The Wild Balsam-Apple
or as some people call it, the wild cucumber, is very decorative. That means it has beautiful curves and twists, and its small, white flowers, prickly, egg-shaped fruit, and long tendrils twisted spirally, like a steel watch-spring let loose, make us love to look at it. The leaves are pretty, too, being shaped almost like a five-pointed star. Sometimes this vine is cultivated and you will find it trained up on strings to shade the porch, or over the kitchen-door of a farmhouse. Wherever you find it, it is beautiful. A large jar filled with sprays of the wild balsam makes a good centrepiece for the table, or a tall vase holding some upright and some drooping sprays looks very pretty when placed near a window where the light will fall on it. Do not mix other flowers with it, its own blossoms are sufficient.