2 Clethra acuminata. 



A very large shrub, growing, according to Pursh, to " the size of a 

 tree." Whole bark of an ash-grey, much cut by transverse ridges, the 

 small branches being reddish. Leaves large, nearly oval, acuminate, 

 rather cordate, obtuse at base, finely serrated and smooth, inclining to 

 be glaucous beneath. Costa and ribs very conspicuous. Flowers 

 cream-white, borne in long, large, erect, and nutant racemes. Corolla 

 tubulous, contracted at the apex. Petals lanceolate, acute, bracteated. 

 Base of calices, peduncles, and whole spike invested with a dense, 

 cream-white tomentum. Style persistent Grows on the high moun- 

 tains of Carolina ; flowering in July and August. 



The genus Clethra contains five North American species, two or 

 three of which are ambiguous. The finest of these species is the Cle- 

 thra alnifolia, on account of the delicious and penetrating odour of its 

 flowers, which is often perceptible at a very considerable distance from 

 the spot where the shrub grows. The alnifolia is the most common 

 species in the United States, and as it is readily procured and very 

 hardy, it is surprising it is not generally cultivated. The present spe- 

 cies resembles it so closely, that to a common observer the absence 

 of that line fragrance, for which the alnifolia is remarkable, would 

 alone distinguish it. The leaves, however, are much larger, and 

 broader at the base than the common species, and the whole shrub 

 of a much greater size, and seldom flowering under a stature of 

 six or eight feet, while the sweet-smelling Clethra flowers in the bogs 

 of Jersey, at the height of two feet. The present shrub forms a lar-e 



