XXVI. EOSACE^: -SPIKiE A. 



299 



Genus VIII. 



1 



m I 



5PIRiE^A L. The Spiraea. Lin. Syst. Icosandria Di-Pentagjnia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen.. No. 630. ; G:ertn. Fruct., I. p. 337. t. 69. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 541. ; Don's 

 Mill., 2. p. 517. 



Synuni/ynes. Spirte'a sp. Cambessedcs Hon. Spir. in Ann. Sci. Nat. 1. p. 227. ; Spiree, Fr. ; Spier- 

 staude, Gcr. 



Derivation. From speira, a cord, in reference to the supposed flexibility of the branches of some 

 of the species ; or, according to some, from spcirao, to wreath ; in allusion to the fitness of the 

 flowers to be twisted into g.irlands. Spirteon is Pliny's name for a plant the blossoms of which 

 were used, in his time, for making garlands ; but that plant is thought by some to have been the 

 ribdrnum Lant^na. 



Gen. Char. Calyx 3-cleft, permanent. Stamens 10 30, inserted in the torus, 

 lining the calyx along with the petals. Carpels solitary, or several together, 

 rarely connected at the base, ending in short points, sessile, rarely stipitate. 

 Seeds 26. {Don's Mill.) 



Leaves usually simple, but sometimes pinnately cut, having pinnate, or 

 palraately ternate, nerves ; alternate, stipulate, deciduous. Flowers white or 

 reddish, never yellow. Shrubs, low, deciduous. Europe, Asia, America. 



Generally of erect growth, with conspicuous flowers of considerable elegance 

 and beauty. The naked young wood, in almost all the species, is of a cin- 

 namon brown ; and, in those kinds in which the shoots are numerous so as to 

 produce a mass, the effect is conspicuous in the winter season. They are all 

 readily propagated by suckers, which, in general, they produce in abundance, 

 and they will grow in any common soil. 



i. Physocarpos Camb. 



Derivation. From phusa, a bladder, and karpos, a fruit ; in reference to the bladdery carpels. 



Sect. Char. Ovaries connected at the base. Torus lining the calycine tube. 

 Carpels bladdery, rather membranous. Ovula 2 3, fixed to the semini- 

 ferous margin of the carpel, ovoid, at first horizontal, but at length sus- 

 pended. Flowers hermaphrodite, disposed in umbels. Pedicels 1-flowered. 

 Leaves toothed, or somewhat lobed, usually stipulate. {Don's-MilL, p. 517.) 



1. S. opulifo'lia L. 



The Guelder-Rose-Ieaved Spiraea, or Virginian 

 Guelder Rose. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 702. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. .542. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 517. 

 Synonymes. Nine Bark, Amer. ; Evonimo del Canada, Ital. 

 Engravings. N. Du Ham., 6. t. 14. ; and onrfigs. 491, 492. 



Spec. Char., SfC. Leaves lobed, or 3-lobed, and par- 

 taking of an ovate figure, doubly serrated, petioled, 

 and many of them stipuled. Flowers white, nume- 

 rous, disposed in stalked hemi- 

 spherical corymbs ; the pedicel of 

 each flower slender and glabrous. 

 Sepals spreading. Torus wholly 

 connate with the tube of the calyx. 

 Ovaries connate with each other 

 at the base. Ovules in each 2 3, 

 affixed to the margin, egg-shaped, ^ 

 at first horizontal, at length the 

 one pendulous, the rest ascending. 

 Carpels bladdery, rather meinbran- 

 aceous, large and diverging. Seeds 

 obovate, glossy, and yellow. (Dec. Prod.) A large shrub. North America, 

 from Canada to Carolina. Height 8 ft. to 10 ft. Introd. in 1690. Flowers 



91. . oimlifblia. 



