58 Introduction to Botany. 



8. Prunus serbtina, Ehrh. (L., serotinus, late ripe.) WILD BLACK CHERRY. 

 Large tree. Flowers in racemes, terminating leafy branches. Leaves thick, oval 

 to oval-lanceolate. Drupe dark purple or black, about \ inch in diameter, some- 

 what astringent, but sweetish and pleasant. In woods. 



n. SPIRffiA. Meadowsweet. 



(Gr., speirao, to twist; from the spiral pods of some species.) 



Shrubs or perennial herbs, with simple, pinnatifid, or pinnate leaves 

 and white or rose-colored flowers in corymbs and panicles. Calyx 

 5-cleft, short, and campanulate. Petals 5, inserted on the calyx. 

 Stamens 10-60. Pods 5-8, not inflated, few to several-seeded. 



1. Spiraea corymbosa, Raf. (Gr., korym'bos, a cluster.) CORYMBED SPIRAEA. 

 Shrub, i to 3 feet high. Leaves oval to orbicular, unequally and coarsely serrate 

 from some distance above the base, thick. Flowers in terminal corymbs, white, 

 about $ inch broad. Pods glabrous. Mountains and rocky places. 



2. Spiraea salicifolia, L. (L., salix, willow ; folium, leaf.) WILLOW-LEAVED 

 or COMMON MEADOWSWEET. An erect shrub, 2 to 4 feet high. Leaves oval, 

 obovate, or oblanceolate, sharply serrate above the middle; nearly glabrous 

 throughout. Flowers in dense terminal panicles. Flowers white or tinged with 

 pink, about J to inch broad. In swamps or moist grounds. 



3. Spiraea lobata, Jacq. (Gr., lobos, a lobe.) QUEEN OF THE PRAIRIE. 

 Perennial herb, -2 to 8 feet tall. Leaves interruptedly 3~7-foliate ; leaflets 3~5-lobed 

 or parted and unequally serrate or incised ; terminal leaflet y-o-parted ; the lower 

 leaves sometimes 3 feet long. Stipules persistent and serrate. Flowers pink or 

 purple, fragrant, borne in a panicle on a long, naked peduncle. Pods 5-8 

 i-2-seeded. Moist ground and prairies. 



4. Spiraea Ariincus, L. (L., aruncus, beard of a goat.) GOAT'S BEARD. 

 Smooth, tall, perennial herb with 2-3-pinnate, large leaves on long petioles; leaflets 

 ovate to lanceolate, sharply doubly serrate. Flowers small, whitish, and dioecious 

 in panicled, slender spikes. Pods 3-5, several-seeded, pedicels reflexed in fruit. 

 In rich woods. 



III. PHYSOCARPUS. Nine-bark. 



(Gr.,physa, a bladder; karpos, fruit.) 



Branching shrubs with palmately lobed leaves, and white flowers in 

 umbel-like corymbs. Carpels 1-5, inflated; stamens 30-40. In other 

 respects like Spircea. 



i. Physocarpus opulifolius, Maxim. (L., opulus, a kind of maple; folium, 

 leaf.) NINE-BARK. Shrub, 3 to 10 feet high with recurved branches, the bark 

 peeling off in thin strips. Leaves petioled, ovate-orbicular, 3-lobed, serrate, i to 2 

 inches long, or longer on young shoots. Corymbs terminal, peduncled, nearly 



