CLASS XII. ORDER V. 209 



219. SPIRiEA. 

 Spir^a alba. Ehr. White Spircea. Meadow Stveet. 



Leaves wedge-lanceolate, serrate, glabrous ; flowers 

 panicled. 

 Syn. SpiRiEA sALiciFOLiA. Mich. 



A slender shrub three or four feet high, bearing large, terminal 

 bunches of white flowers. Stems smooth, reddish. Leaves broad 

 lanceolate, somewhat obtuse, smooth and thin, acutely serrate, 

 tapering at base. Panicle terminal, composed of small flowering, 

 branches at the top of the stem, and from the axils of the upper 

 leaves. Flowers small, crowded. — Meadows and wet pastures. 

 — July, August. 

 SpirjEA tomentosa. L. Downy Spircea. Hardliack. 



Leaves lanceolate, tineqiially serrate, downy un- 

 derneath ; flowers twice raccnied. Wdld. 



A very common shrub in pastures and low grounds, about the 

 size of the last. Among its purple flowers the dead tops of the 

 last year's fructification are conspicuous. Leaves nearly oval, 

 thick, and tough, dark green above, whitish and downy under- 

 neath. Flowers small, blue or purple, in long conical bunches 

 on the end of the stems. — July, August. — Very astringent. 



POLYGYNIA. 



220. ROSA. 

 Rosa rubiginosa. L. Siceet Briar. Eglantine. 



Fruit obovate, fruit and peduncles hispid ; prickles 

 hooked; leafets oval, with reddish glands beneath. 



Stem from three to four feet high, the younger ones reclining 

 at top, the old ones much branched, armed with strong, hooked 

 prickles. Leaves pinnate, with oval serrate leafets, which give 

 out an agreeable, strong scent on being rubbed. The under sur- 

 face in most plants is slightly glandular, though less so than, 

 in the European sweet briar. Flowers red. Fruit scarlet, 

 somewhat obovate, bristly or smooth. — Road sides. — June. — lu- 

 troduced. 



18=^ 



