146 



DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SHRUBS 



* Leaves thick and glossy — evergreen ; flowers in elongated clusters^ 

 racemes ; hardy only south of Washington, but cultivated north 

 as tuh-plants ; fruit small (J inch or less), shining black, inedi- 

 ble. (F.) 

 F. Flowers white, in spring ; cultivated under a dozen varietal 

 names. Cherry or English Laurel (204) — Prunus Lauro- 

 c^rasus. 

 F. Flowers cream-colored (Feb. -Apr.) ; leaves vrith slightly rolled 

 edges and nearly entire or few-toothed. The Evergreen or 

 Mock Grange (205) of the South — Prunus caroliniSna. 



Spirxa. The Spireas form one of the largest and most popular of the 

 hardy ornamental genera of shrubs. Some of the 60 different species in 

 cultivation in America are to be found in bloom from early spring till the 



Fig. 20G. — Plum-leaved Spirea. 



Fig. 207. — Thunberg's Spirea. 



frosts of autumn. The colors of the flowers, though ofteuest white, vary 

 to pink, red, and purple. They grow in almost any soil and range in 

 height from less than 1 foot to 12 feet or more, though the usual height of 

 most of the species is from 3 to 6 feet. The flowers are always in clusters 

 and the individual flowers are small, from i to J inch ; in the single 

 forms there are 5 petals and 10 to many stamens. Some species, as culti- 

 vated, are nearly always double. The earliest species in bloom are the 

 following, about in the order given : Thunbgrjjii, Van Hoiittei, argiita, 

 cantoiii^nsis, prunifblia, hypericifblia, mfedia, and trilob^ta. AE of these 



