SPIRAEA 531 



Flowers white, or dull creamy white, small, produced during June and July 

 in corymbs i to 2 ins. acros.s, at the end of short leafy twigs; flower-stalks 

 and calyx grey-downy or even felted. 



Native of the Himalaya; introduced in 1837. The chief distinguishing 

 characteristic of this Spiraea, and one which gives it a leading place in the 

 genus, is its habit of producing in one season the long, thong-like shoots to 

 which the popular name " flagelliformis " refers. When, the following year, 

 there springs from every bud a short erect twig, each crowned with its 

 dense cluster of flowers, there are few more strikingly beautiful shrubs, 

 especially at the date when it blossoms. The species is somewhat variable 

 in the shape and size of the leaf, in the amount of down it bears, also to 

 some extent in habit. It has, in consequence, received many names. The 

 small greyish leaves tapering at the base, and the abundant clusters of white 

 flowers set on the upper side of long arching branches, generally distin- 

 guish it. 



S. CANTONIENSIS, Loureiro. 



(S. Reevesiana, Lindley, Bot. Reg., vol. 30, t. 10.) 



A deciduous or partly evergreen shrub, 4 to 6 ft. high, of wide-spreading, 

 graceful habit, producing a thicket of erect and outwardly arching stems; 

 young stems smooth. Leaves lozenge-shaped, i to 2^ ins. long, \ to f in. 

 wide; deeply and irregularly toothed (sometimes almost lobed) on the upper 

 part, green and quite smooth on both sides, with a glaucous tinge especially 

 beneath; stalk slender, J to \ in. long. Flowers white, \ in. across, pro- 

 duced during June in hemispherical corymbs i to 2 ins. across, each corymb 

 on a leafy stalk i to 2 ins. long. 



Native of China and Japan. This shrub is scarcely known in gardens 

 except in its double-flowered state, var. FLORE PLENO, in which the many- 

 petalled blossoms are nearly \ in. across; when freely borne they make a 

 charming display. In the gardens of the south of France, Italy, and 

 Dalmatia this double-flowered form is perhaps the most beautiful white- 

 flowered shrub in April, its long sprays arching in every direction and laden 

 with blossom. But in the Thames Valley it is rarely seen to perfection 

 owing to injury by spring frosts. It can be got in better condition on a 

 wall. Nearly allied to this species is S. chinensis (g.v.), also with fragrant 

 white flowers in corymbs, but readily recognised by the yellowish felted 

 under-surface of its leaves. A hybrid between them is S. BLANDA, Zabel, 

 which has leaves furnished beneath with a greyish down, and white flowers 

 in downy corymbs. All of this group are spring tender. 



S. CHAM^EDRIFOLIA, Linnczus. 

 (Bot. Reg., t. 1222.) 



An erect shrub, up to 6 ft. high, the young shoots yellowish, smooth, 

 angular, zigzag. Leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, i to 3 ins. long, f to 

 1 1 ins. wide; coarsely, irregularly, often doubly toothed; dark green and 

 smooth above, somewhat glaucous and slightly downy beneath. Flowers 

 \ in. across, white, produced in a corymb or corymbose raceme ij ins. 

 across; flower-stalks smooth, slender, the lower ones in. long, becoming 

 shorter towards the summit. Stamens conspicuously long. 



Var. ULMIFOLIA. -Leaves ovate, the upper two-thirds coarsely often 

 doubly toothed. The inflorescence is more of a raceme than a corymb, and 

 from \\ to 2 ins. long; flowers white, \ in. across. This is the handsomest 

 form of S. chamasdrifolia, distinct in its broader leaves and more elongated 

 inflorescence. 



