HEATH FAMILY 



MOUNTAIN FETTER-BUSH 



Pieris floribiinda. 



Pieris, from Pieria, a town in Thessaly. 



Evergreen, native to the Alleghanies, found in Virginia and 

 southward; also hardy in northern gardens. From two to six 

 feet high; with stems nearly erect and with very leafy branches. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, evergreen, one and one-half to 

 three inches long, leathery, oblong to ovate-lanceolate, rounded 

 at base, serrulate and bristly-ciliate, acute or acuminate at apex ; 

 when full grown dark shining green above, paler and black-dot- 

 ted below. Petioles short, bristly when young. 



Flowers. — April, May. Perfect, white, five - angled bells, 

 borne in terminal, slender, clustered, dense racemes about three 

 inches long. 



Calyx. — Five-lobed ; lobes ovate-lanceolate, acute, valvate in 

 the five-angled bud, persistent. 



Corolla. — White, urn-shaped, slightly five-angled, five-saccate 

 at base ; five-toothed ; teeth recurved. 



Stamens. — Ten, included, filaments without appendages ; an- 

 thers oblong, each with a slender awn on its back, two-celled ; 

 cells opening by terminal pores. 



Pistil. — Ovary superior, five-celled ; style slender, ovules 

 many. 



Fruit. — Capsule, ovoid-globose, sitting in the calyx and 

 crowned with the slender style. Seeds many. 



Pieris floribiinda is one of the hardiest of the broad- 

 leaved evergreens peculiar to the Alleghany moun- 

 tains, and is a most charming ornamental shrub. The 

 foliage is so dense that the stems and branches are 

 concealed from sight. The flower buds practically 

 mature the previous autumn, and stand all winter 

 above the evergreen foliage, apparently without the 

 slightest protection, readv to burst into bloom when 

 the almanac says it is time. What is currently re- 



384 



