50 GAKDEN FLOWERS. 



species, with its large biinclies of small wliite 

 flowers, among its dark green leaves, and it is 

 an under-slirub in the tall American forest, 

 blooming with us in the month from which it 

 has its famihar name. About the same time, 

 too, we see the bridewort or queen's embroidery, 

 with its spikes of pinkish lilac flowers, looking 

 much Hke some piece of finely-wrought needle- 

 work ; and a little later the Vii-ginian Guelder 

 rose, and the Californian species, with its 

 loose clusters of feather-like white flowers, 

 floating up and down to every summer breeze, 

 may be seen decking the summer bed, delight- 

 ing most in a moist soil, and flourishing to 

 fullest perfection in the garden through which 

 a stream meanders. 



Nor is this genus destitute of those herb- 

 aceous plants, those lowher flowers, which 

 sometimes find room on beds which could not 

 admit of the more spreading shrub. The mea- 

 dow sweet {Spircea ulmaria) is often brought 

 from our wild fields into the garden ; the goat's 

 beard, (^Sinrcea aruncus.) a Siberian species, is 

 very ornamental with its white flowers in the 

 month of June ; and the dropwort of our 

 meads {Spircea Jilipendula) is very pretty in 

 the garden, when its blossoms have, by culture, 

 been rendered double. 



The bladder-nut (Staphylea pinnatd) is a 

 hardy plant of North America, now in bloom. 

 Its flowers are white, and the brown seeds are 

 enclosed in a large inflated capsule or bladder. 

 The hard smooth nuts, bitter as they are, are 



