The Shrubs of North Carolina 21 



2. Mountain Pepper-Bush. (C. acuminata, Michx.) — Quite 

 an ornamental shrub, 10 to 15 feet high, growing in the moun- 

 tains from Ashe to Cherokee. Its leaves are thin, pointed, fine- 

 toothed, and 5 to 6 inches long. The racemes of white flowers 

 are larger than in No. 1, and drooping. 



(Itea Virginica, Linn.) — At a little distance this has some re- 

 semblance to the White Alder, but with a smoother aspect, and 

 the flowers are not fragrant. It belongs to the borders of wet 

 places from the coast to Lincoln, is 4 to 8 feet high, and has small 

 white flowers in drooping racemes, which are 3 to 5 inches long 

 on the ends of the branches. 



1. Wild Hydrangea. (Hydrangea arborescens, Linn.) — A 

 smooth shrub, 2 to 5 feet high, growing along streams and on 

 mountain and hill sides of the Upper and Middle Districts. The 

 leaves are 3 to 5 inches long, heart-shaped, pointed, toothed. The 

 flowers are whitish, in flat-topped clusters, some of those on the 

 margin being large and showy like those of, the cultivated Hy- 

 drangea. 



2. Snowy Hydrangea. (H. radiata, Walt.) — Found only on 

 the mountains west of the Blue Ridge from Yancey to Georgia. 

 North of this it has not, I think, been detected. It is from 3 to 6 

 or 8 feet high. The leaves are heart-shaped, 4 to 6 inches long, 

 the underside clothed with a thick, silvery-white down. The 

 barren flowers, which give this genus the peculiarity for which it 

 is admired, are in this species found only around the border of 

 the flat-topped cluster, but are said to become much more 

 abundant in cultivation. They are of a pure white, an inch or 

 more broad. This pretty shrub would be much prized in gardens, 

 if there were not some more showy species in cultivation. 



1. Syringa. (Philadelphus grandiflorus, Wild.) — This very 

 ornamental shrub, now common in our yards and gardens, prized 

 for its graceful, slender branches and snow-white flowers, does 

 not appear to be abundant in this State. I am acquainted with 

 but a single locality of it, which is in Hickory Nut Gap ; though 

 it is doubtless to be found along other streams in the upper part 

 of the State. It is 6 to 10 feet high, the leaves about 2 inches 

 long, pointed, with few distant teeth, rather soft and hairy, and 

 tasting somewhat like Cucumbers. The flowers are an inch or 

 more broad. 



2. Rough Syringa. (P. hirsutus, Nutt.) — Every way smaller 

 than No. 1, the leaves quite rough on the upper side and whitish- 

 downy beneath. This grows on the French Broad River, a few 

 miles below Asheville. 



