SnRUBS BELONGING TO THE ROSE FAMILY. 49 



it reveals several relatives of the queen of flowers 

 not ordinarily recognized as such. The first of these 

 is the beautiful meadowsweet {Spiraa salicifolici), 

 which grows from two to three feet 

 high, and adorns every roadside 

 throughout June with its soft 

 clusters of pinkish, flesh-colored 

 flowers. It is a Ught-green, 

 bushy shrub, with smooth stems 

 and double - toothed leaves, 

 which is readily distinguished 

 from hardhack {Spirma tomen- 

 tosa), as the latter has a cot- 

 tony stem and deep-pink flow- 

 ers. Hardhack also has a 

 pointed flower cluster, which 

 gave rise to its other common 

 name, steeple bush. The shrub 

 called queen of the prairie {Spi- 

 nea lohata) is a species which is 

 common on the meadows and prai- 

 ries of the West ; it is also culti- 

 vated. The handsome plumes 

 of flowers are deep flesh-pink, 

 and the leaves are compound — 

 that is, the leaflets are arranged 

 on either side of a single stem, like those of the 



Meadowsweet. 



