BOS ACE 'AE (ROSE FAMILY) 203 



weed, and diseased plants may be used for the purpose of in- 

 fection and destruction. The writer once killed a small patch 

 in a. cemetery with kerosene oil, but the ground was made sterile 

 and resodding was necessary. Caustic soda would be equally 

 effective and leach away more quickly. 



MEADOW-SWEET 

 Spircea latifolia, Borkh. 



Other English names: Quaker Lady, Meadow Queen. 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom : June to August. 



Seed-time: August to October. 



Range : Eastern North America from Newfoundland to Virginia. 



Habitat: Rocky pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



A handsome shrub which seems to have a preference for hillside 

 pastures, where it spreads its kind undisturbed by grazing animals, 

 as they dislike its astringent, bitter taste. 



Stems two to four feet tall, with smooth, reddish 

 or purplish brown bark, simple or branching near 

 the top. Leaves alternate, thin, smooth, dark 

 green, nearly an inch broad and three times as 

 long, rather coarsely toothed, obtuse, and nar- 

 rowing somewhat abruptly to a short petiole. 

 Flowers in dense terminal panicles, very small, 

 white or pale pink, with little or no fragrance in 

 spite of the name; calyx short, five-cleft, per- 

 sistent, nearly smooth; the five petals obovate 

 and equal ; stamens many ; pistils usually five, 

 superior, alternate with the calyx lobes. The blos- 

 soms open from the summit downward, and as the 

 season advances the plume-like clusters begin to 

 turn brown at the top. Seeds minute, in five small, 

 smooth, brown, style-tipped follicles. (Fig. 145.) 



Means of control FIG. 145. 



Meadow-sweet 



Yearling shoots are easily and quickly hand- (Spircea latifolia). 

 pulled when the ground is soft, but if left to sink x . 



