88 HYDRANGEACEAE 



ripe in the autumn, which are glabrous, a little broader than 

 long, and generally prominently ribbed. Each contains many 

 seeds, which also are longitudinally ribbed. 



Distribution. — The distribution of the Smooth Hydrangea 

 is from New York west to Missouri and Oklahoma and south 

 to Georgia and Alabama. With us, it is a plant of wet, shady 

 ravines, and in this habitat it lives throughout the southern two- 

 thirds of Illinois, the most northern record being Starved Rock 

 in La Salle County. 



HYDRANGEA CINEREA Small 

 Ashy Hydrangea 



The Ashy Hydrangea, fig. 18, is a spreading shrub 3 to 6 feet 

 high that bears large, round or ovate to elliptic leaves, the 

 blades of which are acuminate at the tip, rounded or cordate at 

 the base, and serrate along the margins. They are 3 to 6 inches 

 long and as a rule somewhat thicker and heavier than those of 

 the preceding species, green on the upper side and nearly gla- 

 brous, but tomentose beneath. The cymes of flowers are round 

 topped rather than flat topped, as in the Smooth Hydrangea, 

 and commonly 1 to 4 inches broad. Sterile flowers, often called 

 ray-flowers, are usually present, and the mature capsule is ]/i 

 inch long or less and not quite so wide. Flowers appear in June 

 and July, and fruiting heads with their conspicuous, whitened 

 ray-flowers are mature in late summer and early fall. 



Distribution. — The Ashy Hydrangea grows in mountainous 

 regions from North Carolina west to Missouri and southward 

 into Georgia and Alabama. In Illinois, it occurs only in the 

 Ozark region in the extreme southern part of the state, the 

 present records of occurrence being limited to the vicinity of 

 Vienna in Johnson County and to Dixon Springs, Golconda and 

 Brownfield in Pope County. This species is sometimes consid- 

 ered a variety of the preceding species and then is known as 

 H. arboresceris var. Deamii St. John. 



The Silverleaf Hydrangea, H. radiata Walter, has been re- 

 ported from two counties in the state, Washington and Ver- 

 milion. Both of these are very old records and are, quite 

 obviously, misidentifications. The record in both cases undoubt- 

 edly applies to one of the hairy varietal forms of the ordinary 

 species, arborescens. 



