Spir^a. ROSACEvE. 199 



Michx.fl. \.p. 293 ; Pursh, fl. l.p. 341 ; Ell. sk. l.p. 560 ; Torr.fl. 1. 481 ; DC. prodr. 

 2. p. 544 ; Beck, hot. p. 98 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 299 ; Torr. <^ Gr. fl. N. Am. l.p. 415. 

 "S. alba, Du Roi, heitr. l.p. 137;" Bigel.fl. Bost. p. 196 ; Wats, dendrol. t. 133. 



Shrubby or suffruticose, 3-5 feet high ; the branches purplish, very brittle. Leaves 

 variable in breadth and outline, usually about 2 inches long, mostly acute, but sometimes 

 quite obtuse ; commonly smooth on both sides, but sometimes (particularly a narrow-leaved 

 state of the plant from Oneida county) a little pubescent on the veins underneath, and minutely 

 fringed on the margin : petioles very short. Flowers white, commonly with a tinge of purple. 

 Disk with a free crenulate border. Petals crenulate. 



Wet bushy meadows ; also in dry elevated situations (abundant on the Fishkill mountains). 

 Fl. June - July. Fr. October. 



3. SpiRiEA TOMENTOSA, Linu. Hard-Jiock. Steeple-lmsh. 



Stem and lower surface of the leaves clothed with a rusty-colored tomentose pubescence ; 

 leaves ovate or oblong, crowded, unequally serrate ; racemes crowded in an elongated tapering 

 panicle ; carpels 5, woolly. — Linn.; Michx. ft. I. p. 293 ; Willd. sp. 2. p. 1056 ; Pursh, 

 fl. 1. p. 341 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 560; Mead in N. York med. repos. (n. ser.) 6. p. 256, with a 

 plate ; Torr.fl. l.p. 481 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 197 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 544 ; Beck, bat. p. 99 ; 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 299 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. *15. 



Stem 2-3 feet high, somewhat branched, brittle, clothed with a loose wool that easily 

 rubs off. Leaves 1-2 inches long, deep bright green above, finely contrasting with the 

 rusty pubescence of the under surface, obtuse or acute ; the petioles scarcely 2 lines long. 

 Panicle 2-6 inches long, very compact. Calyx woolly. Petals pale purple, crenulate, 

 Bometimes becoming green in withering. Seeds few in each carpel, subulate at each end. 



Swamps ; rather rare. July - August. This plant is very astringent, and has been em- 

 ployed with success in chronic diarrhoea. See Dr. Mead's paper quoted above. 



^ 3. Aruncus, Seringe. Flowers diacious : carpels distinct, not inflated : seeds with a loose mem- 

 branaceous testa. — Herbs, with tripinnately divided leaves destitute of stipules : spikes filiform, 

 in a large compound panicle. 



4. SpiRiEA Aruncus, Linn. Goat' s-heard. 



Leaves tripinnate, membranaceous ; leaflets lanceolate-oblong, acuminate , the terminal 

 ones ovate-lanceolate, sharply and incisely doubly serrate ; flowers very numerous ; carpels 

 3-5, very smooth. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 496 ; Michx. fl.l. p. 294 ; Pursh, fl. l.p. 343 (excl. 

 jS.); Ell. sk. I. p. 561 ; Seringe in DC. prodr. 2. p. 545 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. I. p. 173 ; 

 Beck, hot. p 99 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 417. S, Aruncus, /3. Americana, Torr. fl. 

 1. p. 482 (excl. syn. Michx.). 



