MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 37 



WHITE HEDYSARUM 



Hedysanim boreale var. albiJioni)n. Pea Family 



This is a white species of H. boreale, a full description of 

 which will be found in the Blue to Purple Section. 



BIRCH-LEAVED SPIRiEA 



SpircBa hicida. Rose Family 



Stems : erect, reddish, woody, one to two feet high. Leaves : lower ones 

 small, obovate ; upper ones oval, acutish, unequally serrate on short peti- 

 oles. Flowers: cream-colour in compound corymbs; petals five, rounded. 



A small bushy shrub with woody stems bearing large 

 showy, fluffy flower-heads, flattened on the top and formed 

 of numerous tiny cream-coloured blossoms tinged with pink. 



It frequently grows by the side of mountain roads and at 

 the edge of trails, where the bright sunshine brings it out to 

 perfection. The red woody stems break off with a sharp 

 snap, and the scent of the flowers is extremely sweet. 



This Spiraea is really a flowering shrub, but is placed in 

 this Section for greater convenience, as it is here that most 

 travellers will look for it. 



ALPINE SPIRJEA 



Spircea pectinata. Rose Family 



Stems: cespitose, creeping, very leafy; flowering stems erect. Leaves: 

 trifoliolate, persistent; leaflets deeply lobed. Flowers: in short terminal 

 racemes ; calyx-lobes ovate, acute, equalling the tube ; petals obovate. 



A lovely trailing plant, its flowers growing to an average 

 height of four inches, in elongated heads, each individual tiny 

 blossom having six white petals and a number of yellow 

 stamens. The leaves grow close to the ground, resembling a 

 large moss, and are deeply fringed and fern-like. The shoots 

 of the plant run along the ground ; the stems of the flowers 

 are brittle and woody. 



