HYDRANGEACEAE 85 



There are generally 3 to 6 bright yellow flowers in a cluster. 

 The pistillate flowers develop into bright red, fleshy drupes, 

 which ripen in October or November, are bluntly oval to nearly 

 spherical, nearly Yi inch long, and stand on pedicels about half 

 as long. 



Distribution. — The Spicebush, an undershrub in wet woods, 

 ranges from Maine westward to central Michigan and south 

 into Georgia, Mississippi and Kansas. It occurs throughout 

 Illinois wherever a suitable habitat is to be found. 



LINDERA MELISSAEFOLIUM (Walter) Blume 



Hairy Spicebush 



The Hairy Spicebush, fig. 17, is very similar to the common 

 Spicebush in shape and size but is distinguished by the dense 

 pubescence of the young twigs, buds, and lower surface of the 

 leaves. Also, the leaf blades are ovate-lanceolate to oblong, 

 acute or acuminate at the apex, and rounded to subcordate at 

 the base. They are 2 to 4 inches long by ^ to ll/^ inches wide 

 and stand on petioles l/^ to ^4 i^^^h long. The fruit develops 

 from the pistillate flowers and is about Y2 inch long and oval. 



Distribution. — The Hairy Spicebush inhabits swamps and 

 wet soil from Missouri to North Carolina and south to Alabama 

 and Florida. Throughout its range it flowers in February and 

 March. In Illinois, it is rare and occurs only in the southern 

 tip of the state. 



HYDRANGEACEAE 

 The Hydrangea Family 



The hydrangea famih' consists of shrubs, trees and some vines, 

 which bear opposite leaves w^ithout stipules and perfect flowers 

 arranged in cymes. The flowers may have 4 to 10 sepals and 

 the same number of petals, and there may be 8 to many stamens 

 and 2 to 5 or, rarely, 10 united pistils per flower. The ovary 

 is partly or w^hoUy inferior, and the styles arising from it may 

 be distinct or united. The fruit, when developed, is a capsule. 



There are some 16 genera and 80 species in the family, but in 

 Illinois it is represented only by the two wild, native hydrangeas 

 and by the introduced, sometimes escaped, Mock Orange or 

 Syringa. These may be distinguished as follows. 



