Part 19

AMERICAN RHODODENDRON. GREAT LAUREL. Rhododendron maximum. Heath Family.

A shrub from six to thirty-five feet high. Leaves.—Thick and leathery, oblong, entire. Flowers.—White or pink, clustered. Calyx.—Minute, five-toothed. Corolla.—Somewhat bell-shaped, five-parted, greenish in the throat, with red, yellow, or green spots. Stamens.—Usually ten. Pistil.—One.

This beautiful native shrub is one of the glories of our country when in the perfection of its loveliness. The woods which nearly cover many of the mountains of our Eastern States hide from all but the bold explorer a radiant display during the early part of July. Then the lovely waxy flower-clusters of the American rhododendron are in their fulness of beauty. As in the laurel, the clammy flower-stalks seem fitted to protect the blossom from the depredations of small and useless insects, while the markings on the corolla attract the attention of the desirable bee.

In those parts of the country where it flourishes most luxuriantly, veritable rhododendron jungles termed “hells” by the mountaineers are formed. The branches reach out and interlace in such a fashion as to be almost impassable.

The nectar secreted by the blossoms is popularly supposed to be poisonous. We read in Xenophon that during the retreat of the Ten Thousand, the soldiers found a quantity of honey of which they freely partook, with results that proved almost fatal. This honey is said to have been made from a rhododendron which is still common in Asia Minor and which is believed to possess intoxicating and poisonous properties.

PLATE XVI

AMERICAN RHODODENDRON.—R. maximum. ]

Comparatively little attention had been paid to this superb flower until the Centennial Celebration at Philadelphia, when some fine exhibits attracted the admiration of thousands. The shrub has been carefully cultivated in England, having been brought to great perfection on some of the English estates. It is yearly winning more notice in this country.

The generic name is from the Greek for rose-tree.

WOOD SORREL. Oxalis Acetosella. Geranium Family.

Scape.—One-flowered, two to five inches high. Leaves.—Divided into three clover-like leaflets. Flower.—White veined with red, solitary. Calyx.—Of five sepals. Corolla.—Of five petals. Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One with five styles.

Surely nowhere can be found a daintier carpeting than that made by the clover-like foliage of the wood sorrel when studded with its rose-veined blossoms in the northern woods of June. At the very name comes a vision of mossy nooks where the sunlight only comes on sufferance, piercing its difficult path through the tent-like foliage of the forest, resting only long enough to become a golden memory.

The early Italian painters availed themselves of its chaste beauty. Mr. Ruskin says: “Fra Angelico’s use of the Oxalis Acetosella is as faithful in representation as touching in feeling. The triple leaf of the plant and white flower stained purple probably gave it strange typical interest among the Christian painters.”

Throughout Europe it bears the odd name of “Hallelujah” on account of its flowering between Easter and Whitsuntide, the season when the Psalms sung in the churches resound with that word. There has been an unfounded theory that this title sprang from St. Patrick’s endeavor to prove to his rude audience the possibility of a Trinity in Unity from the three-divided leaves. By many this ternate leaf has been considered the shamrock of the ancient Irish.

The English title, “cuckoo-bread,” refers to the appearance of the blossoms at the season when the cry of the cuckoo is first heard.

PLATE XVII

WOOD SORREL.—O. Acetosella. ]

Our name sorrel is from the Greek for sour and has reference to the acrid juice of the plant. The delicate leaflets “sleep” at night; that is, they droop and close one against another.

POISON SUMACH. Rhus venenata. Cashew Family.

A shrub from six to eighteen feet high. Leaves.—Divided into seven to thirteen oblong entire leaflets. Flowers.—Greenish or yellowish-white, in loose axillary clusters; some perfect, others unisexual. Fruit.—Whitish or dun-colored, small, globular.

The poison sumach infests swampy places and flowers in June. In early summer it can be distinguished from the harmless members of the family by the slender flower-clusters which grow from the axils of the leaves, those of the innocent sumachs being borne in pyramidal, terminal clusters. In the later year the fruits of the respective shrubs are, of course, similarly situated, but, to accentuate the distinction, they differ in color; that of the poison sumach being whitish or dun-colored, while that of the other is crimson.

STAGHORN SUMACH. Rhus typhina. Cashew Family.

A shrub or tree from ten to thirty feet high. Leaves.—Divided into eleven to thirty-one somewhat lance-shaped, toothed leaflets. Flowers.—Greenish or yellowish-white, in upright terminal clusters, some perfect, others unisexual, appearing in June. Fruit.—Crimson, small, globular, hairy.

This is the common sumach which illuminates our hill-sides every autumn with masses of flame-like color. Many of us would like to decorate our homes with its brilliant sprays, but are deterred from handling them by the fear of being poisoned, not knowing that one glance at the crimson fruit-plumes should reassure us, as the poisonous sumachs are white-fruited. These tossing pyramidal fruit-clusters at first appear to explain the common title of staghorn sumach. It is not till the foliage has disappeared, and the forked branches are displayed in all their nakedness, that we feel that these must be the feature in which the common name originated.

POISON IVY. Rhus Toxicodendron. Cashew Family.

A shrub which usually climbs by means of rootlets over rocks, walls, and trees; sometimes low and erect. Leaves.—Divided into three somewhat four-sided pointed leaflets. Flowers.—Greenish or yellowish-white, small, some perfect, others unisexual; in loose clusters in the axils of the leaves in June. Fruit.—Small, globular, somewhat berry-like, dun-colored, clustered.

This much-dreaded plant is often confused with the beautiful Virginia creeper, occasionally to the ruthless destruction of the latter. Generally the two can be distinguished by the three-divided leaves of the poison ivy, the leaves of the Virginia creeper usually being five-divided. In the late year the whitish fruit of the ivy easily identifies it, the berries of the creeper being blackish. The poison ivy is reputed to be especially harmful during the night, or at any time in early summer when the sun is not shining upon it.

VIRGINIA CREEPER. AMERICAN IVY. Ampelopsis quinquefolia. Vine Family.