Order 61.— SAXLFRAGACE.<E. 373 



9. LEPUROPETALON, Ell. (Gr. Xcrrvpov, a scale, vktuXov, a 

 petal.) Calyx 5-parted, lobes obtuse, tube turbinate, adherent to the 

 base of the 3-carpeled ovary ; petals 5, minute, spatulate, persistent ; 

 stamens 5, short ; capsule globous, 1-celled, 3-valved, many-seeded. — 

 A minute, succulent herb, growing in tufts. Lvs. entire, dotted. Fls. 

 terminal. 



L. spatulatum Ell. ;T) Grows in hard soils, S. Car. (Charleston), Ga. to Tex. 

 The plant is less than l' high, branched from the base, forming little convex tufts, 

 Lvs. spatulate, veinless. Els. large in proportion, white. Mar., Apr. 



10. I'TEA, L. (Gr. name for the willow ; for the resemblance of 

 the foliage.) Calyx small, with 5 subulate segments ; petals 5, lance- 

 linear, inflexed at the apex, inserted on the calyx ; stamens 5, inserted 

 into the calyx; styles united; capsule 2-celled, 2-furrowed, 8 to 12- 

 seeded. — A shrub with alternate, simple lvs., and a simple, spicate, ter- 

 minal raceme of white fls. 



L Virginica L. Margins of swamps and sluggish streams, N. J., Penn. to Fla. 

 Shrub about 6f high. Lvs. lh to 3' long, oval-acuminate, serrulate, on short 

 petioles. Rac. oblong-cylindric, 2 to 3' long. Caps, oblong, acuminato with the 

 style, its 2 carpels separating in maturity. May, Jn. 



11. ESCALLO'NIA rubra and E. gladulosa are handsome shrubs, 

 with evergreen leaves and scarlet flowers, prized in greenhouse cultiva- 

 tion. 



12. HYDRAN'GEA, L. Hydrangea. (Gr. vdup, water, ayyelov, a 

 vessel ; requiring an abundance of water.) Marginal flowers, com- 

 monly sterile, with a broad, rotate, 4 to 5-cleft, colored calyx, and with 

 neither petals, stamens, nor styles. Fertile fls. Calyx tube hemispheri- 

 cal, adherent to the ovary, limb i to 5-toothed, persistent ; petals ovate, 

 sessile ; stamens twice as many as the petals ; capsule 2-beaked, open- 

 ing by a foramen between the beaks ; seeds numerous. — Shrubs with 

 opposite lvs. Fls. cymous, generally radiant. 



1 H. arborescena L. Lvs. ovate, obtuse, or cordate at base, acuminate, serrate- 

 dentate, paler beneath, nearly smooth ; fls. in fastigiate cymes. — An elegant shrub, 

 native in the Mid. and West. States, cultivated in the Northern, attaining the 

 height of 5 or 6f on its native, shady banks. Fertile fls., small, white, becoming 

 roseate, very numerous. The sterile fls. are often reduced or wanting. The cul- 

 tivated varieties have either the marginal flowers radiate, or all sterile and radi- 

 ate. (H. vulgaris Mx.) 



2 H. quercifolia Bartram. Lvs. deeply sinuate-lobed, dentate, tomentous be- 

 neath, and on the petioles and veins above ; cymes paniculate, radiant, the ster- 

 ile fls. very large and numerous. — A superb species, native of Fla. and S. Ga., in 

 wet, springy places, also often cultivated. Shrub 4 to 8f high. Lvs. nearly all 

 as broad as long (5 to 10'), green above, hoary beneath ; panicles dense, thyreoid, 

 large, pvramidal, the sterile fls. 18" broad, with orbicular, white or roseate sepals. 

 Often cultivated. May, Jn. (H. vulgaris Mx.) (Fig. 271.) 



3 H. radiata Walt. Lvs. ovate, abrupt or cordato at base, acuminate, serrate, 

 silvery-tomenious beneath ; cymes fastigiate, radiate. — Upper country of Ga., Car. 

 and Tenn. Shrubs 6 to 8f high. Sterile fls., white, smaller than in No. 2, often re- 

 duced to 3, 2 or 1 sepal The silver white of the under leaf-surface is a striking 

 character, f May, Jn. 



4 H. hortensis L. Changeable Hydrangea. Lvs. elliptical, narrowed at 

 each end, dentate-serrate, strongly veined, smooth ; cymes radiant ; fls. mostly ster- 

 ile. — Probably native of China, where it has long been cultivated. Sts. 1 to 3f 

 high. Lvs. large. Barren fls., very numerous and showy, at first green, passing 

 successively through straw-color, sulphur yellow, white, purple, and pink. Th<» 



