ROSACE^E. (ROSE FAMILY.) 153 



2. SPIRES A, L. MEADOW-SWEET. 



Calyx 5-cleft, short, persistent. Petals 5, obovate, equal, imbricated in the 

 bud. Stamens 1 - 50. Pods (follicles) 5-8, not inflated, few - several-seeded. 

 Seeds linear, with a thin or loose coat and no albumen. Shrubs or perennial 

 herbs, with simple or pinnate leaves, and white or rose-colored flowers in co- 

 rymbs or panicles. (The Greek name, from cnreipdoa, to twist, from the twisting 

 of the pods in the original species.) 



1 . SPIRAEA proper. Erect shrubs, with simple leaves ; stipules obsolete ; pods 

 mostly 5, several-seeded. 



i S. betulsefdlia, Pall., var. corymbdsa, Watson. Nearly smooth (i - 



2 high) ; leaves oval or ovate, cut-toothed toward the apex ; corymbs large, flat, 

 several times compound ; flowers white. (S. corymbosa, Raf.) Mountains of 

 Penn. and N. J. to Ga., west to Ky. and Mo. 



2. S. salicif61ia, L. (COMMON MEADOW-SWEET.) Nearly smooth (2- 3 

 high) ; leaves wedge-lanceolate, simply or doubly serrate ; flowers in a crowded 

 panicle, white or flesh-color ; pods smooth. Wet or low grounds, Newf. to the 

 mountains of Ga., west to Minn, and Mo. ; also to the far northwest. (Eu.) 



3. S. tomentosa, L. (HARDBACK. STEEPLE-BUSH.) Stems and lower 

 surface of the ovate or oblong serrate leaves very woolly ; flowers in short racemes 

 crowded in a dense panicle, rose-color, rarely white ; pods woolly. Low 

 grounds, N. Scotia to the mountains of Ga., west to Minn, and Kan. 



2. ULMARIA. Perennial herbs, with pinnate leaves and panicled cymose 

 flowers ; stipules kidney-form ; pods 5-8, 1 - ^-seeded. 



4. S. lobata, Jacq. (QUEEN OF THE PRAIRIE.) Glabrous (2-8 high); 

 leaves interruptedly pinnate; the terminal leaflet very large, 7-9-parted, 

 the lobes incised and toothed ; panicle compound-clustered, on a long naked 

 peduncle ; flowers deep peach-blossom color, handsome, the petals and sepals 

 often in fours. Meadows and prairies, Penn. to Ga., west to Mich., Ky., and 

 Iowa. 



3. ARUNCUS. Perennial herbs, with dioecious whitish flowers in many slender 

 spikes, disposed in a Jong compound panicle ; leaves thrice pinnate ; stipules 

 obsolete ; pods 3-5, several -seeded ; pedicels reflexed in fruit. 



5. S. Ardncus, L. (GOAT'S-BEARD.) Smooth, tall; leaflets thin, lan- 

 ceolate-oblong, or the terminal ones ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, sharply cut 

 and serrate. Rich woods, N. Y. and Penn. to Ga. in the mountains, west to 

 Iowa and Mo. 



3. PHYSOCARPTJS, Maxim. NINE-BARK. 



Carpels 1-5, inflated, 2-valved ; ovules 2-4. Seeds roundish, with a smooth 

 and shining crustaceous testa and copious albumen. Stamens 30-40. Other- 

 wise as Spiraea. Shrubs, with simple palmately-lobed leaves and umbel-like 

 corymbs of white flowers. (Name from <j>v<ra, a bladder, and Kapiros, fruit.) 



1. P. Opulif61iU8, Maxim. Shrub 4-10 high, with long recurved 

 branches, the old bark loose and separating in numerous thin layers ; leaves 

 roundish, somewhat 3-lobed and heart-shaped ; the purplish membranaeeeus 

 pods very conspicuous. (Spiraea opulifolia, L. Neillia opulifolia, Benth. $ 



