ADDISONIA 29 
(Plate 175) 
HYDRANGEA QUERCIFOLIA 
Gray-beard 
Native of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi 
Family HypDRANGEACEAE HypDRANGEA Family 
Hydrangea quercifolia Bartr. Travels 380. 1794. 
Hydrangea angulata Tausch, Flora 17: 494. 1834. 
Nearly a century and a half ago the son of the first native Ameri- 
can botanist was travelling with a caravan of traders in a journey 
across Georgia. ‘They were on their way to trade with the Indians 
in western Florida. When between the Okmulgee and Flint rivers, 
a little southwest of the site of the present city of Macon, William 
Bartram records “I observed here a very singular and beautiful 
shrub, which I suppose is a species of Hydrangea;’’ he described 
the plant and named it Hydrangea quercifolia on account of the 
resemblance of its lobed leaf-blades to those of some kinds of oaks. 
He also there published a good plate of it. 
Specimens were doubtless procured at this early date by William 
Bartram for his father’s garden at Philadelphia. Herbarium speci- 
mens are extant, gathered in Bartram’s garden, presumably from 
the original cultivated plants, or from their descendents. Living 
specimens were taken to England about the beginning of the last 
century and were grown with success there. Although native not 
far from the Gulf region it is hardy a thousand miles further north. 
By its numerous stems, arranged so that the leaves form a dome- 
like mass of green above which the large erect plumes of inflorescence 
stand, this plant is conspicuously excellent for making clumps on 
lawns. It is much better adapted to many cases in our country 
than some of the commonly used Asiatic kinds of hydrangea are; 
but, as some Philosopher recorded jong ago, ‘‘A prophet is not 
without honor, save in his own country.’ 
Curiously enough, the other southern shrub suited for just such 
planting, and an associate in natural geographic range, is the small- 
flowered buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) which was illustrated and 
described at plate 63 of this journal. It, too, is hardy just as far 
north as the shrub under consideration. 
The gray-beard, or old man’s beard, will thrive in almost any 
kind of soil, but a rich soil will naturally give a more luxuriant 
