ROSE FAMILY. Rosacese. 



ROSE FAMILY. Rosacece. 



An extensive family highly esteemed for its luscious 

 fruits, and for its most beautiful flowers, which are de- 

 pendent in a great measure upon the bees for cross- 

 fertilization. The flowers are extraordinarily rich in 

 pollen and honey ; the raspberry yielding the finest 

 flavored honey which is known. The leaves are alter- 

 nate-growing, and accompanied by stipules, or small 

 leafy formations at the base of the leaf-stalk. The 

 flowers are regular and generally perfect, with usually 

 five sepals and as many petals (seldom more or less), 

 numerous stamens, and one or many pistils. Earely 

 the petals are absent. The family is very closely allied 

 to Saxifragacece and Leguminosce. It is mostly com- 

 posed of trees and shrubs, although the herbaceous 

 members are many. 



M _. A common flower on 'the borders of the 



Meadowsweet , . , 



Spircea salici- roax * m bloom throughout the early sum- 



foliav&r.lati- mer. A shrub with light green, nearly 



folia smooth, ovate, sharply toothed leaves, 



Flesh pink an( j a usua ii v yellowish buff stem of a 



June-August . -\ \, * -\ 



wiry character, upon which are freely set 



the alternate leaves. The beautiful flower-spike is pyram- 

 idal but blunt and branching, and is closely crowded 

 with flesh pink and white flowers, resembling miniature 

 apple-blossoms, with prominent pink-red stamens. It 

 is frequently visited by the smaller butterflies and the 

 bees, and possesses a slight fragrance. The name is 

 from the Greek, and means twisting, alluding to the 

 twist in the pods of some species. 2-4 feet high. Me., 

 south to Ga., and west to Mo. and S. Dak. 



A similar species, but readly distin- 



guished by its woolly stem (terra-cotta 

 Spiraea tomcn- red) and leaves ; the latter are olive green 

 tosn of a dark tone above, and very whitish 



Deep pink and woo u v beneath. The slender steeple- 



September l*ke flower-spike is crowded with tiny, 



deep rosy pink flowers, smaller than those 

 of the preceding species ; the succession of bloom is 

 unfortunately slow, and downward, so the top of the 

 188 



