CLASS Xn. ORDER II.] SPIBJEA. 697 



in some parts of France and Italy than with us, and appears to be 

 as much esteemed in those countries as the Medlar. 



GENUS VII. SPIR^'A Linn. Spiraa, Dropworl, or 



Meadow-sweet. 



Nat. Ord. Rosa'ceje. Juss. 



Gen. Char. Calyx five cleft, inferior, persistent. Petals five. Fruit 

 of from one to twelve capsules, two valved, and from two to four 

 seeded. — Name from axufct,, a wreath or cord ; from its having 

 been used by the ancients to form wreaths or coronals. 



1. S. salcifo'lia, Linn. (Fig. 794.) Willow-leaved Sptrcea, Shrubby, 

 the whole plant smooth ; leaves oblong, lanceolate, unequally serrated, 

 racemes terminal, compound ; calyx with triangular segments. 



English Botany, t. 1468. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 368. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 197. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 89. 



A small branched shrub, about four feet high, with straight round 

 slender divided leafy branches, the bark smooth, reddish brown. 

 Leaves alternate, quite smooth, paler beneath than above, on short 

 footstalks, oblong, or elliptic lanceolate, unequally and more or less 

 doubly serrated, the midrib slender, with five branched lateral veins. 

 Injiorescence a terminal close spicate raceme, or a compound branched 

 racemose panicle, /'/omws numerous, crowded, small, of a pale pink 

 colour, without odour. Bracteas small, linear, somewhat downy. 

 Calyx smooth, inferior, with a short five cleft limb, of triangular seg- 

 ments. Petals roundish ovate, with a short claw. Stamens with 

 linear filaments, and roundish anthers, of two lobes. Styles shorter 

 than the stamens, with an obtuse stigma. Capsules smooth, ovate, 

 pointed, membranous, of two cells. Seeds minute. 



Habitat. — Moist woods in mountainous situations. Westmoreland, 

 Cumberland, Scotland, and several parts of England; but probably an 

 outcast from gardens. 



Shrub ; flowering in July. 



This is an extremely pretty deciduous shrub, frequently planted iu 

 our gardens and shrubberies, and flourishes in almost all kind of soil 

 and situations, but prefers a wet one. It is a native of Siberia, 

 Tartary, and Bohemia ; and from our gardens it has escaped and 

 located itself in situations apparently wild. 



2. S, Filipen'dula, Linn. (Fig. 795.) Common Dropwort. Herba- 

 ceous leaves interruptedly pinnated ; leaflets oblong, deeply cut and 

 serrated; flowers in a loose corymbose panicle; calyx reflexed ; cap- 

 sules parallel, villous. 



English Botany, t. 284. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 369. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed, 4. vol. i. p, 197, — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 89. 



