486 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



tinge of light pink. Leaves, alternate, strongly toothed, oval 

 or lance-shaped, on short petioles. Time, May and June. 

 Calyx, 5-cleft. Petals, 5. Stamens, many. Pods, 5. 



A slender, reddish-stemmed shrub, 2 to 6 feet high, growing 

 along fence-rows and roadsides in wet soil. The dry fruit of last 

 year is sometimes found on the bush among the flowers of this 

 year. 



From New England southward, among the mountains, to 

 Georgia, and westward. 



Dora Read Goodale writes • 



"And near the unfrequented roads, 

 By waysides scorched with barren heat, 

 In clouded pink or softer white 

 She holds the summer's generous light, 

 Our native meadow-sweet." 



39. Hardback. Steeplebush 



6". tomentosa is the pink (rarely white) species, common 

 throughout New England and southward. Leaves thick, dark 

 green above; underneath, and the stem also, covered with a 

 soft, brownish, rusty down. Flowers in stiff, upright, pointed, 

 close spikes. 



40. Ninebark 



Physocdrpus opulifblius. — Family, Rose. Color, white and 

 pink. Leaves, alternate, roundish or heart-shaped, palmately 

 3-lobed. Time, spring. 



Sepals and petals, 5. Stamens, many. Flowers, small, in 

 abundant umbel-like clusters, on short peduncles. Pods,AdLxV, 

 inflated, membranous, more showy than the flowers. The 

 bark becomes loose and every year separates, hanging in thin 

 layers, whence the common name. 



An ornamental shrub, often cultivated, 5 to 7 feet high, with 

 branches curving backward. From New England to Florida, 

 along banks of streams. 



