The Shrubs of North Carolina 27 



Bladder Nut. (Staphylea trifolia, Linn.) — An interesting 

 shrub, 5 to 10 feet high, with greenish, striped branches, tri- 

 foliate leaves, the leaflets 2 to 4 inches long, taper-pointed, finely 

 toothed, and smooth. The small white flowers are gathered into 

 loose pendulous clusters, which are succeeded by 3-angled 

 bladder-like pods about two inches long. I have met with this 

 only near Hillsborough and Chapel Hill, but it is probably to be 

 found along streams through the Middle District. 



1. Sweet Shrub. (Calycanthus floridus, Linn.) — This plant, 

 now so extensively cultivated, and admired for the rich Straw- 

 berry odor of its flowers, is a native of the southern Alleghanies. 

 This species may be known by the soft down on the underside of 

 the leaves, and on the branchlets, etc. The fruit of this genus is 

 a sort of thick-skinned, bladdery sac, l!/2 inch long, containing 

 large seeds. 



2. (C. lsevigatus, Willd.) — The leaves of this are taper-pointed, 

 smooth and green on both sides, sometimes a little rough above 

 and pale beneath. This is found in the mountains, and in the 

 Middle District as low down as Orange. 



3. (C. glaucus, Willd.) — This is found from Lincoln westward, 

 and may be recognized by the white under-surf ace of the leaf ; a 

 little rough on the upper. 



1. Alder. (Alnus serrulata, Ait.) — Common on small streams 

 all over the State, and too well known by the above name to need 

 a description. 



2. Mountain Alder. (A. viridis, DC.) — Like the above in 

 habit and general characters, but the underside of the leaves 

 covered with a soft gray down. It is known at the South, only 

 upon the top of Roan Mountain, from whence to northern New 

 York it is not found. It occurs in Europe. 



1. Groundsel. (Baccharis halimifolia, Linn.) — Grows in both 

 brackish and fresh swampy grounds of the Lower District. It 

 is 6 to 12 feet high, of an ashy hue from the whitish scales that 

 cover the bark and leaves. The small flower-heads are solitary, 

 or a few clustered together, borne on a foot-stalk. The long, 

 white, silky hairs of the seeds emerging from the heads give the 

 plant a pleasing appearance in the Fall. 



2. (B. glomeruliflora, Pers.) — Like the preceding, but rarer 

 and less showy, and has larger clusters of flower-heads, destitute 

 of the foot-stalk. 



3. (B. angustifolia, Michx.) — Found in brackish marshes, 4 to 

 8 feet high. The leaves, which in the other species are half as 

 broad as long, and toothed, are in this linear and entire. 



