SHRUBS BELONGING TO THE ROSE FAMILY. 49 



it reveals several relatives of the queen of flowers 

 not ordinarily recognized as such. The first of these 

 is the beautiful meadowsweet (Spircea salicifolia\ 

 which grows from two to three feet 

 high, and adorns every roadside 

 throughout June with its soft 

 clusters of pinkish, flesh-colored 

 flowers. It is a light-green, 

 bushy shrub, with smooth stems 

 and double - toothed leaves, 

 which is readily distinguished 

 from hardback (Spircea tomen- 

 tosa\ as the latter has a cot- 

 tony stem and <fe^-pink flow- 

 ers. Hardback also has a 

 pointed flower cluster, which 

 gave rise to its other common 

 name, steeple bush. The shrub 

 called queen of the prairie (Spi- 

 raea lobata) is a species which is 

 common on the meadows and prai- 

 ries of the West ; it is also culti- 

 vated. The handsome plumes 

 of flowers are deep flesh-pink, 

 and the leaves are compound 

 that is, the leaflets are arranged 

 on either side of a single stem, like those of the 



5 



Meadowsweet. 



