Among the several species which I shall not attempt to describe, one of
the most common and familiar is the Arrow-Wood, so called from the
general employment of its long, straight, and slender branches by the
Indians for the manufacture of their arrows. This tree seldom rises
above eight or ten feet in height, and is more common in the borders of
fields which are low and wet than any other species. Its fruit is of a
bluish slate-color. These peculiar shrubs are often seen in the damp
forest, and in the borders of wood-paths, bearing conspicuous fruit and
tempting us to gather and eat, while we refrain on account of the
suspicions we naturally feel when we discover the fruit of a strange
plant.