



PLATE LV. 



1. SPIRAEA LOB ATA. 



LOBE-LEAVED MEADOW SWEET. 



THIS genus contains plants of the shrubby and herbaceous kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Icosandria Pentagyma, and 

 ranks in the natural order of Pomaces. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a one-leafed five-cleft 

 perianth, flat at the base, with acute segments; permanent: the 

 corolla has five petals, inserted into the calyx, oblong- rounded: the 

 stamina have more than twenty filaments, filiform, shorter than the 

 corolla, inserted into the calyx: anthers roundish: the pistillum has 

 five or more germs: styles as many, filiform, length of the stamens: 

 stigmas headed : the pericarpium is an oblong capsule, acuminate, 

 compressed, two-valved : the seeds few, acuminate, small, fastened 

 to the internal suture. 



The species cultivated are : 1. S. salicifolia, Willow-leaved 

 Spiraea: 2. S. tomentosa, Scarlet Spiraea; 3. S. hyper icifolia, Hype- 

 ricum-leaved Spiraea; 4. S. argentea, Silvery-leaved Spiraea; 5. S. 

 chamcedrifblia, Germander-leaved Spiraea; 6. S. crenata, Hawthorn- 

 leaved Spiraea; 7- S. triloba, Three-iobe-leaved Spiraea; 8. S. opuli- 

 folia, Currant-leaved Spiraea; 9- # sorb't folia, Service-leaved Spiraea; 

 10. S. Aruncus, Goat's-beard Spiraea; 11. S. Jilipendula, Common 

 Dropwort; 12. 5. ulmaria, Common Meadow Sweet; 13. 5. trifo- 

 liata, Three-leaved Spiraea. 



The first has the stalks very taper, and rough towards the top, 

 and covered with a reddish bark : the leaves about three inches long, 

 and an inch broad in the middle, bluntly serrate, and of a bright 

 green colour. In rich moist ground the stalks rise five or six feet 



