The Spiraeas 



antecedent to the beverage. This species flowers in 

 June. 



4. In the beautiful Spircea aricefolia (or S. discolor), 

 we turn from the Spiraeas of the East to those of the West, 

 for this is the " Spray Bush " of North America, and a 

 veritable joy to behold. Half as tall again as a man, it 

 towers on high like a foamy cascade of down-hanging, 

 delicate creamy clusters of hazy-looking blossom flowers 

 like a myriad stars often two thousand of them set in a 

 cluster a foot long. Infinitely light and graceful are these 

 complex clusters with their branches and branchlets and 

 their translucent petals. The innumerable red-anthered 

 stamens on long white filaments stretch beyond the con- 

 fines of the petals, giving a misty veiling to the whole. 

 The stems are pale brown and smooth, the foliage a 

 bright green as it faces one on a still day, each leaf a 

 triangle, broad at the base, tapering towards, but not 

 pointed at, the tip, the margin cut into rounded teeth, so 

 large as to be almost lobes. But let the breeze rustle 

 through, and the reason of its alternative specific name 

 discolor becomes apparent, for the leaves have a silver 

 sheen on their back, and as they move in the wind a 

 ripple of silver runs over the bush. Never should this 

 plant be omitted from a garden ; it is hardy, and asks for 

 little attention. Alone, or grouped with others of its sort, 

 it is a striking feature in those July and early August 



days when flowering shrubs are scarce. 



209 



