392 THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



C. vulgaris. Pers. Quince. Six to 15 ft. high, with crooked branches; 

 flower solitary, large, pale pink or roseate, on shoots of the season: leaves 

 oblong-ovate, acute at apex, with obtuse base, entire. A small tree grown 

 for its large yellow fruits. 



C. japonica, Pers. Japan quince. Shrub, 3-6 ft., cultivated for hedges 

 and flowers: branches armed with short, straight spines: leaves glabrous 

 and shining, acute at the end, serrulate, the stipules conspicuously reniform: 

 flowers in axillary clusters, nearly sessile, crimson or scarlet. Fruit globose, 

 fragrant. 



12. CRAT^GUS. Hawthorn. Figs. 164-167. 



Large bushes or small trees, much branched, the wood tough and hard, 

 usually very thorny: flowers white or pink, in dense umbel-like clusters; 

 petals 5, entire; stamens 5-10 to many: fruit a small red or yellow drupe 

 containing large bony stones: leaves simple, mostly toothed or lobed. Many 

 species wild in North America, and some cultivated; too difficult of determi- 

 nation for the beginner. The wild hawthorns are amongst the most deco- 

 rative plants in the American landscape. 



13. SPIR^A. Spirea. Fig. 193. 



Hardy perennial herbs and many ornamental shrubs: leaves alternate: 

 flowers white or roseate, usually small but many; calyx 5-cleft, short and 

 open; petals 5; stamens many: fruit of about 5 follicles, not inflated. A 

 large and very interesting group of flowering plants, mostly with white 

 bloom. Following are small shrubs: 



S. salicifdlia, Linn. Meadow-sweet. Glabrous or nearly so, erect to 3 

 or 4 ft., stem often purplish: leaves simple, oblong-ovate to lanceolate, 

 serrate, with stipules deciduous: flowers in terminal erect panicles, white 

 or pinkish-tinged, small, with pods (follicles) 5, smooth, many-seeded. 

 Moist or swampy ground. Summer. 



S. tomentosa, Linn. Hardhack. Erect, 2-4 ft. high, with pubescent 

 stems, rusty or hairy: leaves simple, oblong or ovate, serrate, woolly on 

 lower surface, without stipules: flowers in terminal thyrse-like dense panicles, 

 pink or purple (rarely white), the follicles 5, pubescent or woolly: pastures 

 and low grounds. Late summer. 



S. trilobata, Linn. Bridal wreath. Large bush with long recurving 

 branches and bearing a profusion of showy flowers in flat-topped clusters: 

 leaves round-ovate, crenately cut and 3-lobed. S. Van Houttei is an 

 improved form. The forms of this species-group are the most popular 

 cultivated spireas. 



S. hypericifolia, St. Peter's wreath. From 3—6 ft., leaves obovate- 

 oblong or wedge-shaped, obscurely toothed or lobed : flowers white, in many 

 small lateral sessile clusters, on short branches. Cultivated. 



S. Thunbergii, Sieb. Compact bush with very narrow leaves, sharply 

 serrate and very light green: flowers umbellate, small, white. Handsome 

 species from Japan. 



