XXVI. THE STEEPLE BUSH. 427 



I have not found it growing wild in this State, but as it is 

 found north and south of us, it may hereafter be found here. 

 It is much and deservedly cultivated as an ornamental plant. 



Sp. 2. The Queen of the Meadows. Meadow Sweet. 



& sallcifolia. L. 



A smooth, slender, leafy shrub, from two to six feet high, 

 abounding in wet, and rarely growing in dry places. Stem of a 

 polished copper red, lighter above, closely set with leaves below, 

 and terminating in a roundish head of white flowers. Leaves 

 lanceolate or rarely obovate-lanceolate, usually acute at each ex- 

 tremity, sometimes obtuse, on a short and slender petiole, sharply, 

 sometimes doubly senate, of nearly the same color above and 

 beneath, thin. The terminal panicle is crowded with single, 

 close-set flowers above, and branches from the axils of the leaves 

 below, each sustaining a roundish bunch *©f flowers. Partial 

 flower-stalks, thread-like, with usually a slender bract at base. 

 The segments of the calyx are acute ; after flowering they shrivel 

 up, leaving the cup encircling the seed-vessels. The petals are 

 rounded, usually entire, white, rarely rose-tinted. The stamens 

 are attached, in a single row, to the outer, swollen, glandular 

 edge of the lining of the cup. This edge is rose-colored, and 

 the white anthers have a faint tinge of the same color, giving, 

 together, a rosy hue to the flower. The seed-vessels are formed 

 of 5 carpels, united at base, and encircled by the persistent 

 calyx-cup. They open from the top, by the middle suture. 

 The dry heads of the opened seed-vessels are conspicuous, rising 

 up among the flowers of the succeeding year. The perennial 

 root is tough and strong, running for several feet, just below the 

 surface. Flowering from July to September. 



Several varieties are described by Pursh, and in the Flora of 

 North America. The most common seems to be that called 

 paniculdla by Pursh, with considerable variations, particularly 

 in the color of the stem and under surface of the leaf. 



Sp. 3. The Steeple Bush. Hardhack. S. tomcntbsa. L. 



A leafy shrub, from two to five feet high, growing in wet 

 ground, and distinguished, in the flowering season, for its long 



