HEATH FAMILY 



215 



7. CLE'THRA, L. Sweet Peppek-bush. 



\_Klethra, the Greek name lor the Alder, which it resembles.] 



Calyx of 5 sepals. Corolla of 5 obovate-oWong distinct petals. StO' 

 mens 10, often exserted ; anthers inversely arrow-shaped, reflexed in the 

 bud, opening by terminal pores or chinks Style slender, 3-cleft at th^ 

 apex. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, enclosed by the calyx. Shrubs with 

 alternate and deciduous leaves and white flowers in racemes. 



1. C. alnifo'lia, L. Leaves cuneate-obovate, acute, coarsely serrate, 

 green on both sides ; racemes erect, mostly simple, bracteate, hoary- 

 tomentose. 



Alder-leaved Clethra. White Alder. Sweet Pepper-bush. 



stem 3-10 feet high, branched. Leaves 2-3 inches long ; petioles K-K an inch in 

 length. Racemes 3-6 inches long, sometimes with 2-3 branches from the base, bearing 

 numerous fragrant flowers ; pedicels short, each with a lance-linear bract at base longer 

 than itself. 



Wet thickets : Maine to Virginia. July- Aug. 



Obs. This charming shrub, which is not rare in wet places near the 

 coast, deserves to be cultivated in every collection of shrubbery. It is 

 highly prized in England, and were it an imported plant would doubtless 

 be equally valued here. It grows freely in the garden, its spike-like ra- 

 cemes increasing in size by cultivation. The flowers are exceedinglj 

 fragrant, indeed oppressively so to some persons. Another species, C. 

 aciimina'ta, Mx., which is a small tree with drooping racemes, is 

 found in Virginia and southward. 



8. CHIMA'PHILA, Pursh. Pipsissewa. 



[Greek, Cheima, winter, and Philos, a lover ; from its green appearance in winter.] 



Calyx 5-cleft. Petals 5, orbicular, spreading, deciduous. Stamens 10, — 

 2 in front of each petal ; filaments dilated and hairy in ,the middle ; an- 

 thers 2-ceIled, opening by 2 pores. Ovary obtusely conic, or depressed- 

 globose, umbilicate at apex ; style very short, immersed in the ovary ; 

 stigma orbicular, peltate. Capsule depressed, obtusely pentagonal, 5- 

 celled, 5-valved, loculicidal at base and apex. Seeds very minute, reticu- 

 late-striate. Humble suffruticose evergreens. Peduncles terminal, some- 

 what corymbose. 



1. C. umbella'ta, ^^utt. Leaves cuneate-oblong, acute at base, serrate, 

 uniform-green ; flowers in a terminal subumbellate corymb. 

 Umbellate Chimaphila. Pipsissewa. "Winter-green. 



Root creeping. Stem ascending, 3-0 inches long, leafy at summit. Leaves 1-2 inches 

 long, subverticillate (often in 2-3 distinct verticils), coriaceous, glabrous. Corymb 4-6- 

 flowered. Petals reddish-white. 



Hilly woodlands — ^particukirly of northern exposure : Northern and Middle States. FL 

 June. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This hau^^t^ubby little Evergreen possesses some astringency 



