XXVI. THE STEEPLE BUSH. 427 
I have not found it growing wild in this State, but as it is 
found north and south of us, it may hereafter be fonnd here. 
It is much and deservedly cultivated as an ornamental plant. 
Sp. 2. Tue Queen or tue Meanows. Meapow Sweet. 
S. salicifolia. LL. 
A smooth, slender, leafy shrub, from two to six feet high, 
abounding in wet, and rarely growing in dry places. Stem of a 
polished copper red, lighter above, closely set with leaves below, 
and terminating in a roundish head of white flowers. Leaves 
lanceolate or rarely obovate-lanceolate, usually acute at each ex- 
tremity, sometimes obtuse, on a short and slender petiole, sharply, 
sometimes doubly serrate, of nearly the same color above and 
beneath, thin. The terminal panicle is crowded with single, 
close-set flowers above, and branches from the axils of the leaves 
below, each sustaining a roundish bunch of flowers. Partial 
flower-stalks, thread-like, with usually a slender bract at base. 
The segments of the calyx are acute: after flowering they shrivel 
up, leaving the cup encircling the seed-vessels. The petals are 
rounded, usually entire, white, rarely rose-tinted. The stamens 
are attached, in a single row, to the outer, swollen, glandular 
edge of the lining of the cup. This edge is rose-colored, and 
the white anthers have a faint tinge of the same cclor, giving, 
together, a rosy hue to the flower. The seed-vessels are formed 
of 5 carpels, united at base, and encircled by the persistent 
calyx-cup. They open from the top, by the middle suture. 
The dry heads of the opened seed-vessels are conspicuous, rising 
up among the flowers of the succeeding year. The perennial 
root is tough and strong, running for several feet, just below the 
surface. Flowering from July to September. 
Several varieties are described by Pursh, and in the Flora of 
North America. The most common seems to be that called 
paniculdia by Pursh, with considerable variations, particularly 
in the color of the stem and under surface of the leaf. 
Sp. 3. Tse Sreepre Bus. Harpgack. S. tomentosa. L. 
A leafy shrub, from two to five feet high, growing in wet 
ground, and distinguished, in the flowering season, for its long 
