A branching, leafy shrub, which grows from 2 to 4 feet high; its stalk is stout, and woody, and covered with a gray bark.
The oval leaf seems rather small for the size of the bush; it has an entire margin, a firm texture that is somewhat tough-fibred, and smooth surface. Color, light green, and pale beneath. The leaves are set on very short stems, alternately.
The small bell-shaped corolla spreads into 5 outward curving points; it is white. The stamens form a close, pointed cluster about the pistil and hang out from the flower bell,—they are dull orange in color; the small calyx is green. These bells swing on slender stems, from the angles of little leaves, in thick clusters along the lower sides of the branches.
The Deerberry’s branches stretch out in a nearly horizontal direction; its profusion of pretty bells begin to open while still undeveloped, and are about a fortnight in coming to their full beauty, to which a pleasing touch of individuality is given by the orange-tipped stamens. The fruit is flat to the taste, and gives the bush its second folk-name.
DEERBERRY: V. stamineum.
| Mountain Laurel. | Kalmia latifolia. |
Found in rocky pastures, uplands and light woods, and swampy grounds, in June.
This is a large shrub varying in height from 4 to 8 feet, and occasionally taller. Its stalk and branches are more or less twisted and angular in growth, and woody, of a fibre compact and tough; the old growths are covered with a roughened gray bark.
The beautiful leaf is evergreen; of an oval shape, with a tapering tip, an entire margin, strong midrib, a firm fine texture, and a smooth surface. The color is a fine dark green in the old growths, a light vigorous green when new. The leaves, on very short stems, are usually placed alternately, but are sometimes opposite each other, and toward the end of the branches are clustered.