1 88 Heath (Ericacece) 



(10) Genus CLETHRA, Gronov. 

 Fig. 87. Sweet Pepper-Bush. White Alder. C. alnifolia, L. 



Flowers, small, white, fragrant, in abundant terminal 

 upright spikes from three to five inches in length. 

 Corolla of five separate reverse egg-shaped petals. 

 Calyx, whitish-downy, five-parted, persistent. Sta- 

 mens, ten, usually exserted beyond the corolla. 

 Anthers, arrow-shape. Style, slender, and three- 

 cleft at the apex. Flower-stems, about one sixth of 

 an inch long from the axil of a bract of about the 

 same length, whitish-downy. Seed-case, not adherent 

 to the calyx, but enclosed by it. July and 

 August. 



Leaves, two to about three or more inches long, alternate, 

 edge-toothed, but entire toward the base, strongly 

 straight-veined, mostly smooth, reverse egg-shape to 

 oval with wedge-shaped base. Leaf-stem, short and 

 downy. 



Fruit, rounded, enclosed in the calyx, three-celled, many- 

 seeded. Seeds, angular. A capsule. 



Found, in swamps and low grounds from Eastern Canada 

 to Georgia ; most abundant near the coast. 



A shrub three to eight feet high, often in large 

 patches, filling the air with its heavy odor. Its fragrance 

 and late blooming, as well as its showy flower-spikes, 

 make it deserving of a place in the garden. Its clusters 

 increase in size under cultivation. It is highly prized in 

 England. 



