SPIR^A VAN HOUTTII. 
One of the most pleasing varieties of 
the shrubby Spiraeas' is found cultivated 
in the nurseries under the name of 8. 
Van Houttii. It grows from three to 
four feet in height, ryith rather slender 
steins and branches, which under their 
weight of bloom, assume a position some 
what drooping. The leaves are smooth 
on each side, lighter colored underneath, 
broadly ovate, and wedge-shaped at the 
base ; those on the main shoots are 
distinctly three-lobed and coarsely 
toothed, from an inch to an inch and a 
half in breadth, and from an inch and a 
quarter to nearly two inches in length. 
The leaves on the side shoots are smaller, 
ovate, wedge-shaped, the upper portion 
dentate, but not lobed ; petioles short, 
from an eighth to three-eighths of an 
inch in length. The small, pure white, 
single flowers, from fifteen to twenty-five 
together, are borne in terminal corymbs, 
or clusters, on the sides all along the 
stems and main branches, in wreath form. 
The setting of the green leaves, in which 
the white clusters nestle, makes a plant 
in full bloom an object of remarkable 
beauty. A great consideration in regard 
to this plant is its extreme hardiness ; it 
has borne, unharmed, some of the severest 
tests to which plants in this country can 
be exposed. Its time of blooming is late, 
and after most of the white-flowered 
Spiraeas have passed theirseason; thisyear 
it bloomed the latter part of June and 
continued into July. The earliest of the 
Spiraeas is S. Thunbergii, and it is a hand- 
some plant, but unfortunately it is some- 
what tender, killing back some in this 
climate. Notwithstanding, its earliness 
makes it quite desirable. 
In addition to 8. Van Houttii, we have 
8. Reevesii, 8. Douglasii, S. CoUosa Alba, 
S. Billardii, S. Eximea, (Billardii and Exi- 
mea are a beautiful rose color), and S. 
Aurea or Golden Leaved. The latter has 
double white flowers, and the edge of 
each leaf is deeply marked with bright 
yellow, making it one of the most attrac- 
tive variegated shrubs grown. 
