40 Ornamental Shrubs. 



or five feet high and often from five to eight feet across, 

 the numerous slender branches being clothed with light 

 green, ovate leaves, pointed at both ends, and retaining the 

 color throughout the summer. The flowers, appearing in 

 June, are in cymes five to six inches in diameter. The 

 ray-flowers are numerous, and as they first come out are 

 pure white, but later change to rose or pink, and hold 

 on until late in autumn. It is pronounced by good au- 

 thorities the most beautiful of all the hydrangeas that are 

 absolutely hardy as far north as New York and New 

 England, and the earliest to blossom in summer. 



H. thunbergii is a species from Japan, with blue or 

 rose flowers arranged in clusters with the sterile ones 

 on the outer rim of the cymes and the fertile ones in the 

 centre. It is a small sort of two or three feet in height, 

 and not as hardy as some other sorts. H. nivea is distin- 

 guished by having nearly white leaves on the under side, 

 and thus affording valuable contrasts when planted in 

 groups. H. lindleyana is of Japanese origin, with long 

 leaves and comparatively small heads of bright pink blos- 

 soms. H. stellata flore pleno is new and rare, with its 

 merits not yet fully tested. There are numerous other 

 varieties of more or less value, in most of which the differ- 

 ences are so slight and unimportant that to describe them 

 would seem a useless task. 



H. quercifolia is an American species, a native of the 

 Alleghany Mountains, though not much planted. It is 

 a hardy shrub four to six feet high, and of sturdy growth, 

 with white flowers disposed in the form of panicles rather 

 than the customary cymes. The leaves are about six 



