CLE'THRA NA'NA. 
DWARF CLETHRA. 
Class. 
DECANDRIA. 
Order. 
MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
ERICACE A. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Habit. 
Introduced 
America. 
4 feet. 
July, Sep. 
Shrub. 
in 1820 
No. 968. 
The name.Clethra.is believed to be derived from 
the Greek kleio, signifying to shut up ; and, as 
the name was applied by the Greeks to the Alder, 
it may have been given in allusion to the shutting 
or closing up of the seeds in the female catkins of 
that tree. 
It is probable that the deciduous character of 
most of the species of Clethra has been the chief 
cause of their not appearing so generally in our 
shmbberies as othei'wise they would have done. It 
must be admitted that an evergreen is doubly valu- 
able. In the winter it is that we stand in need of 
the green foliage of shrubs, to vaiy and give life to 
the icy landscape. The naked shnib adds but sad- 
ness to the desolation. 
Clethra nana is of low compact growth, rarely 
exceeding three or four feet in height. Its dowers 
are fragrant, and have the advantage of appearing 
when those of almost every other shnib are past, 
and their fniits are maturing. It may be increased 
by layering, and by its stoloniferous shoots. Peat, 
or peat and loam, form the soil requisite for its 
successful growth. 
