lower leaves on shoots of new three
growth.
The broadly ovate leaves are dark green when fully grown. They are acute at the apex and the margin is bluntly toothed. The veins on the lower surface are very promiLeaves.
nent.
The greenish flowers dioecious and grow on short stems axils. May, June. Flowers.
are
mostly
in the
leaf
a low thornless shrub which grows in swamps, with New Jersey for its southern limit in our section.
This
is
NORTHERN FOX GRAPE Vitis
Labmsca
The
Fruit. in size of
and
Grape Family fruit is
very variable in color,
separate berries and of the cluster, Purplish black is the common
in flavor.
color but ripe reddish
The
and greenish
fruits
are
usually rather small. The berries are large, with a thick skin, tough They drop readily pulp, and large, thick seeds.
found.
cluster
is
when "
ripe.
"
musky
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
209
sweet, with a
somewhat
They are
and odor.
taste
The
Leaves.
September.
leaves are
likewise
variable
;
sometimes nearly entire in outline and broadly heart-shaped, sometimes three-lobed near the top,
and sometimes
five-lobed.
sharply tipped teeth.
The
The margins have and
leaves are thick
with a green, nearly smooth upper surface and an under surface thickly covered with whitlarge,
ish or
brownish wool.
Flowers.
The inconspicuous
flowers are some-
times perfect, sometimes staminate or The fertile racemes are compact.
pistillate.
This luxuriant vine climbs by means of its tendrils, which are modified flower peduncles, over rocks and walls, and from tree top to tree It is our most common grape top in the forest.
and the one from which many cultivated forms, such as the Catawba, Concord, and Worden have sprung. jellies
This
Its berries are considered the best for
and are delicious
also
valuable for grape juice.
beverage
is
justly
growing in
nutriment, containing as much nitrogenous matter as milk. The scurfy covering of the branches, stalks,
favor.
and
It is rich in
tendrils, together
with the presence of ten-
210
HOW
dril
or flower
KNOW
TO
cluster
each
opposite
features.
distinguishing
WILD FRUITS
The bark
leaf,
are
peels off in
shreds. It occurs in
New England and
along the Alle-
ghanies to central Georgia.
SUMMER GRAPE Vitis aestivalis
Grape Family
The
medium-sized, onethird to one-half inch in diameter. They are Fruit.
berries are
The skin is sometimes dry and puckery,
dark blue or black with a bloom. the flesh tough sometimes sweet and ;
musky
flavor of
are small.
long stems. Leaves.
The
juicy,
always lacking the
Vitis Idbrusca
clusters
and the seeds
;
are rather long, with
September.
The
large
leaves,
thickish
mature, are angled or three- to five-lobed.
when The
openings between the lobes are deep or broad
and open.. The base
is
heart-shaped.
The young
shining above and have tufts of brown down on the lower surfaces. The older
leaves
are
leaves are dull green above and with the distinguishing brown woolly tufts along the veins.
Flowers.
The
flower cluster
is
long and loose.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
211
This vine, like the preceding, is one of vigorous growth, and has given rise to several cultivated distinguished by its brown woolly masses on the leaves and by the absence of tenIt
varieties.
is
each third leaf. " Bailey, in his Evolution of our Native Fruits,"
dril or inflorescence opposite
its
range as Chenung County,
New
York, and Long Island to central Florida and west gives
through southern Pennsylvania to the Mississippi
and Missouri. It
is
especially a southern grape,
whose place
in
represented by the next plant, Vitis bicolor, which is considered by Gray a variety of Vitis cestivalis but as a separate species by Bailey
the north
is
and by Britton and Brown.
BLUE GRAPE Vitis bicolor
Fruit.
Grape Family
The
clusters are usually long, with a
long peduncle. The berries are purple, with a dense bloom, medium in size, and sour in taste.
The
seeds are small.
Leaves.
The
September.
large, usually three- to five-lobed
leaves have not as deeply notched teeth as those
HOW
212 of
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
A
distinguishing feature is the thick blue bloom on the under surface of the Vitis cestivalis.
It loses this
leaf.
toward
fall,
but does not have
the brown woolly masses of the
The petioles and tendrils are The young growths, as well
Summer
Grape.
long.
as the under leaf
surface, are usually covered with the distinguishThe vine grows along streams ing blue bloom.
and on banks from
New York
to .Illinois
and
to
mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.
RIVERSIDE OR SWEET-SCENTED GRAPE Vitis riparia
Vitis vulpina.
This (the
species
differs
following species)
particulars
Grape Family
from
Vitis
cordifolia
chiefly in the following
:
The berries are thickly covered with The seeds are small. The fruit blue bloom. clusters are much-branched and often compound. These show deeper and more frequent Leaves. lobes. The veins and angles are often hairy. The blossoms are very fragrant. Flowers. Fruit.
They grow
in smaller, denser clusters.
This has a range from
New
Brunswick
to
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
RIVERSIDE GRAPE
(
213
Vitis vulpina)
North Dakota, Kansas, and Colorado, south to West Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas. It is the source of
and
some cultivated
others.
species
;
Elvira, Clinton,
HOW
214
KNOW WILD
TO
FRUITS
FROST OR CHICKEN GRAPE Vitis cordifolia
The small round
Fruit.
ous
in
Grape Family
the loose-branched
berries are cluster.
numer-
They
are
black with a slight bloom, have a thick skin, or two medium-sized scant pulp, and one seeds.
They
are
October, November.
after being frosted.
The
Leaves.
leaves
but sometimes are or
They
angles.
sharp-pointed
long
and
but improve in flavor
sour,
are usually undivided,
suggestive of three lobes are coarsely toothed with
The
teeth.
and
pointed,
The upper
apex the
is
base
generally is
heart-
and shaped. the lower one green and usually smooth, with occasionally fine hairs along the veins. Flowers.
leaf surface is shiny
The flower cluster
is
long, branched,
and many-flowered. the true Frost Grape, and is a vine of luxuriant growth, the trunk sometimes be-
This
is
coming a foot or two in diameter. It grows in moist thickets and along streams from New
England to central and southward.
Illinois,
Missouri, Nebraska,
VIRGINIA CREEPER (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
216
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
217 \
WOODBINE
VIRGINIA CREEPER.
AMERICAN IVY Parthenocissus quinquefolia.
Ampelopsis quinquefolia
Grape Family
The globular berry
Fruit.
is
slightly
de-
It is dark blue or nearly pressed at the tip. black when mature, is two-celled, with one or
two largish seeds thin and inedible.
in
each
The
berries
grow
flesh
is
in loose
October.
red-stalked clusters.
The compound
Leaves.
The
cell.
leaves are borne on
The five to seven long channeled red stems. leaflets are in a whorl at the apex of the leaf stalk.
They
variable
are
in
shape,
oval
or
and are coarsely toothed along the The stems are short apex half of the margin. and the apex is long and acute. The leaves early assume their red, crimson, and purplish elliptical,
fall colorings.
Flowers. flowers
spicuous
grow
The in
reddish
cymes.
appearance
odor, they are visited
Virginia Creeper
is
and
or
greenish
small
their
incon-
Despite
apparent
lack
of
by many bees. a vine which has been
HO W TO KNOW WILD FEUITS
218
much
cultivated.
grows rapidly, and covers
It
house yalls and
various
supports offered it. climbs tree trunks
When growing wild, it and covers stone walls, fences, and rocks.
It
supports itself by means of the small disks at the ends of the tendrils. The fall coloring is brilliant. Its five leaflets are a feature dis-
from the Poison Ivy, which has
tinguishing
it
somewhat
similar
latter's leaflets are
habits
of
The
growth.
but three in number.
ANGELICA TREE.
HERCULES' CLUB
Aralia spinosa
Ginseng Family
The black
berrylike drupes are fiveThe lobed and bear the styles at the summit. Fruit.
grow in large terminal clusters. The flesh thin. The fruits hang on the trees during the
fruits is
winter.
The
Leaves.
leaves
are
doubly or
triply
The leaflets are compound and very large. ovate, thick, and serrate. They are dark green above prickly. fall
and
paler
beneath.
Dark red with
coloring.
The
petioles
traces of yellow
is
are
the
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE The small white
Flowers.
219
flowers
grow
in
umbels, some of which form a large panicle. In the south, this plant is said to become tree In our section, of fifty feet in height. a
a small tree or large shrub. The branchless stems often grow in groups, bearing it is
however,
compound leaves in clusters at the The general effect is somewhat like a top. palm. The stems and leaves are thorny. The their
large
flowers, like those of the Spikenard, are late in ap-
Southern pearing and the fruit matures rapidly. New York is the northern limit, although it is farther
often cultivated
north and sometimes
escapes.
AMERICAN SPIKENARD.
INDIAN ROOT
Aralia racemosa
The
Fruit. fruits is
Ginseng Family
large
composed
of
raceme-like
cluster
numerous umbels.
of
Smaller
The berry is reddish dark or brown, small, gobular, purple with and crowned five-seeded, tiny calyx teeth, clusters
grow
in the leaf axils.
through which the styles project. like the roots, are aromatic.
Leaves.
The
The
berries,
September.
leaves are large
and compound,
220
HOW
TO
KNOW
AMERICAN SPIKENARD
WILD FRUITS
(Aralia racemosa)
Each has a main stem and two opposite branches.
Three to
five leaflets,
lateral
a terminal one
BLACK OE DARK PURPLE and the others
The
stems.
grow on each
of the
sometimes lobed.
They
in pairs,
leaflets are
221
are usually heart-shaped and sharply and doubly toothed. The point is long and sharp, and the base is heart-shaped. The veins on the lower surface are hairy.
The
Flowers. flowers form
small,
spikes in the leaf axils.
the
Along
greenish,
long terminal spikes
wooded
umbelled or
smaller
July, August.
roadsides,
the greenish
white flowers appear about the time that the Golden-rod begins to blossom. The fruit follows in
haste;
spheres,
bloom.
and the
plant, with its tiny glassy
more noticeable than in its period The berries are used as food by birds.
is
of
range is from New Brunswick to Georgia and west to Minnesota. Its
WILD OR VIRGINIAN SARSAPARILLA Aralia nudicaulis
Fruit.
which
is
The
Ginseng Family
borne on a naked scape, shorter than the leaf stalks. There is fruit is
usually one large cluster of fruits at the top of the scape. This cluster is often composed of
222
two small
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
WILD SARSAPARILLA
(Aralia nudicaulis)
HOW
TO
clusters borne
on short stems.
this central cluster radiate,
From
on longer stems, one
BLACK OE DARK PURPLE or more smaller clusters of fruits.
223
The
clusters
are compact and globular in appearance.
The them are berrylike drupes composing At the top globular and about the size of peas. black
of each
with
beyond
visible the opening of the calyx tube, minute teeth. Projecting through and
is
its
this are the five styles.
five-celled,
with one nutlet in
green fruits are ridged, structure externally
;
The drupe is each cell. The
showing the
but
when
five-celled
ripe the drupes
nearly smooth. July, August. Leaves. There is usually one, sometimes there
are
are two, long stalked, leaf
each.
compound
leaves.
has three divisions of five to seven
Each leaflets
These are finely toothed and acute at the
apex. Flowers.
The
and are borne
in
flowers
are
greenish white,
umbels composed of from three
to seven clusters of bloom.
The aromatic
root serves as a substitute for
the South American Sarsaparilla. Bluebirds are recorded as eating the fruit. It favors damp
woods, and extends south from Newfoundland North Carolina and west to the Dakotas.
to
HOW
224
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
BRISTLY SARSAPARILLA. Aralia hispida
Fruit. like fruit
WILD ELDER Ginseng Family
The dark
blue, almost black, berry-
When the drupes are usually five-seeded. is green, or the berry somewhat dry, it
The five parts very distinctly. styles protrude through the persistent calyx tube Several umbels on very at the top of the fruit. shows
its
five
slender smooth pedicels grow at the the plant stem. August.
summit
of
The leaves are twice pinnate, with ovate leaflets. These are finely toothed, long sharply acute at the apex, narrowed or rounded at the base, and hairy on the veins beneath. Leaves.
Flowers.
The tiny white
nearly hemispherical This Sarsaparilla
flowers
grow
in
clusters.
distinguished by the bristles which are scattered along the stem. It is
grows from one to two feet high, and frequents rocky and sandy places. It extends south to North Carolina.
BRISTLY SARSAPARILLA (Aralia hispida)
225
226
HOW
KNOW WILD
TO
SOUR GUM.
TUPELO.
FRUITS
PEPPERIDGE Dogwood Family
Nyssa sylvatica Fruit.
The
fruit
grow on long axils. They rarely
clusters
slender stems from the leaf
contain more than two or three of
the bluish
The flesh is thin and acid, black ovoid drupes. and the bony stone grooved. The drupes serve as food for birds. October. Leaves.
The
leaves are a soft glossy green
above, with a paler, somewhat hairy under surface. They vary in shape from lanceolate to
oval and obovate.
They
are often entire, some-
times notched, with large teeth near the apex. Flowers. Sterile and fertile flowers usually
grow on different trees, but sometimes on the same tree. They are yellowish green. The sterile flowers grow in several-flowered clusters, and the fertile ones are solitary, or in a close whorl of a few blossoms.
They grow on
which elongate in fruit. This is an ornamental, rather small
short
stalks
an attractive
foliage.
Its
tree,
with
branches are rather
The wood splits low, horizontal, and quite close. with difficulty on account of its twisted fibers.
TUPELO (Nyssa 227
sylvatica)
HOW
228
the
is
Tupelo
TO
KNOW
Indian
WILD FRUITS
name
for the tree.
An
interesting tradition in connection with the tree
around slavery days. It was customary to use a log of the Sour Gum as the back log for the rousing Christmas fire. As still
clings
long as the
work on the plantation Prompted by the characteristic
fire lasted,
was suspended.
love of leisure possessed slaves
by the colored
would cut a large log
race, the
in the fall, sink
it
under water, and leave it there until near Christmas, when they would raise it and carry it in with the other Christmas
fuel.
Full of water,
it
burnt a long time, and the slaves enjoyed a cor-
The tree ranges respondingly long vacation. from New England west to Michigan, and south to Florida
and Texas.
ALPINE OR BLACK BEARBERRY Mairania alpina
Arctostaphylos alpina
Heath Family
The globose drupes are black and They inclose four or five separate nut-
Fruit. juicy. lets,
each
clusters.
one-seeded.
They grow
in
small
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE The leaves
Leaves.
and
are deciduous, toothed,
with
egg-shaped,
inversely
229
conspicuous
veinings.
The white
Flowers.
narrow
throat.
They grow
This Bearberry
is
around the world. tains of
ovoid flowers have a in terminal racemes.
an Arctic mountainous shrub It also occurs in the
New England
and Canada.
moun-
It is de-
pressed, not half a foot high.
BLACK OR HIGH-BUSH HUCKLEBERRY Gaylussacia resinosa
Fruit.
grow
in
The short
Huckleberry Family
black, shining, berrylike drupes
racemose
clusters.
The calyx
A
teeth are plainly visible. cross section of the fruit near the base shows the circular arrange-
ment
of the ten nutlets around the core.
This
core tapers toward the summit, being somewhat
cone-shaped.
July, August.
The
thick green leaves are covered with resinous dots. They are entire and have Leaves.
short petioles. They vary from oblong to oval, and are obtuse or acutish. purplish red is one of the most noticeable of its fall colorings.
A
P1OW TO
230
Flowers.
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The reddish
or pink bells
grow
in
short one-sided racemes.
There are several varieties with berries ing from the type
differ-
some, pear-shaped some, and some, black with a bloom. bluish Gaylussacia resinosa is the Huckleberry com;
;
;
monly
for sale.
The
flesh is
of the Blueberries, but the
what
harder than that
hard nutlets are some-
objectionable.
Huckleberries and milk
!
What
of childhood the combination recalls robins, cedar birds, crows,
recollections !
Bluebirds,
and blue jays share
with mortals a liking for the berries. The Huckleberries contribute an important share to the beauty of the autumnal display of colors.
Great purplish patches on pasture
hill-
sides are visible for a considerable distance.
The species extends as and west to Minnesota.
far south as Georgia,
DWARF OR BUSH HUCKLEBERRY Gaylussacia dumosa
Fruit.
The
Huckleberry Family
berrylike drupes, with their ten seedlike nutlets, are small, watery, and insipid.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE
231
They are black and shining, without bloom, and grow in an open bracted cluster. July, August. The thick leaves are green on both Leaves. sides, shining when old, and resinous. They are nearly or quite stemless, and often slightly downy. The apex is obtuse or acute, and ends in a sharp point.
The racemes
Flowers.
red bell-shaped flowers racemes. June.
The
of
fruit
account.
grow
white, in loose
pink, or bracted
variety is not of much the principal member
this
The plant
the genus
of
is
southward.
grows in sandy swamps along the coast from Newfoundland to Florida and Louisiana. of
It
LOW BLACK BLUEBERRY Vaccinium nigrum Fruit.
Huckleberry Family
The berry
is
black and has no bloom.
July.
The
Leaves. oblanceolate.
toothed.
leaves are oblong, obovate, or
They
The apex
rowed or rounded.
and whitened.
are nearly sessile is
and
finely
acute and the base nar-
The under
surface
is
pale
BOW
232
The
Flowers. shaped. of
KNOW
TO
The
WILD FRUITS
flowers are
bell is
white and
bell-
rounder than the blossom
F. Pennsylvanicum. .
Only a few flowers ap-
pear in the cluster. This is sometimes considered as a variety of F. Pennsylvanicum, and often grows with it. It differs
from
som and
it
in
having a rounder,
bell-like blos-
in the black bloomless fruit.
Vaccinium atrococcum
is
sometimes considered
corymbosum, which is described in the blue section. The stems and un-
as a variety of
F.
der leaf surfaces are downy. black and lack bloom.
The
berries are
FRINGE TREE Chionanthus Virginica
Olive Family
The purple oval drupes grow in loose They are covered with a bloom. The four-parted calyx is persistent at the base and the style is at the tip. The dry flesh contains one stony seed. The skin is thick. Leaves. The ovate or obovate-lanceolate Fruit.
clusters.
leaves have stout, hairy stems. They are entire, and sharp or rounded at the apex. The under
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE The
hairy along the veins. turn yellow in the fall. surface
is
The white
Flowers. rative
row
petals,
name
hanging
leaves
flower clusters are deco-
The four
the green foliage.
among
233
like fringes, give the
nar-
common
to the plant.
The Greek, Chionanthus, meaning snow and blossom, refers to the white flowers. or small tree,
sey and
is
This shrub,
New
native as far north as
southern
Pennsylvania,
and
Jer-
extends
southward to Florida and west to Texas, ArIt grows along the banks kansas, and Kansas. of streams.
It is often cultivated at the north.
PRIVET Olive Family
Ligustrum vulgare
Fruit.
one- to
The shining black berries are from two-seeded. They grow in terminal
panicles.
Leaves.
The
leaves are deciduous with us,
but in the south of Europe are evergreen. are entire and very smooth. Flowers.
The small white
flowers
They are
in
terminal panicles.
The
leaves
and
bark
are
astringent.
In
HOW
234
TO
KNOW WILD
FEUITS
in other parts of Europe, the small
Belgium and
twigs are powdered and used for tanning leather. The juice of the berries is used in dyeing. This It a hardy shrub from six to eight feet high. has been naturalized from Europe. It is often is
used for hedges.
Some
of its old English
names
and Skedgwith. reported growing on the walls of
are Primwort, Skedge,
Privet
is
Cologne Cathedral, the seeds obviously having been deposited there by bird agencies.
BLACK OR GARDEN NIGHTSHADE Solanum
Fruit. in
Potato Family
iiigrum
Smallish, black, globular berries
drooping clusters
from the
grow
side of the stems.
Their pedicels are slender, and the five-parted The berries are smooth calyx is at the base.
and contain many thin, flat seeds. Leaves. The ovate leaves usually have one side which is slightly longer than the other.
They are wavy-toothed,
thin,
and have thin
stems.
Flowers.
The
in lateral clusters.
five-lobed white flowers
July-September.
grow
BLACK NIGHTSHADE
(Solatium nigrum)
HOW
286
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
the roadside and in waste places, the Black Nightshade occasionally appears. It is a rather
By
low spreading annual.
SWEET ELDER
AMERICAN ELDER. Sambucus Canadensis
Honeysuckle Family
Large, full, flat, drooping clusters of purplish or almost black drupes grow at the ends of the branches. Usually, five small nutlets and Fruit.
purplish juice are the contents of each fruit. The calyx teeth and stigma are visible at the
summit.
August, September.
Leaves.
The compound
leaves are opposite.
Their five to eleven leaflets grow on short stems,
and are oblong or ovate.
They
are coarsely and
sharply toothed, the teeth sometimes hooked. The under surface is lighter than the upper, and The tip is acute and the base rounded, hairy. acute, or heart-shaped.
Flowers.
grow
The
small, whitish, fragrant flowers
in a flat
compound cyme. In July, this blossoming shrub delights both the sense of sight and that of smell as one passes along the roadway bordered by
it.
In the
fall,
tiLACK OR
DARK PURPLE
237
at school-opening season, the drooping clusters of fruit are a feast for the eye
are sometimes
;
used for pies and homemade wine and furnish material for the country boy's ink bottle, much to ;
the distress of his school ma'am. is
Professor
responsible for the statement, that
addition of an Elderberries
Budd
with the
vinegar or lemon juice, as good a pie as Huckle-
acid,
make
berries.
The new growths are smooth and green, and the older stems are grayish, with raised dots. The pith is white, distinguishing this Elder from the Red-berried, which has a brown pith. It is a common plant of the United States and Canada.
MAPLE-LEAVED VIBURNUM OR ARROWWOOD. DOCKMACKIE Viburnum aceriiolium
Honeysuckle Family
The smallish drupes are somewhat shape, with two opposite sides flattened.
Fruit.
oval in
They black
are pointed at the
when
ripe.
The
are nearly thin and the
tip.
They
flesh
is
doubly convex, with one ridged surface The and the other one slightly two-grooved. stone
is
HOW
238
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
MAPLE-LEAVED VIBURNUM (Viburnum fruits are
reddish
and
borne in a terminal
downy
stems.
acerifolium)
flat
cluster,
on
Late August, September,
persistent through the winter.
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE Leaves.
The
239
leaves are in pairs, with tiny
The under than the upper, and
stipules at the base of the stems.
surface of the leaf
lighter
The shape varies from oval The leaves are unsomewhat three-lobed.
is soft,
to
is
with down.
evenly toothed. The Flowers.
flower
cluster
consists
of
perfect, small, white, or cream-colored blossoms.
May, June. This
is
a low shrub, seldom exceeding six
feet in height.
It is quite readily distinguished
by the resemblance
Red Maple.
of its leaves to those of the
grows on the border of woods south to North Carolina and west to Michigan and Minnesota. It
DOWNY-LEAVED ARROWWOOD Viburnum pubescens Fruit. clustered.
Honeysuckle Family
The dark purple oval drupes are The flesh is thin and the stone is
two-grooved on each surface. August. The ovate leaves are stemless or Leaves. nearly
so.
They
are coarsely toothed
at apex, or sometimes the point
is
and acute
long drawn
HOW
240
TO
The under
out.
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
surface
is
soft
with down.
Purple and red are the foliage colors of autumn, which contrast with the dark berries.
The abundant white
Flowers. in an
grow
open cyme. or nearly sessile, leaves and their pubescence are characteristics of this low
The soft
flowers
sessile,
It extends branching shrub of rocky woods. It south along the Alleghanies to Georgia. ranges west to Minnesota and Iowa.
WITHE-ROD Viburnum cassinoides
The
Fruit.
borne on red
Honeysuckle Family
globose or ovoid drupes are stems. The cluster presents a
most attractive appearance with light green, pink, and blue-black fruits in various stages of
The dark drupes are covered with a The minute calyx and stigma soft blue bloom. The flesh is quite abundant persist at the tip. and sweet. The stone is flat, with a slight hollow on one side and a convex surface on the
ripening.
other.
Late August, September.
Leaves.
on flattened
The thickish opposite leaves grow petioles, which nearly encircle the
WITHE-ROD (Viburnum
a
241
cassinoides)
BLACK OR DARK PURPLE Brown
smaller branches.
243
dots appear
circular
on the upper surface of the leaf along the midvein, and are scattered about on the under
The
surface.
The
tip.
leaf
or the margin
Flowers.
is
usually ovate, with a blunt
and somewhat rounded,
sometimes
entire.
The flower cluster is quite large The whitish flowers are small, perfect,
and
full.
and
five-parted.
The shrub ash-colored
scurfy
is
teeth are fine
and
June.
rather straggling, and has an The twigs are somewhat bark. is
dotted.
The
slender
last
year's
sometimes used in binding sheaves. growth It is a swamp plant, and extends south to New is
Jersey and west to Minnesota.
LARGER WITHE-ROD Viburnum nudum
Honeysuckle Family
usually a larger species than Viburnum cassinoides, and has a southern range extending
This
is
New
The leaves Jersey south to Florida. are more prominently veined than in the preced-
from
ing, is
and sometimes scurfy above.
generally entire.
The margin
HOW
244
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
SWEET VIBURNUM. SHEEPBERRY NANNY BERRY Viburnum Lentago
Honeysuckle Family
The drupes
Fruit.
are crimson, before ripen-
ing to a dark blue or black, and the two colors The fruits often mingle in the fruit cluster.
and the The calyx tube,
are covered with bloom, are drooping, clusters
have slender red
stalks.
at the summit.
with the projecting stigma,
is
The
edible.
fruit is rather large
and
flattened, has a blunt point, and both sides. September, October.
is
The
and are sharply and
leaf
In the
grooved on
The broad oval leaves are sharp-
Leaves. pointed,
is
The stone
stem
fall
closely toothed.
usually winged or margined. the leaves are deep red or marked is
with orange. Flowers.
The small white
flowers
grow
in
terminal cymes. The numerous yellow anthers give the 'flower a yellowish appearance, May, June.
This small tree has rusty, scurfy, scale-like bark, especially on the young shoots. Its foliage is
good, and the flower clusters large and showy.
SWEET VIBURNUM (Viburnum 245
Lentago)
HOW
TO
KNOW
WILD FftUlTS
woods and along Georgia, and west to
It occurs quite frequently in
streams from Canada to
Minnesota and Missouri.
STAG BUSH
BLACK HAW. Viburnum prunifolium
Honeysuckle Family
-The dark blue, nearly black, oval
Fruit.
The drupes are borne in a few-fruited .cluster. The oval fruits are whitened with a bloom. stone
is
flat
the other. after
on one
The
and a
having been frosted.
The oval the apex and finely
Leaves. at
side
trifle
flavor of the fruit
is
curved on
improved
September.
leaves are usually obtuse
They are dark beneath. They grow
toothed.
green above and lighter on short stems which are sometimes winged. The cream-white flowers grow in a Flowers. flat-topped cluster.
May.
This ^Viburnum, like the Sweet Viburnum, sometimes reaches the stature of a tree. It is
found from Connecticut to Florida, and extends west to Michigan, Kansas, and Texas.
BLUE
BLUE COMMON JUNIPER Juniperus communis
The
Fruit.
Pine Family
berrylike cones do not develop and often remain on the
until the second year,
branches some time after ripening. When fully ripe, in the fall of the second year, the fruits are dark blue with a bloom.
The
three-seeded.
mealy.
The
flesh of the
They berry
are usually is
dry and
seeds are slow in germinating, re-
The fruit develops from quiring two years. three fleshy scales, united from their bases nearly and inclosing three ovules.
to the tips,
When with
ripe, the tips of the scales are still visible,
lines
from each joining
The berry is
much
in a
common
center.
It nearly stemless and axillary. used in making gin, an infusion of the is
berries being
Leaves.
added to
The
distilled grain.
short, stemless,
sharp-pointed
leaves are arranged in whorls of three. are bright green
They
and shining on the lower 249
sur-
Low JUNIPER
(Juniperus nana)
250
BLUE
251
and channeled and whitened on the upper one. The whitened appearance of the upper surface,
due to a thin layer of wax, which covers
face
is
and
protects,
from dew and
rain, the stomata,
or openings, of the air passages.
Flowers. ers
grow May.
in
The
st animate
and
aments on separate
pistillate flow-
plants.
April,
Juniperus communis is an erect shrub or small tree, common to the northern portions of Europe, In the latter continent it Asia, and America.
extends as far south as
New
Jersey,
Pennsyl-
vania, Nebraska, Michigan, and along the Kockies to New Mexico.
Juniperus nana (Juniperus communis, var. alpina of Gray) is distinguished from the preceding by a growth in low circular patches. These spread over waste rocky hillsides and are eradicated with difficulty. The leaves are
somewhat
stouter and less spreading than those
of Juniperus
communis.
HOW
252
KNOW WILD
TO
FRUITS
RED CEDAR Pine Family
Juiiiperus Virginiana
The
fruits are globular or flattened " " a at the top, giving the berry " " The so-called is outline. berry
Fruit.
and wider triangular
formed by the coalescence of fleshy scales, the tips of which are indicated by tiny projections on the fruit. It grows on a straight peduncle
and
contains
flesh
are
one or two seeds.
aromatic.
Seeds
and
October, November, and
persistent.
Leaves.
The
two kinds. On often aw l-shaped and
leaves are of
r the younger trees they are arranged loosely along the branches.
on older
These
together with short, scale-like, overlapping leaves crowded closely also appear
trees,
together.
Flowers.
The
sterile
usually 'on
different
same
The
tree.
terminal aments.
and
trees,
fertile flowers are
sometimes on the
flowers are small
and grow
in
April, May. The Red Cedar is a shrub or tree with reddish brown bark, which peels off in shreds on the older growths. The wood is whitish or red, and
BLUE
253
RED CEDAR (Juniperus Virginiana)
has a pleasant, persistent odor.
It is
used for
pencils, small boxes, fence posts, and sometimes
HOW
254 pails.
It is
TO
KNOW
very durable, but has been used so
extravagantly that
The
WILD FRUITS
it
is
now
expensive.
Cedar seeds are scattered by birds, and the
trees often
grow along fence rows.
their greatest
magnitude in
They reach swamps and low
grounds of the south, but are common throughout the United States. In the north, they grow
on dry
hills as well as
near swamps.
SHRUBBY RED CEDAR Juniperus Sabina
Fruit.
The
Pine Family
fruit
differs
from that
of
the
Red Cedar in being borne on recurved stemlike branches instead of on erect ones. The
leaves are of
two kinds,
similar to those
of the preceding species.
The Shrubby Red Cedar
a prostrate, sometimes creeping shrub, seldom more than four feet high; It grows on the borders of swamps or on
rocky banks in northward.
is
New England
to Minnesota,
and
YELLOW CLINTONIA
(Clintonia borealis)
256
BLUE
257
YELLOW CLINTONIA Clintonia borealis
Family
The ovoid berry is almost a pure blue It is many-seeded. The umbel of
Fruit. in
Lily-of-the- Valley
color.
grows at the top of an erect stem. August. There are two to four shiny, oval or Leaves.
fruit
oblong, light green leaves, with their stalks acting as a sheath for the base of the scape.
The
Flowers.
ing flowers grow May, June.
The plant and a
named
is
who was
Clinton,
three to six, greenish, droopat the summit of the scape.
naturalist.
a foot in height.
in honor
a governor of
of
De Witt
New York
State
grows from six inches to The rootstock is slender and It
creeping. It is
found in woods from Labrador to North
Carolina.
Its
western limit
BLUE COHOSH.
is
Minnesota.
PAPOOSE ROOT
Caulophyllum tbalictroides Fruit.
The
Barberry Family
fruit resembles a drupe, but
naked seed with the outer coat
fleshy.
is
a
There
HOW
258
are originally
KNOW WILD
TO
two seeds
FRUITS
in the developing ovary.
grow they burst their membranous continue growth as pairs of naked and covering The fruit is blue with a bloom, globular, seeds.
As
these
and borne on short stout
The
stalks.
fruits
grow
in raceme-like clusters.
one large leaf at the top of the stem and sometimes a smaller one near the
There
Leaves.
is
The compound leaf is thricehave two or three lobes.
base of the flower.
parted and the
leaflets
are coarsely toothed.
They
Flowers. small,
The
flowers are yellowish green,
and in racemes.
April,
May.
This herb of early growth appears, in rich
woods, in April. bloom-covered.
When It
is
ward, and extends as
young, the whole plant
more common far south as
is
to the west-
South Carolina.
SASSAFRAS Sassafras sassafras
Sassafras officinale
Laurel Family
Fruit.
This
fits
The
fruit
is
an oval dark blue drupe.
into a red hollow cup,
ened calyx and fleshy stem.
which
is
The calyx
thick-
teeth
BLUE COHOSH (Caulophyllwn 259
thalictroides)
BLUE
261
The
scallop the edge of the cup.
flesh of the
rather thin and the stone large. drupe cotyledons are large and fleshy. The fruits is
The grow
singly or in small clusters from the base of the season's shoots. The fruit is eaten by birds, but is
unpleasantly spicy. August. Leaves. On the mature trees, oval leaves
The young
predominate.
shoots
bear
oval
leaves leaves with a lobe at one side, looking like the thumb of a mitten or three-lobed ;
;
leaves, with two lateral lobes and a terminal one. The hollows of the lobed leaves are
The
rounded.
young leaves are reddish but
become dark green above with a lighter lower surface. The leaves and twigs are mucilaginous. Yellow and orange are the Flowers.
fall colors.
The greenish yellow
dioecious flow-
many-flowered racemes. Sassafras and Spice Bush are our only repre-
ers
grow
in drooping
sentatives of a large family that, in the tropics,
include
and
plants that
several
Laurel or
differently
Bay
family.
cinnamon, camphor, The woods.
scented
Tree, whose leaves were used by
the ancients in
crown
yield
making wreaths with which
their heroes, is also a
member
of
to
this
HOW
262
TO
Aromatic bark
SNOW is
a
WILD FRUITS
common
characteristic.
The bark and roots are ingredients in root beer, and from the bark of the roots oil of sassafras is made. The bark of the Sassafras is much cracked and roughened. Emerson says that, in the southwestern parts of the country, the dried leaves of the Sassafras are much used for flavoring soups.
Columbus
own hope
is
said to
have increased his
being near land, and to have quieted the mutinies of his crew, from catching whiffs of the strong fragrance of the Sassafras. of
Sassafras roots were a part of the
first
cargo to
from Massachusetts to England. At that time they were much prized for supposed be
sent
medicinal properties. The wood is when seasoned is tough and light.
brittle,
The
but
trees
grow rapidly and spread by suckers, often formThe range is through the Missising thickets. sippi valley and eastward.
ROUND-LEAVED CORNEL OR DOGWOOD Cormis circinata
Fruit.
or white.
Dogwood Family
The small drupe is very light blue The fruit develops sparingly and the
BLUE
263
The stone is nearly cymes are not very full. It is aromatic globose and somewhat ridged. and bitter. September.
The
Leaves.
leaves are nearly round, some-
times even broader than long. The apex is acute and the base rounded or heart-shaped. The under densely hairy and has prominent veins. The white blossoms are rather Flowers.
surface
is
The
large and in full-blossomed cymes. cels are
somewhat
This shrub
from three
is
quite spreading in
to ten feet high.
The
green and warty. It
It extends
grows
habit,
and
branches are
and often among
from Nova Scotia
SILKY CORNEL. Cornus
Its
its
leaves are distinctively
in the shade
broad. rocks.
pedi-
hairy.
to Virginia.
KINNIKINNIK
Amonum
Cornus sericea
Dogwood Family Fruit.
The drupes vary in ripening from They are globular, with pale blue.
green to the calyx teeth persistent in a depression at the The flesh is whitish and the stone summit. noticeably
ridged.
The
fruits
grow
in a flat
SILKY CORNEL (Cornus Amonum) 264
BLUE
265
terminal cluster. The peduncles and pedicels are reddish and clothed with soft down. Late
August, September.
The
Leaves.
ovate or
simple,
elliptical.
The
opposite
tip
is
leaves
are
pointed and the
rounded or often uneven, one side being The stems and under longer than the other. leaf surfaces are downy, sometimes rusty. base
is
The small white
flowers. flat
compact cymes.
This shrub
is
flowers
grow
in
June.
erect
and somewhat spreading.
green bark has a reddish tinge and in winter the branches become purplish. The branchlets, Its
stems, and lower leaf surfaces are finely woolly. It is one of the latest of the family to blossom
but fruits
in
company with the Panicled
Cornel,
the two often forming hedges along the fence rows and highways. It is very decorative in fruit,
and
is
being more
landscape
gardeners.
It
sively as
far west as
the
to the gulf.
and more used
by
exten-
grows quite Dakotas and south
HOW
266
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
ALTERNATE-LEAVED CORNEL OR
DOGWOOD Cormis
Dogwood Family
alternifolia
The small deep blue drupes grow
Fruit.
in
an irregularly branched drooping cyme. PedunThe flesh of cles and pedicels are a deep red. the
drupe
is
white or pinkish, and of There is but one stone, which
scanty,
a pithy texture.
The style usually two-seeded. projects through the minute calyx tube, at the summit of the fruit. The drupe is tenaciously
is
globose and
bitter.
the
August, being one of
It ripens in early
Dogwoods to fruit. Leaves. The alternate leaves usually grow in clusters at the ends of the branches. They are entire or minutely toothed, and ovate or oval. The pointed apex is long drawn out and the base is rounded or acute. The upper surface is shining and dark green the lower one, whitfirst
;
ened and covered with fine hairs, especially along the
veins.
The veins
are
prominent on the
under surface, looking like tiny cords running The petiole has a grooved through the leaf. upper surface. Yellow or yellow and scarlet are the fall colors.
ALTERNATE-LEAVED CORNEL (Cornus
267
alternifolid)
BLUE The
Flowers. flowers
grow
small,
269 white,
four-parted
in broad loose cymes.
June.
a pretty shrub or small tree, distinguished from the other Dogwoods by its alternate This
is
leaves.
Its flower clusters, too, differ, the second-
ary stalks growing alternately instead of starting from the same point. The leaf clusters are
broad and
and
so arranged as to
form a green
background for the red and black
of the fruit
cluster. is,
flat,
This
Dogwood
fruit, bitter
serves as food for the birds.
from
New
though
It is
it
common
Brunswick to Minnesota and as far
south as Georgia.
BLUE TANGLE. TANGLEBERRY. DANGLEBERRY Gaylussacia frondosa
Fruit.
Huckleberry Family
The long
loose clusters of berrylike
The drupes are characteristic of this species. separate fruits are rather large, dark blue with a white bloom, globose, and sweet with a slight The calyx teeth crown the summit. acidity.
The
fruits
ripen
July, August.
late
and are rather
scarce.
HOW
270
TO
The
Leaves.
large, pale green,
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
short-petioled leaves are thin,
whitened and resinous on the
under surface, and oval to inversely egg-shaped. Flowers.
son says,
"
The greenish pink bells, as Emerhang dangling on slender strings,
from one to three inches long." These stems are bracted, and the raceme-like flower cluster is long
and
loose.
New
In
May, June. England,
the
Dangleberry grows
mostly along the coast. It extends south to Florida and Louisiana and west to Ohio. It prefers
moist
warmer
locations
ground, is
of
and
the fruit
in
the
improved quality.
BOX HUCKLEBERRY Gaylussacia brachycera
Huckleberry Family
Fruit. The light blue, berry like drupes grow in short clusters. They have ten seedlike nutlets.
The evergreen leaves are thick and and lack the resinous dots common to leathery, the rest of the genus. They are oval, and the margins have rounded teeth and are somewhat Leaves.
rolled
backwards.
The
leaf
stems are very short.
SLUE The white
Flowers.
271 or
pink bell-shaped on short grow very pedicels, in short
flowers
racemes.
May.
This low shrub, scarcely exceeding a foot in height, has a limited range, occurring in dry
woods from Delaware and Pennsylvania
to Vir-
ginia.
GREAT BILBERRY Vaccinium uliginosum
The
Fruit.
Huckleberry Family
bloom-covered, globular usually grow singly or in clusters of from two to four. They are four- or five-celled, blue,
berries
sweet, and not very abundant.
Leaves. fully
The oblong
July, August.
or obovate leaves,
when
grown, are thick, bright green above and
paler
beneath.
They
are
entire
and nearly
stemless.
The
Flowers.
solitary or few-clustered pink
flowers have their parts mostly in fours.
This
is
branches.
a
low
tufted
shrub
with
many
mountain heights of York, the shore of Lake
It inhabits the
New England and New
Superior, and thence northward to Alaska.
It is
HOW
272
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
found in the northern countries
also
the
of
Eastern Hemisphere.
DWARF BILBERRY Vaccinium caespitosum
The berry
Fruit.
a bloom.
The
Huckleberry Family
It
is
globular and blue, with
has a sweet flavor.
fruits usually
grow
It is five-celled.
singly in the leaf axils.
August.
The smooth shining leaves are with small blunt teeth. The petioles
Leaves. ovate,
ob-
are
very short. Flowers.
The white or pink
flowers are bell-
shaped. is mainly a mountain or cold country and shrub, grows to a height of from four inches to two feet.
This
HIGH-BUSH OR TALL BLUEBERRY Vaccinium corymbosum Fruit.
some
--The
berries
Huckleberry Family differ
much
in
varieties bearing shiny black berries,
black with a blue bloom, and
some
blue.
color,
some The
BLUE
273
HIGH-BUSH BLUEBERRY (Vaccinium corymboswri)
size
of the berry
grow
is
alsc variable.
The
berries
in a cluster at the end of a short, nearly
BOW
274 leafless
TO
branch of
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
last year's
The calyx
growth.
summit of the berry. are very sweet and others rather
teeth are noticeable at the
Some
berries
acid.
July, August. In the typical form the margins are
Leaves.
After the time of flowering, the leaves broaden without increasing in length. They are entire.
oval or elliptical-lanceolate. The under surface short.
is
petioles
paler
are
than the
be smooth or hairy. The blossoms are white or pinkcylindrical, and somewhat narrowed at the
upper and Flowers. ish,
The
may
They grow in short racemes. The High Blueberry grows to a height
throat.
from
four
to
ten
feet.
It
of
forms a bushy
On
the older branches the bark roughens and comes off in shreads. The leaves add their shrub.
scarlet
the
and orange colorings
autumnal swamp
to the brilliancy of
foliage.
These
berries
as far north as
Newfoundland, west to While reachMinnesota, and south to Virginia. their most luxuriant ing growth in swamps,
grow
they are also abundantly found in old pastures.
276
BLUE
277
DWARF BLUEBERRY Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum
Huckleberry Family
The globular blue berries are covered They grow in clusters at the ends The five calyx teeth are very of the branches. Each berry contains many small prominent. seeds and is usually ten-celled. June, July. Leaves. The oval-lanceolate leaves are stemless and acute at both ends. The teeth are minute and bristle-like. Each surface is shining, Fruit.
with bloom.
but the lower one
is lighter green than the upper. in arrangement. In autumn are alternate They they change to red colorings and fall early.
Flowers.
The white
bell-shaped flowers
grow
in few-flowered racemes.
This
is
a dwarf
with
rough green branches, which are thickly covered with tiny It is the earliest of the white, raised dots. shrub,
Blueberries to ripen, growing usually in rather exposed positions. It favors a thin, sandy soil,
and especially frequents dry pine woods. It has a sweet and delicious flavor and such tiny seeds that
it is
a
much more
the Huckleberry.
It
pleasant berry to eat than
is soft,
however, and easily
now
278
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
which prevents its being largely marketed. George Emerson says it is suitable for drying, and then forms a good substitute for bruised,
The
currants, for use in cakes, etc.
cluster of
ripening fruit presents an attractive color combination, with its green, pink, red, and blue berries.
Vaccinium Canadense, or Canadian Blueberry, similar to the preceding, but has leaves
is
downy on both sides and which The branchlets are also The fruit ripens later in July or
which are
have entire margins.
downy.
has a more northern range, being most abundant in Canada. It is also found It
August.
along the mountains, south to likes moist woods and swamps.
Virginia.
It
LOW BLUEBERRY Vaccinium vacillans Fruit.
The
Huckleberry Family berries of this shrub are borne
in raceme-like clusters at the
end of a nearly
The calyx teeth are plainly visithe summit. The fruit when ripe is
leafless twig.
ble
at
blue,
than
with a bloom.
It is
slightly
more acid
Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum but of
good
BLUE flavor.
The
berries ripen
279 later
than the pre-
July, September.
ceding.
The leaves are oval or obovate, dull green above and glaucous beneath. They are Leaves.
narrowed or rounded at the base, and have The apex is acute and ends in short stems.
The margin is entire or nearly In the fall and the leaves are alternate.
a short bristle. so,
the foliage changes to deep reds. The pink or greenish bell-shaped Flowers. blossoms are somewhat contracted at the mouth.
They grow
in clusters.
This shrub varies from one to four feet .in height.
It is stiff
and
erect.
It grows, in light
along the wood borders and shaded roadfrom New Hampshire west to Michigan, and south to Carolina and Missouri. The plant soil
sides
is prolific,
have
and when
all
ripened the fruit
the berries in the cluster
may
be stripped
off
by
handfuls.
ARROWWOOD Viburnum dentatum Fruit.
Emerson
The calls
Honeysuckle Family fruits
them,
are
blue,
dark
lead,
but when gathered or
HOW
280
KNOW WILD
TO
FRUITS
They are oval, overripe become bluish black. with calyx teeth and stigmas at the pointed tip. The
and the stone rounded on and with a rather deep groove on the
flesh
one side other,
is
thin,
making a
cross section resemble a horse-
The
shoe that has been flattened at the toe.
grow in a flat-topped, erect cluster. They are dry and puckery, but are eaten by birds.
fruits
August, September. Leaves.
The
leaves
are
opposite,
coarsely
and prominently toothed, ovate, pointed at the or heart-shaped at the base. tip, and rounded
The
petioles are short.
Little tufts of hair are
often in the axils of the midrib
veins
on the lower
yellowish
surface.
Dark red
green.
and branching The leaves are
is
the autumnal
color.
This shrub
is
from
five to fifteen feet high,
and has smooth gray bark.
The under
down
surface has the little clusters of
The name Arrowwood the shrub from the use made axils."
shoots for arrows
leaf
in the
applied to of the young
is
by the Indians.
It inhabits
moist places and borders streams. It extends south, along the mountains, to Georgia and west to Minnesota.
ABROWWOOD (Viburnum 281
dentatuni)
HOW
282
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
SOFT-LEAVED ARROWWOOD Viburnum molle
Honeysuckle Family
The
Fruit.
blue drupe
of the preceding species.
pointed, is
and
The
It
similar to the fruit is
larger, sharply
The depression of the stone in Viburnum dentatum.
oily.
not so deep as Leaves.
is
leaves
are
somewhat
larger
than those of the Arrowwood, but differ principally in being covered with soft hairs on the
under surface.
Viburnum molle
is
principally distinguished
from Viburnum dentatum by the pubescence on twigs, leaf, and flower stems, and lower leaf surgrows along the coast from eastern Massachusetts to Florida, and Texas.
faces.
It
BLUE OR MOUNTAIN FLY HONEYSUCKLE Lonicera ccerulea
Honeysuckle Family
Fruit. The berry is formed by the coalescence of two maturing ovaries. The exterior of the fruit shows its double structure by the two " " at the apex, each tiny eyes marking the rem-
\ BLUE OR MOUNTAIN FLY HONEYSUCKLE 283.
(Lonicera cosmled)
HOW
284
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
nant of a slightly five-toothed calyx. A cross sec tion of the berry shows a clearly marked partition
between the two ovaries. short peduncles.
They
The
berries
grow on
are round or ovate and
dark blue, with a bloom. The berry is quite June. juicy, but the flavor is unpleasant. Leaves.
The
thickish, opposite, ovate leaves
are rounded or narrowed at the base and obtuse
The upper and the under
at the apex.
of the leaf are slightly hairy, as
is
surfaces
the margin.
The pale yellow blossoms grow on short stems in the axils of the leaves. The Flowers.
ovaries are almost united.
May.
a low upright shrub, from one to two feet high. It is quite common in mountain
This
is
woods and bogs.
The plant presents an
esting example of reserve buds.
inter-
Three almost
equal buds are formed, one above another, in each axil. The following year one bud develops into a shoot and the other two remain as they are, unless
the
first
shoot
is
destroyed,
when
another bud develops to take its place. These reserve buds are said to keep their vitality for several years.
YELLOW
YELLOW NORTH AMERICAN PAPAW Asimina triloba
Custard-Apple Family
Several large fleshy berries are borne These fruit together on a thickened peduncle. stems grow laterally from the axils of last year's Fruit.
Each berry is from two to six inches long and somewhat resembles a green banana. Its color, when ripe, is a yellowish green, and it is covered with a whitish bloom. The pulp is light yellow and of a fine grain, is soft and sweet. leaves.
Two
rows of
horizontally
throughout
flat
and the
beanlike seeds are arranged each other alternate with
length
seeds
are
large,
and form an obstacle
inclosed
eating the fruit
;
in
Leaves.
The
fleshy
the flavor
to be greatly relished.
the
of
arils.
The
They are
to the pleasure of is
also too aromatic
October.
leaves are large,
twelve inches long and four to are entire, alternate,
berry.
and 287
from ten
five broad.
short-petioled.
to
They They
HOW
288 are
reverse
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
egg-shaped with acute apex, and
pointed or slightly rounded base. of the fall leaf is dirty yellow.
Flowers.
The
The
color
solitary flowers are green at
opening, changing through browns and }^ellows to a deep red. They have two rows of petals ; the outer three
spreading, and the inner three
forming a sort of cup. April. This is a low tree or shrub, forming a thick
erect,
undergrowth in
many
forests, especially
throughout the Mississippi valley. The foliage is dense and gives to the plant a tropical aspect. It is our one representative of a family which includes
many spots
Rich, moist, woodland tropical species. and banks of streams are the localities
which it prefers. Its northern limit is Ontario and western New York. It extends west to Michigan and S9uthward.
MAY
APPLE. MANDRAKE. UMBRELLA LEAF. WILD LEMON
Podophyllum peltatum
Barberry Family
Fruit. The large ovoid or lemon-shaped yellowish berry usually grows from the fork of two
YELLOW The
leaves.
fruit is fleshy
seeds, each of which
289
and
incloses. numerous
surrounded by a pulpy aril. These seeds are arranged in rows along a large is
The
lateral placenta.
fruit is sweet
the thickened
It retains
stigma at
and
edible.
the apex.
July.
The
Leaves.
The The
leaves are five- to nine-lobed.
lobes are two-cleft flowerless
and pointed at the apex.
stalks bear
single leaves
with
the stems terminating near the center, giving the leaves a truly umbrella-like appearance. The leaves of the flowering stalks are in pairs, and their stems join the leaves nearer their inner
The upper
edges.
surface
is
darker than the
lower.
The
Flowers.
with
large, white, drooping blossom, nine petals, is borne on a stout in the fork of the leaves. It is
its six to
peduncle
cross fertilized
by
for their pollen.
bees, that visit the flowers
They bear no
nectar.
April,
May.
The
leaves
and the horizontal creeping
stocks are poisonous
medicinal
means
if
properties.
The plant spreads by
of its creeping rhizome
patches.
The
root-
eaten, but possess certain
and forms large
umbrella-like leaf
fulfills
the mis-
I10W TO
i2l)0
sion suggested
flower which
by
it
KNOW its
WILD FRUITS
name
for the pollen of the
The shape
covers.
of the flower
evidently protective in a similar way. The manner in which the leaf forces its way
itself is
through the ground
is
interesting.
The
lobes
underground leaf are folded close to the At the point stem, in closed umbrella fashion.
of the
corresponding to the tip of the umbrella, the leaf cells are white and toughened, forming a hard knob. This, as the stem grows, bores its way
through the earth to the surface. Above ground the group of cells softens, but remains as a white spot on the leaf.
grows in low woods, and is more prevalent in the Middle States than in
New
It
England.
DWARF THORN Crataegus uniflora.
Fruit.
Apple Family
Cratasgus parvifolia
The yellowish pome
is
globular or
pear-shaped. usually solitary and borne on a short peduncle. The glandular, deeply cut calyx lobes are persistent. It is
Leaves.
shaped.
The thick leaves are inversely eggThey are nearly stemless, and the
YELLOW
291
upper portion of the margin has rounded teeth. The upper surface is shining and the lower one hairy.
The white
Flowers.
flowers
grow on short
stems, usually alone, sometimes in pairs. This low downy shrub favors sandy soil, and
grows from southern New York south to Florida, where it reaches tree stature. It extends west to
West Virginia and Louisiana.
and
Both flower
fruit usually occur alone.
Panax
DWARF
GINSENG.
trifolium.
Aralia trifolia
The
Fruit.
GROUNDNUT Ginseng Family
berries are yellow, usually three-
They are angled, but sometimes in united pairs. two- to three-seeded. They grow in a simple umbel. Leaves.
The
three
a circle about the stem. leaflets in each.
obtuse,
the
The
base
compound
leaves
grow
There are three to
leaflets are sessile, the
narrowed, and
the
in
five
apex
margin
toothed.
Flowers.
The tiny white
small, fluffy, terminal cluster.
flowers April,
grow May.
in a
now
292
This
woods.
is
quite a
matic, but
is
WILD FRUITS
common
flower of our rich
seldom more than eight inches
It is
Its tuher
high.
KNOW
TO
is
globular,
edible,
and
aro-
rather difficult to procure, being the ground. Georgia marks the
deep in southern limit. so
DEERBERRY.
SQUAW HUCKLEBERRY
Vaccinium stamineum
Huckleberry Family
Fruit. This berry is globose or pear-shaped, It is rather large, and greenish or yellowish. scarcely edible, falsely ten-celled, and few-seeded.
The
fruits
grow in leafy-bracted racemes.
Sep-
tember. Leaves.
The oval
or slightly heart-shaped downy petioles. They are
have short, whitened or slightly pubescent beneath, and the margins are slightly rolled backwards.
leaves
Flowers.
The
flowers are distinguished
by
long stamens, which project far beyond the short white corollas. The flowers grow in
their
graceful clusters, with leaf bracts smaller than
the regular leaves. This is a much-branched shrub, from
two
to
YELLOW five
feet
293
It grows in dry woods from Minnesota south to Florida and
high.
Maine and Louisiana.
PERSIMMON.
DATE PLUM Ebony Family
Diospyros Virginiana
Fruit.
The
but botanically
many is
plumlike in appearance, a berry, with sometimes as
fruit is is
When
as eight large flat seeds.
green,
it
very astringent, and in the north needs the make it sweet and deli-
action of the frost to
changes from a yellowish color to a yellowish brown. The style is at the cious.
It then
summit, and the thick, four- to six-lobed calyx, September, November.
at the base.
The
thickish leaves are dark green above and paler beneath. They are nearly the at smooth, ovate, pointed apex, and nar-
Leaves.
rowed or rounded at the Flowers.
The
fertile
The ones
base.
flowers are usually dioecious.
are solitary
and grow
in the
axils, while the smaller sterile ones are in small
clusters.
This tree
is
essentially southern, although
it
HOW
294
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
occurs occasionally as far north as
and
New
The The wood
York.
brandies. is
fruit is is
Rhode Island
used in beers and
blackish
Shoe
well adapted for use in carving.
made from
and
in color
lasts
The Duke
of Argyle is Tree to King said to have given a Persimmon
are
it.
III.
George
LOW HAIRY GROUND CHERRY Potato Family
Physalis pubesceiis
This yellowish berry does not
Fruit.
small, short,
The
sticky.
membranous
calyx.
solitary fruits
fill
the
The berry
grow from the
is
leaf
axils.
Leaves.
The
leaves are entire or
somewhat
wavy and angled. They are rather small, from one inch to an inch and a half in length. They are pubescent or nearly
Flowers.
The
smooth with hairy
veins.
flowers are yellow, with dark
and purplish anthers. This is an annual which is much-branched, and has pubescent stems and leaves. It favors
centers
sandy
soil
from
New York
south to Florida and Texas.
to Minnesota,
and
295
HOW
296
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
CUT-LEAVED GROUND CHERRY Potato Family
Physalis angulata
The
Fruit.
fruit-enveloping calyx
and has a sunken
base.
is
ovoid
sometimes shows
It
The greenish yellow berry purplish veinings. The fruit is pulpy nearly fills it when mature. The berries are solitary, and many-seeded. hanging on slender peduncles from the axils of the leaves.
The
Leaves.
leaves
are
ovate
and often
Many are cut into wedge-shaped at the base. The narrow lobes. are long, thin, leaves sharp, and smooth.
The greenish yellow flowers are small and unspotted. The anthers are somewhat tinged with purple. July-September. Flowers.
This smooth annual feet tall,
is
erect,
and much-branched.
range 'from southward.
Pennsylvania to
sometimes three
Gray
defines its
Minnesota,
and
YELLOW
297
CLAMMY GROUND CHERRY Physalis heterophylla
Physalis Virginiana
Potato Family
The yellow berry is loosely inclosed in the membranous calyx, which is much sunken at the stem. The fruit stem and calyx are The solitary fruits hang along the pubescent. Fruit.
branches from the leaf
axils.
The leaves are broad, thick, and somewhat heart-shaped. They and the petioles are hairy. The apex is generally acute and the Leaves.
margin wavy, often having
irregular, tooth -like
lobes.
The
Flowers.
yellow,
five-lobed
have brown centers and yellow anthers. This is the most common species and variable.
It is a viscid, hairy,
spreading perennial.
It
flowers
is
very
much-branched,
extends from
Ontario
and Minnesota to Texas and Florida. Var. ambigua
with long soft
is
coarser,
hairs.
and coarsely covered
The anthers
are violet.
HOW
298
TO
KNOW
WILD FBUITS
HORSE NETTLE Potato Family
Solanum Carolinense
The smooth globular berries are orange-yellow and nearly three-quarters of an Fruit.
inch
They grow
through.
lateral
clusters,
in
small,
on prickly stems.
lobes are at the base of each berry.
usually
The calyx They are
many-seeded.
The ovate
oblong leaves have wavy margins or are lobed with acute or obtuse Leaves.
lobes.
The veins
of
or
the
leaves
are
often
prickly.
Flowers.
The
violet flowers
grow
in
ter-
minal racemes, which become lateral in fruit. This perennial of sandy waste places is hairy and has branches, stems, and parts of leaves It extends thickly set with yellowish prickles. from Connecticut west to Iowa and south.
GREEN
GREEN GREEN ARROW-ARUM Peltandra Virgiiiica
Peltandra undulata
Arum Family
The
Fruit.
berries
grow
to the fruits of Indian Turnip
The Green Arrow-arum
in a
head similar
and Dragon Root.
however, are green and nearly inclosed in the lower portion of
the
berries,
the sheathing spathe. The upper part of fruit develops. off before breaks spathe
The one
to
three
large seeds are
a colorless, jelly-like
stem
is
recurved, and
mass.
The
inclosed
in
fruit-bearing
the fruit bends to the
water.
The leaves are shaped like long arrow heads. One prominent vein extends from base toward tip and one from base into each Leaves.
basal lobe.
Flowers.
The
tapering spadix
is
covered
with flowers throughout its length. It bears both staminate and pistillate flowers, the latter 301
HOW
302 at
its
base.
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The spathe
incloses
the
entire
length of the spadix, with the exception of an oval opening in front, about midway of its length.
Clusters of Green
Arrow-arum grow
in shal-
It is about a low water along river borders. foot and a half high. The sheathed fruit looks
much
a pond lily bud and bends on its recurved stem to the surface of the water. It is like
quite possible that the fruit heads are broken
the force of the water and carried to
originate
new
Lack
colonies.
coloring in the fruit is suggestive of of seed dispersal other than
The plant extends west
to
by
down stream of
bright
some means
by agency of birds. Michigan and Loui-
siana.
CHOKEPEAR Pyrus communis
The Ghokepear Tree, with
Apple Family its
pear, hardly needs description.
green, puckery I
trust
many
another like myself holds it in grateful remembrance for the childhood joys it has furnished.
What an
addition the fruit was, on chestnutting expeditions, to the ginger cookies, which always
GREEN
303
started out in the pail with us never to return. If
you have never eaten
flavored with molasses,
it
cooked as a sauce and
you have yet to
taste a
very delectable sirup.
AMERICAN CRAB APPLE Mains coronaria
Pyrus coronaria
Apple Family
The apple is yellowish green and flatFruit. The small, smooth calyx lobes tened lengthwise. are in the deep, broad depression at the summit.
The fruit stem is slender. brown seeds are in each
One cell.
or
two dark
The
fruit
is
It hangs long on the trees, fragrant but sour. and does not usually decay until the following
spring.
Leaves.
The
leaves are ovate or triangular-
ovate, they grow on short, slender, hard petioles. The margins are serrate. Sometimes the leaf is It is
three-lobed.
The
Flowers.
yellow in autumn. flowers are
much
like those of
the cultivated apple, but very fragrant and of a beautiful pink color.
This tree
is
often planted near homes, because
HOW
304
TO
of the fragrance
The is
fruit is
A
WILD FRUITS
and beauty
sometimes used for
of
the
cider.
blossoms.
The
tree
very high, spreading, and often thorny.
not
This
KNOW
is
particularly a northern species.
similar
tree,
Mains
angustifolia,
is
the
southern species, although the two overlap in range. Bailey says that the best mark of distinction between the two " is the thick, half-
evergreen shining leaves of Mains angustifolia." The flowers are smaller than in preceding species.
WHITE
WHITE BAYBERRY. WAXBERRY Myrica Carolinensis
Myrica
cerifera
Bayberry Family
The
aments develop into clusters of dry drupes, with from four to nine sepaThese clusters are rate fruits in the cluster. Fruit.
fastened
drupe
Each
many tiny grains, which
become coated with white wax.
covering white.
the branches by short stalks.
covered with
is
finally
for
.to
fertile
The
green, then blackish, and finally The fruits persist stone is hard.
is first
The
two or three
Leaves.
years.
The obovate
or oblanceolate leaves
are nearly stemless. They have resinous dots are sides, leathery, shining, bright green,
on both
and aromatic.
The margin
is
slightly toothed
toward the apex, otherwise entire. The base and the apex obtuse, sometimes is narrowed ends abruptly in a sharp point. or often acute, 307
TO
KNOW
WILD FRUITS
The
fertile
catkins are small and
HOW
308
Flowers.
and
erect,
sheltered
The
consist of several ovaries, scales.
by
April-June.
fruits in the earlier
much
history were -
which are
days of our country's
prized for the
wax which
obtained by boiling the drupes and skimming the wax from the surface It was used for making candles, of the water.
This
they yield.
either alone or
is
mixed with tallow or beeswax.
The Bayberry candles emit a pleasant their light
tallow
is
candles.
almost any
odor, but
not so bright as the flame of the
soil.
The Bayberry
will
grow in
It extends along the eastern
and occurs somewhat near the
coast,
Great
Lakes.
WHITE MULBERRY Moms alba Fry.it.
same
Mulberry Family
The
structure
as that of the
Morus
alba,
as juicy.
Leaves.
of
the fruit
Red Mulberry.
however,
is
The
is
the
fruit of
white, shorter, and not
July.
The shining dark green
variable in shape, serrate,
and shining.
leaves are
WHITE The White
309
Mulberry Tree
grows
rapidly,
reaching a height of thirty or forty feet. is a native of China, and its leaves are
ex-
The
tree
tensively used as food for silkworms.
was introduced
was being
raising
occurs in
into
now
the
It
America when silkworm
in this country, and near houses, especially spontaneously
vicinity of
tried
long-established
silk
manu-
facturing plants.
SMALL MISTLETOE Razoumofskya
Arceuthobium pusillum
pusilla
Mistletoe Family
Fruit.
The ovoid-oblong
berries are solitary
and grow on short recurved stems.
They
are
with seeds inclosed in a sticky mucus. They develop in the autumn, a year or more
fleshy,
after flowering.
an inconspicuous parasite, drawing- its It is nourishment from branches of the fir. This
is
olive green
are obtuse
to
and
brown
in color,
scale-like.
and the leaves
HOW
310
TO
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
AMERICAN MISTLETOE Mistletoe Family
Phoradendron flavescens
The white
Fruit.
and one-seeded.
berries are globose, pulpy,
They grow
in
clusters
on a
short foot stalk.
Leaves.
The
leaves are thick, leathery, yel-
lowish green, oval or obovate, entire, obtuse at apex and narrowed into a short petiole at the
They are persistent throughout the season. The dioecious flowers grow in catFlowers.
base.
kinlike spikes.
This
May
July.
on deciduous
parasite flourishes
notably the
Red Maple and Tupelo.
Its
trees,
wood
is yellowish green, and the thick, firm leaves and white berries persist during the winter. The
Mistletoe has a place in Christmas decorations, and may often be seen at that time exposed for sale.
Phoradendron means
to its -parasitic it
life.
occurs in southern
While
New
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois*
tree-thief, referring
essentially southern,
Jersey, Pennsylvania,
WHITE BANEBERRY
312
(Actsea alba)
WHITE
313
WHITE BANEBERRY Crowfoot Family
Actaea alba
Fruit.
The terminal
fruit
clusters
of
the
White Baneberry are oblong and usually more open than those of the Red. The white berries are almost globular, have a black mark at the tip and a crease on one side, extending from the
apex to the and usually
pedicel. red.
longer than the large
The
pedicel
The lower
is
thickened
pedicels are
upper ones.
brown seeds are packed
much
The numerous horizontally.
A
plant with red berries on thickened red stalks sometimes occurs. The fruit develops in August, about a month later than the Red Baneberry,
and
persists into September.
Leaves.
The leaves
are twice or thrice com-
pound, with deeply cut, acute lobes and sharp teeth.
Flowers. to
The
petals are so like stamens as
seem to be transformed stamens.
yield
no honey, simply
The
pollen, to the bees,
flowers
which
secure their cross fertilization.
This herb grows in woods as far south as
Pennsylvania and
New
Jersey.
'
HOW
314
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
POISON SUMAC Rhus Vernix. Fruit. is
grayish.
Sumac Family
Rhus venenata
The smooth, somewhat glossy drupe It is dry and slightly pear-shaped,
It grows in open with the sides unequal. It closely loose clusters from the leaf axils. resembles the fruit of the Poison Ivy. August,
September.
The
Leaves.
stalks of the
compound
There are from three to
are usually purplish.
thirteen nearly stemless leaflets,
equal at the base. green,
or
acute
at
The
oval.
leaves
They
which are un-
are a bright shining
the apex, entire, and obovate autumnal colorings are most
brilliant.
Flowers.
The
cious flowers
grow
small, greenish yellow, dioein
open loose panicles from
the leaf axils. It
is-
hoping foliage,
not strange that to prolong his
should
be
many an
enjoyment
lured
autumnal leaves for home
mune, he
into
unfortunate,
of the brilliant
gathering
decorations.
its
Im-
true, but doubtless a long may be, period of suffering will follow his rash act. it
is
WHITE
315
Some
persons are poisoned by even passing near the plant, contact not being necessary. If in fruit, the whitish color of the drupes and
marks by which this Sumac may be distinguished from the other The entire leaves and lack of winged species. their drooping clusters are sure
petioles
and pubescence are
also
marks
of dis-
tinction.
POISON, CLIMBING,
OR THREE-LEAVED
IVY Rhus Toxicodendroii
Rhus radicans
Sumac Family Fruit.
The
fruit closely resembles
that of
September and persistent. The compound leaves have
Poison Sumac. Leaves.
three
pale green leaflets, which are sharply toothed and entire or sometimes lobed.
This plant feet high,
is
sometimes erect and one to three
sometimes prostrate and
trailing,
and
It supports itself by nusometimes climbing. merous rootlets, which penetrate and hold tena-
ciously to
leaves
various
and white
supports.
Its
three-parted
fruit distinguish this poisonous
POISON IVY (Rhus radicans) 316
WHITE
317
plant from the harmless Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, lar in its
manner
are used as food
which
of growth.
by the winter
somewhat simiThe dryish fruits
is
birds.
For crows
especially they serve as an important article of
One hundred and
Poison Ivy seeds are said to have been found in the stomach diet.
of one of these birds.
fifty-three
The dry outer husks
are
removed by action of stomach and thrown out again in small masses through the mouth.
RED-OSIER CORNEL OR Cornus stolonifera
Fruit.
globose.
The
DOGWOOD Dogwood Family
The drupe is white, or whitish, and The stone is very variable in shape.
fruits
grow
in flat-topped, rather smallish
cymes. Leaves.
The ovate
or ovate-lanceolate
leaf
has an abrupt, short, tapering apex and a rounded
The upper surface is finely pubescent and the lower whitish and somewhat downy. The smallish flat cymes are rather Flowers.
base.
few-flowered.
June, July.
Reddish branches are a characteristic feature
HOW
318
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
dogwood. They are especially brilliant The main stem in late winter and early spring. is usually prostrate, often unnoticed because of a of this
This sends down rootlets covering of leaves. and sends up slender branches, soon forming broad clumps. The main shoot is sometimes
underground.
The range
of the shrub
is
from ocean to ocean,
extending south to Virginia, Kentucky, Nebraska,
A similar species occurs
Arizona, and California. in Siberia.
PANICLED CORNEL Cornus candidissima
Cornus paniculata
Dogwood Family Fruit.
The
small, white, flattened, globose
convex clusters. The peduncle drupes grow and pedicels are red. The plant often fruits sparingly, and the clusters are consequently in
Each fruit is crowned ragged ,and irregular. with minute calyx teeth, through which the style protrudes.
The
flesh
is
thin and white,
inclosing a two-celled, two-seeded gust, September. fruited
Dogwoods.
This
is
one of
stone.
Au-
the earliest
PANICLED CORNEL (Cornus candidissima) 319
HOW
320
TO
The
Leaves.
KNOW WILD
FRUITS
ovate-lanceolate
leaves
are
The petioles are short, the opposite and entire. The under tip pointed, and the base acute. surface
whitish but smooth.
is
Flowers.
The
perfect white blossoms
Cornus candidissima
is
grow
May, June.
in loosely flowered cymes.
distinguished from our
Dogwood, Cornus stolonifera, by its gray branches and its imperfectly convex It is a much-branched flower and fruit cluster. shrub, growing in thickets and along streams. It extends south to North Carolina and west to other white-fruited
Minnesota.
CREEPING SNOWBERRY Chiogenes hispidula
Chiogenes
serpyllifolia
Huckleberry Family
Fruit.
The
shining, white, globose or oval
The calyx berry is solitary in the leaf axil. teeth are present near the apex, and the berry is often It is bristly. small, four-celled, manyseeded, mealy, flavor of
Leaves.
and aromatic, having much the
Sweet Birch.
August, September. leaves are a dark
The evergreen
olive green, with stiff
brownish
bristles
on the
SNOWBERRY
(Sijmphoricarpos racemosus)
322
WHITE under surface.
They
and have backward flowers. are single, axil.
Two
323
are small, on short stems,
rolled margins.
The tiny white nodding flowers growing on short stems from the leaf bracts are beneath the calyx.
The stems
May.
and
trailing shrub It is a are scarcely woody, slender, and bristly. native of Japan, and in our country extends from
of this creeping
Newfoundland Michigan,
to British
New
Jersey,
Columbia and south
to
and Pennsylvania, con-
tinuing along the Alleghanies to North Carolina. " snow Chiogenes means offering," referring most appropriately to the snow-white fruit.
SNOWBERRY Symphoricarpos racemosus
Fruit.
Honeysuckle Family
The terminal
fruit spike usually
has
a pair of leaves at its base. Solitary berries sometimes grow from the axils of the next lower pair of leaves.
The
ripe berries are quite
The persistent calyx large, waxy, and white. teeth are at the top and two tiny bracts are at the base. The berries are nearly stemless. They have two
large cells, each containing
?.
HOW
324
KNOW
TO
WILD FRUITS
and two smaller empty cells. The seed The berries begin to ripen in coats are hard. the and spikes show fruit in various stages July, seed
of
;
development, with buds and flowers at the
summit well
into September.
The
Leaves.
usually entire leaves stems are quite short.
ovate,
The grow in pairs. The leaves are dark green above and
lighter
beneath.
The small
Flowers.
som
four- or five-toothed.
is
blos-
bell-shaped pink It
is
hairy at the
throat.
This
is
a
common
gardens, and
inhabitant of old-fashioned
lingers
about abandoned
houses or even the cellars.
farm-
It
strays beyond the garden bounds and often occurs along the
grows also along rocky banks in England to Pennsylvania and westward. most attractive in September, when the
roadsides.
New It
is
spike
is
It
nearly full of matured fruits.
Symphoricarpos pauciflorus appears in the mountains of Vermont and Pennsylvania and westward.
The
leaves
preceding, and the in the
uppermost
berries
are
smaller
grow
leaf axils.
than
the
singly or in pairs
GLOSSARY A
Achene. Acute.
small, dry, indehiscent, one-seeded fruit with usu-
a thin pericarp.
ally
Sharp-pointed.
As opposed to opposite. Synonymous with catkin.
Alternate.
Ament.
A
spike consisting of imperfect flowers with a scale-like bract at the base of each. Annual. Of but one season's growth.
The
Anther.
A
Aril.
part of the stamen which yields the pollen. seed covering growing from the cord which
fleshy
attaches the seed to the seed vessel.
The angle which
Axil.
the stem forms with a leaf or branch.
Bristle.
A secretion of wax covering the surface of leaf or fruit. A modified leaf at the base of flower or fruit. A stiff, hairlike growth.
Calyx.
The outer and
Bloom. Bract.
Capsule. Carpel.
protective floral whorl. dry, dehiscent fruit of two or more carpels. This is the seed-bearing part of the flower. It
A
a simple pistil or one of the parts of a Catkin.
A
Cell.
Same
compound
may
be
pistil.
as ament.
structure inclosing a cavity.
With hairy margin. A whole made up of two or more similar parts. Connate. The joining of similar organs. Opposite leaves whose Ciliate.
Compound.
bases join. Like a solid bulb.
Conn.
Corolla.
The inner
floral
whorl.
A
flat-topped or rounded flower cluster with the marginal flowers opening first.
Corymb.
325
GLOSSARY
326
A
seed leaf or leaves. Cotyledon. The action resulting Cross Fertilization.
from the deposit of the pollen of one flower on the stigma of another. flattish flower cluster with the blossoms unfolding Cyme.
A
from the center outwards.
Not
Deciduous.
persistent.
With two
Dicotyledonous.
Staminate and
Dioecious.
plants of the Disk.
cotyledons. pistillate flowers
species. thickened circle of cellular tissue
A
borne on different
same
about the base of
the stamens and around the ovary. Productive.
Fertile.
Gland.
A
secreting surface or structure.
Covered with a bloom.
Glaucous.
Herb.
With
the above-ground stems living but one season.
Bracts surrounding a single flower or a flower clus-
Involucre.
ter or head.
Much longer than broad. The widest portion is below the middle, and the leaf tapers towards either end.
Lanceolate.
With but one cotyledon. Separate staminate and pistillate flowers on the
Monocotyledonous. Monoecious.
same
plant.
The joints on the stem where a would naturally grow.
Node.
Oblanceolate.
The broadest portion
leaf or
whorl of leaves
of the long leaf nearest the
apex and tapering to either end. Oblong. Longer than broad, and with sides nearly parallel. Obovate. Egg-shaped, with broader portion nearest apex.
GLOSSARY
827
With a rounded or blunt end. The part of the pistil containing the ovules. The body which, when fertilized, is meant to become
Obtuse.
Ovary. Ovule.
a
seed.
A
Panicle. Parasitic.
Pedicel.
loose, irregular cluster with branching flower sterns. Gaining nourishment from a host plant. The stem of one of the component flowers or fruits of
a cluster.
A
Peduncle.
stem of a single flower or of a flower
Continuing year after year. Perfect (flower). Having both stamens and
cluster.
Perennial.
The floral envelope
Perianth.
pistils.
consisting of calyx and corolla
if
both are present. Petal. One unit of the corolla.
The leaf stalk. With the leaflets
Petiole.
Pinnate.
of a
compound
leaf
on either
side of
the leaf stalk.
The
Placenta.
interior portion
of
the
ovary on which the
ovules are borne.
The anther-borne
grains which fertilize the ovules. Plants bearing staminate, pistillate, and perfect flowers on the same plant.
Pollen.
Polygamous.
A
Prickles.
Pubescent.
slender, sharp
growth from bark or
Spike bearing stemmed flowers.
Raceme.
The modified portion of an axis Receptacle. flowers or portion of a flower is borne. Rhizome. Root.
rind.
Finely hairy.
An underground
The underground
upon which the
stem.
part of the plant which obtains nour-
ishment there.
Scape. Seed.
A
naked flower stem springing from the ground.
The ripened ovule. Sepal. One unit of the calyx. Serrate. With forward-pointing
teeth.
GLOSSARY
328 Sessile.
Stemless.
woody structure and with several stems the from ground or near it, or whose stems are springing much-branched. Usually smaller than trees. Sinus. The margin between the lobes. Shrub.
Plants with
Spadix.
A
Spathe,
One
spike having a fleshy axis. or more large bracts inclosing an inflorescence.
Sessile or nearly sessile flowers borne on a somewhat elongated axis. Spine. A sharp growth from the stern.
Spike.
Sterile.
Unproductive.
Stigma.
The portion
Stipule.
An
of the pistil receptive to the pollen grain.
appendage at the base of a leaf stem, sometimes
joined to the petiole. The portion of the pistil connecting the stigma and
Style.
ovary. Tendril. its
Umbel.
A
slender, coiling part of a climbing plant, aiding in
support.
A flower
common Whorl,
A
cluster in
which the pedicels spring from a
point.
circular
arrangement of
leaves, etc.,
around a
stern.
ABBREVIATIONS OF AUTHORS' NAMES Ait., Aiton.
Medic., Medicus.
Andr., Andrews.
Michx., Michaux.
C.
&
S.,
Chamisso and Schlech-
DC.,
De
Mill., Miller.
Muench., Muenchhausen.
tendahl.
Candolle.
Muhl., Miihlenberg.
Desf., Desfontaine.
Nutt., Nuttall.
Desv., Desvaux.
Pers., Persoon.
Dietr., Dietrich.
Planch., Planchon.
Ehrh., Ehrhart.
Poir., Poiret.
Ell, Elliott.
R.
Hook., Hooker.
Roem., Roemer.
&
S.,
Roemer and
Jacq., Jacquin.
Salisb., Salisbury.
Karst., Karsten.
Spreng., Sprengel.
L., Linnaeus.
Sudw., Sudworth.
Lam., Lamarck. L. f., Linne (the son).
Torr., Torrey.
L'Her., L'Heritier de Brutelle.
Vent., Ventenat.
Lodd., Loddiges.
Walt., Walter.
MacM., MacMillan.
Wang., Wangenheim. Willd., Willdenow.
Marsh., Marshall.
T.
329
&
G.,
Torrey
&
Schultes.
Gray.
INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES Alder, Black, 97.
Low
Allspice, Wild, 38. Angelica Tree, 218.
Running Swamp,
Apple, American Crab, 303.
Sand, 188.
Running, 185. Mountain, 192.
279.
Arrowwood,
Thornless, 193.
Downy-leaved, 239.
Black Haw, 246.
Maple-leaved, 237.
Blackthorn. 196.
Soft-leaved, 282.
Blueberry, Canadian, 278.
Arum, Green Arrow,
Dwarf, 277. High-bush, 272.
301.
Water, 9. Ash, American Mountain, 64. European Mountain, 66. Asparagus,
187.
Low,
Low
278.
Black, 231.
Tall, 272.
10.
Blue Tangle, 269. Baked-apple Berry, 47. Baneberry, Red, 33.
Boxberry, 114. Buckthorn, 205.
White, 313. Barberry,
Alder-leaved, 207.
Common,
34.
Bayberry, 307. Bearberry, Alpine, 228. Black, 228.
Lance-leaved, 207. Buffalo Berry, Canadian, 106.
Bunchberry, 108. Burning Bush, 101.
Red, 116.
Benjamin Bush,
38.
Carrion Flower, 163.
Bilberry, Great, 271. Dwarf, 272.
Catbrier, 168. Cedar, Red, 252.
Birthroot, 21.
Shrubby Red, 254. Checkerberry, 114.
Bittersweet, 125.
Climbing, 103.
Cherry, Bird, 83.
Shrubby, 103.
Choke, 86. Dwarf, 197.
Blackberry, 184.
Common,
189.
May,
Leafy Cluster,
71.
Pigeon, 83.
High-bush, 189.
Pin, 83.
192.
331
INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES
332
198.
16.
Sand, 197.
Disporum, Hairy, Dockmackie, 237.
Wild Black, 198. Wild Red, 83.
Dogwood, Alternate-leaved, 266
Cherry,
Rum,
Dogberry, 66.
Chokeberry, Black, 193.
Flowering, 110.
Red, 66. Chokepear, 302.
Red-osier, o!7.
Round-leaved, 262.
Clintonia, Yellow, 257. White, 155.
Dragon Root,
Cloudberry, 47.
Eglantine, 62. Elder, American, 236.
Coffee, Wild, 141. Cohosh, Blue, 257.
8.
Coral Berry, 142.
Red-berried, 133. Sweet, 236.
Cornel, Alternate-leaved, 266.
Wild, 224.
Dwarf,
108.
Red-osier, 317.
Fever Bush, 38. Feverwort, 141. Foxberry, 118.
Round-leaved, 262.
Fringe Tree, 232.
Low,
108.
Panicled, 318.
Silky, 263.
Cowberry, 118. Cranberry, American, 121. European, 119.
Garget, 176.
Ginseng, 107.
Dwarf, 291. Horse, 141.
Large, 121.
Mountain, 118.
Golden
Small, 119.
Gooseberry,
Seal, SO.
Eastern
Cranberry Tree, 139. Few-flowered, 140. Crowberry, Black, 202.
Northern, 40.
Cucumber Tree,
Swamp,
29.
Currant, Black, 180. Fetid, 44.
Indian, 142.
42.
Hawthorn,
40.
43.
Wild, 179. Grape, Bear's, 118. Blue, 211.
Mountain, 44.
Chicken, 214.
Prostrate, 44.
Frost, 214.
Red, 45.
Northern Fox, 208. Riverside, 212.
Dangleberry, 269.
Summer,
Deerberry, 292.
Sweet-scented, 212.
210.
Wild,
INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES
333
Dwarf, 230.
Greenbrier, 168. Bristly, 171.
,
High-bush, 229.
Squaw, 292.
Glaucous-leaved, 167. Hispid, 169.
Indian Cucumber Root, 161. Indian Root, 219.
Long-stalked, 170. Walter's, 25.
Green Dragon,
Indian Turnip,
8.
Ground Cherry, Clammy,
297.
Ipecac, Wild, 141.
Cut-leaved, 296.
Low
5.
Inkberry, 203.
Wood,
Hairy. 294.
Philadelphia, 124. Groundnut, 291.
141.
Ivy, American, 217. Climbing, 315.
Guelder Rose, 139.
Poison, 315.
Three-leaved, 315.
Hackberry, 172. Hemlock, Ground,
3.
Jack-in-the-Pulpit,
Hercules' Club, 218.
Juneberry,
Hobble Bush, 135.
5.
71.
Oblong-fruited, 195.
Holly, American, 94.
Juniper,
Common,
249.
Large-leaved, 97.
Mountain, 100. Wild, 100. American Honeysuckle, 151.
Blue Fly, 282.
Kinnikinnic, 118, 263.
Fly,
Leatherwood, 105. Lemon, Wild, 288. Lily-of-the- Valley, False, 14.
Coral, 148.
Magnolia, Laurel, 26. Mountain, 29
Glaucous, 145. Hairy, 145. Italian, 144.
Mountain Fly,
282.
Mandrake, 288. Matrimony Vine,
May
Smooth-leaved, 145.
Mealberry, 118.
Swamp
Mistletoe,
Fly, 150.
Trumpet, 148. Horsebrier, 168.
Horse Nettle, 298. Huckleberry, Black, 229. Box, 270. Bush, 230.
129.
Apple, 288.
Perfoliate, 144.
American, 310.
Small, 309.
Moonseed, Canada, 178. Moose wood, 105. Mulberry, Red, 173. White, 308. Myrtle, Barren, 118.
INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES
334
244.
Nanny Berry,
Nightshade, 125. Black, 234.
Garden, 234.
Sarsaparilla, Bristly, 224. False, 167.
Virginian, 221.
Wild, 221. Sassafras, 258.
30.
Orange Root,
Scoke, 176. Service Berry, 71.
Papaw, North American, 287. Papoose Root, 257.
Shad Bush,
Partridge Berry, 129.
Sloe, 196.
Pepperidge, 226.
Smilax, Halberd-leaved, 167.
293.
Persimmon,
Pigeon Berry, 176. Plum, Beach, 82. Bullace, 197.
Canada,
81.
72.
Sheepberry, 244.
Snowberry, 323. Creeping, 320.
Solomon's Seal, Hairy, 157. Smooth, 159. Star-flowered, 156.
Three-leaved, 13.
Date, 293.
Two-leaved,
Horse, 81.
14.
Porter's, 196.
Sour Gum, 226.
Red, 79. Yellow, 79.
Spice Bush, 38.
Spikenard, American, 219.
Wild, 11. Spindle Tree, 101.
Poke, 176. Privet, 233.
Stag Bush, 246.
Raspberry, Black, 183.
Dwarf, 50. Mountain, 47.
Strawberry, American Wood,
European Wood, 54. Northern Wild, 54.
Purple-flowering, 45.
Scarlet, 52.
Purple Wild, 50.
Virginia, 52.
Wild Red,
49.
Rose, 55.
Strawberry, Bush, 100.
Running,
101.
Canker,* 61.
Stretch Berry, 171.
Dog, 61.
Sugarberry, 172.
Low, 59. Meadow,
88.
Sumac, Dwarf, 57.
Fragrant, 93.
Northeastern, 61.
Poison, 314.
Pasture, 69.
Smooth,
Smooth,
57.
Swamp,
58.
,
92.
Staghorn, 89. Sweet-scented, 93.
55.
INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES Velvet, 89. Sweetbrier, 62.
Wahoo,
335
101.
Wake-Eobin, Early,
19.
Ill-scented, 21.
Large-flowered, 20.
Tangleberry, 269.
Nodding, 23.
Teaberry, 114.
Thimble Berry,
Painted, 24.
183.
Thorn, Cockspur,
Sessile-flowered, 19.
73.
Waxberry, 307.
Dotted-fruited, 74.
Waxwork,
Dwarf, 290.
103.
Wayfaring Tree, 135. Winter Berry, Evergreen,
Large-fruited, 74.
Pear, 78.
Smooth,
Scarlet, 75.
Virginia, 97.
Tinker's Weed, 141.
Wintergreen, Creeping, 114.
Tupelo, 226.
Twisted Stalk, Clasping-leaved,
Spring, 114.
Withe-rod, 240.
16.
Larger, 243.
Sessile-leaved, 18.
Woodbine, 217. American, 144. Umbrella Leaf,
203.
99.
288.
Viburnum, Maple-leaved, Sweet, 244. Virginia Creeper, 217.
237.
Yellow Indian Paint, Yellow Puccoon, 30. Yellow Root, 30.
Yew, American,
3.
30.
INDEX TO LATIN NAMES Actsea alba, 313. Actsea rubra, 33.
Chiogenes serpyllifolia, 320. Chionanthus Virginica, 232.
Actsea spicata, Var. rubra, 33.
Clintonia borealis, 257.
Amelanchier Botryapium, 72. Amelanchier Canadensis, 71. Amelanchier oligocarpa, 195.
Clintonia umbellulata, 155.
Ampelopsis quinquefolia, 217. Aralia hispida, 224. Aralia nudicaulis, 221. Aralia quinquefolia, 107.
Aralia racemosa, 219. Aralia spinosa, 218. Aralia trifolia, 291.
Arceuthobium pusillum,
309.
Arctostaphylos alpina, 228.
Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi, 11G. Arissema dracontium, 8.
Cornus alternifolia, 266. Cornus Amonum, 263. Cornus Canadensis, 108. Cornus candidissima, 318. Cornus circinata, 262. Cornus florida, 110. Cornus paniculata, 318. Cornus sericea, 263. Cornus stolonifera, 317. Cratsegus coccinea, 75. Cratsegus Crus-Galli, 73. Cratsegus macracantha, 77. Cratsegus moll is, 77.
Arissema triphyllum, 5. Aronia arbutifolia, 66. Aronia nigra, 193.
Cratsegus parvjfolia, 290.
Asimina
Cratsegus uniflora, 290.
triloba, 287.
Asparagus
Cratsegus punctata, 74. Cratsegus tomentosa, 78.
officinalis, 10.
Benzoin Benzoin, 38. Berberis vulgaris, 34.
Diospysos Virgin iana, 293. Dirca palustris, 105.
Disporum lanuginosum,
16.
Celastrus scandens, 103.
Empetrum nigrum, 202. Euonymus Americanus,
100.
Celtis occidentalis, 172.
Euonyrrms atropurpureus,
Chiogenes hispidula, 320.
Euonymus
Calla palustris,
9.
Caulophylluin thalictroides, 257
337
obovatus, 101.
101,
INDEX TO LATIN NAMES
338
Magnolia acuminata, 29. Magnolia glauca, 26. Magnolia Virginiana, 26. Maianthemuin Canadense, Mairania alpina, 228. Malus angustifolia, 304. Malus coronaria, 303. Medeola Virginiana, 161.
Fragaria Americana, 55. Fragaria Canadensis, 54.
Fragaria vesca,
54.
Fragaria Virginiana, 52. Gaultheria procumbens, 114.
Gaylussacia brachycera, 270. Gaylussacia dumosa, 230. Gaylussacia frondosa, 269.
Menisperinum Canadense, 178.
Gaylussacia resinosa, 229.
Mitchella repens, 129.
Hydrastis Canadensis, 30.
Morus alba, 308. Morus rubra, 173. Myrica Carolinensis, 307. Myrica cerifera, 307.
Ilex glabra, 203. Ilex laevigata, 99.
Ilex monticola, 97. Ilex opaca, 94.
Nemopanthes
mucronata, 100.
Juniperus communis, 249. Juniperus comniunis, Var. pina, 251.
Juniperus nana, 251.
Juniperus Sabina, 254. Juniperus Virginiana, 252.
fascicularis, 100.
Nyssa sylvatica, 226.
Ilex verticillata, 97. Ilicioides
14.
Oxy coccus macrocarpus, 121. Oxycoccus Oxy coccus, 119. al-
Panax quinquefolium, Panax trifolium, 291.
107.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia, 217. Peltandra undulata, 301.
Peltandra Virginica, 301. Lepargyraea Canadensis, 106.
Phoradendron flavescens, 310.
Ligustrum vulgare, 233. Lindera Benzoin, 38. Lonicera Caprifolium, 144. Lonicera ciliata, 151. Lonicera coBrulea, 282. Lonicera dioica, 145. Lonicera glauca, 145. Lonicera grata, 144.
Physalis angulata, 296.
Lonicera hirsuta, 145. Lonicera oblongifolia, 150. Lonicera serapervirens, 148.
Lyciuna vulgare, 129.
Physalis heterophylla, 297.
Physalis heterophylla ambigua, 297.
Physalis Philadelphia, 124.
Physalis pubescens, 294. Physalis Virginiana, 297.
Phytolacca decendra, 176. Podophyllum peltatum, 288.
Polygonatum biflorum, 157. Polygonatum commutatum, 159. Polygonatum giganteum, 159.
INDEX TO LATIN NAMES Prunus Primus Prunus Prunus Prunus Prunus Prunus Prunus Prunus Prunus
Allegheniensis, 196.
Americana,
79.
339
Ribes rubrum, Var. subglandulosum, 45.
Rosa blanda, 57. Rosa canina, 61. Rosa Carolina, 58. Pennsylvanica, 83. Rosa humilis, 59. pumila, 197. Rosa nitida, 61. serotina, 198. Rosa rubiginosa, 62. spinosa, 196. Rubus Allegheniensis, 192. spinosa insititia, 197. Rubus Americanus, 50. Virginiana, 86. Rubus argutus, 192. Pyrus Americana, 64. Rubus Canadensis, 185, 193. Pyrus arbutifolia, 66. Pyrus arbutifolia, Var. melano- Rubus chainsemorus, 47. Rubus cuneifolius, 188. carpa, 193. Rubus hispidus, 187. Pyrus com munis, 302. Rubus neglectus, 50. Pyrus coronaria, 303. Rubus nigrobaccus, 189. Pyrus sambucifolia, 66. Rubus occidentalis, 183. Rubus odoratus, 45. Razoumofskya pusilla, 309. Rubus strigosus, 49. Rhamnus alnifolia, 207. Rubus triflorus, 50. Rhamnus cathartica, 205. Rhamnus lanceolata, 207. Rubus villosus, 185, 189.
Rhus Rhus Rhus Rhus Rhus Rhus Rhus Rhus Rhus Rhus
maritima, 82. nigra, 81.
aromatica, 93.
Canadensis, 93. copallina, 88.
glabra, 92. hirta, 89.
radicans, 315.
Toxicodendron, 315. typhina, 86.
venenata, 314. Vernix, 314.
Ribes Cynosbati, 179. Ribes floridum, 180.
Ribes lacustre, 43. Ribes oxyacanthoides, 40. Ribes prostratum, 44. Ribes rotundifolium, 42. Ribes rubrum, 45.
Sambucus Canadensis, 236. Sambucus pubens, 133. Sambucus racemosa, 133. Sassafras officinale, 258. Sassafras sassafras, 258.
Shepherdia Canadensis, 106. Smilacina racemosa, 11. Sinilacina stellata, 156.
Smilacina
Smilax Smilax Smilax Smilax Smilax Smilax Smilax
trifolia, 13.
Bona-nox, 171. glauca, 167.
herbacea, 163. hispida, 169.
Pseudo-China, 170. rotundifolia, 168.
tamnifolia, 167.
310
INDEX TO LATIN NAMES
Smilax Walter!,
25.
Solanum Carolinense,
298.
Solarium Dulcamara, 125.
Solanum nigrum,
234.
Sorbus Americana, 64. Sorbus sambucifolia, 66. Streptopus amplexifolius, 16. Streptopus roseus,
18.
Vaccinium corymbosum, 272. Vaccinium macrocarpon, 119. Vaccinium nigrum, 231. Vaccinium Oxycoccus, 119. Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum, 277. Vaccinium stamineum, 292. Vaccinium uliginosum, 271. Vaccinium vacillans, 278. Vaccinium Vitis-Idaea, 118.
Symphoricarpos pauciflorus, 324. Symphoricarpos racemosus, 323. Vagnera racemosa, 11. Symphoricar- Vagnera stellata, 156. Symphoricarpos pos, 142. Vagnera trifolia, 13. Viburnum acerifolium, 237. Symphoricarpos vulgaris, 142.
Taxus Canadensis, Taxus minor, 3.
3.
Trillium
23.
cermmm,
Trillium erectum, 21. Trillium erythrocarpum, 24. Trillium grandiflorum, 20. Trillium nivale, 19.
Trillium sessile, 19. Trillium undulatum, 24.
Triosteum perfoliatum, 141.
Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum Viburnum
alnifolium, 135. cassinoides, 240.
clentatum, 279.
lantanoides, 135.
Lentago, 244. molle, 282.
nuduui, 243. Opulus, 139. pauciflorum, 140.
prunifolium, 246.
pubescens, 239.
Vitis sestivalis, 210.
Unifolium Canadense,
14.
Vitis bicolor, 211. Vitis cordifolia, 214.
Vaccinium atrococcum, 232. Vaccinium csespitosum, 272. Vaccinium Canadense, 278.
Vitis Labrusca, 208. Vitis riparia, 212. Vitis vulpina, 212.
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