VINES AND SHRUBS 



distantly toothed. Flowers, i to 3, terminating the stem or 

 axillary among the upper leaves. April and May. 



Along streams in the Southern States. 



The sweet syringa of our Northern gardens, with large, 

 flowers, in terminal spikes, is P. coronarius. 



Wild Hydrangea 



Hydrangea arborescens. — Family, Saxifrage. Color, white. 

 Leaves, ovate, acute, petioled, smooth, toothed. Flowers, like 

 the common garden hydrangea, in compound cymes, those along 

 the margin containing showy, petal-like sepals and stamens, 

 sometimes pistils. The central flowers are complete with stamens 

 and pistils, minute calyx-lobes, and small, greenish petals. Occa- 

 sionally all the flowers in the center are staminate. 



This showy shrub is found in rocky woods from Pennsyl- 

 vania to Florida. 



Ninebark 



Physocarpus opulifdlius. — Family, Rose. Color, white, pink, 

 or purplish. Sepals and petals, 5. Stamens, many. Flowers, 

 small, in abundant, roundish, umbel-like clusters, each on a 

 slender pedicel, the umbel peduncled. Pods follow the flowers, 

 3 together, of a purplish color, longer and more conspicuous than 

 the flowers. Leaves, alternate, roundish in outline, heart-shape 

 or square at base, generally 3-lobed, finely serrate. June. 



An ornamental shrub, often cultivated, 3 to 10 feet high, 

 with recurved branches. The old bark becomes loose, and 

 every year separates, hanging in thin strips, whence the com- 

 mon name. Along banks of streams, New England to Florida. 



Meadow-sweet. Quaker Lady 



Spiraea salicifolia. — Family, Rose. Color, white, with a tinge 

 of light pink. Calyx, 5-cleft. Petals, 5. Stamens, many. Pods, 

 5, opening along one seam. Leaves, alternate, on short petioles, 

 oval or inversely ovate, pinnately veined, serrate, on short 

 petioles, 1 to 2 inches long. June to August. 



A slender, tawny-stemmed shrub, 2 to 4 feet high, growing 

 along fence-rows and roadsides in wet soil. The dry fruit of 

 last year is sometimes found on the bush among the flowers 

 of this year. From New England southward, among the 

 mountains , to Georgia and westward . (See illus trat ion , p . 3 9 6 . ) 



Chokeberry 



Pyrus arbutifolia. — Family, Rose. Color, white, or tinted with 

 rose purple. Calyx, tubular, with 5 divisions, softly woolly, as 



39 5 



