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 Enchanter's Nightshade American Spikenard; Indian Root ; Spignet Wild Carrot; Queen Anne's Lace; Bird's-nest Smoother Sweet-Cicely Flowering Dogwood Pokeweed; Scoke; Pigeon-berry; Ink-berry; Garget White Alder; Sweet Pepperbush; Alder-leaved Clethra Round-leaved Pyrola; Pear-leaved, or False Wintergreen; Indian or Canker Lettuce Indian Pipe; Ice-plant; Ghost-flower; Corpse-plant Labrador Tea Read More Articles On Flowers |
( Originally Published 1916 ) (Clethra alnifolia) White Alder family Flowers—Very fragrant, white, about Y3 in. across, borne in long, narrow, upright, clustered spikes, with awl-shaped bracts. Calyx of 5 sepals ; 5 longer petals ; 10 protruding stamens, the 1 style longest. Stem : A much-branched shrub,3 to 10 ft. high. Leaves : Alternate, oblong or ovate, finely saw-edged above the middle at least, green on both sides, tapering at base into short petioles. Preferred Habitat—Low, wet woodland and roadside thickets ; swamps ; beside slow streams ; meadows. Flowering} Season—July—August. Distribution—Chiefly near the coast, in States bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Like many another neglected native plant, the beautiful sweet pepperbush improves under cultivation ; and when the departed lilacs, syringa, snowball, and blossoming almond, found with almost monotonous frequency in every American garden, leave a blank in the shrubbery at midsummer, these fleecy white spikes should exhale their spicy breath about our homes. But wild flowers, like a prophet, may remain long without honor in their own country. This and a similar but more hairy species found in the Alleghany region, the Mountain Sweet Pepperbush (C. acuminata), with pointed leaves, pale beneath, and spreading or drooping flower-spikes, go abroad to be appreciated. Planted beside lakes and streams on noblemen's estates, how overpowering must their fragrance be in the heavy, moisture-laden air of England ! Even in our drier atmosphere, it hangs about the thickets like incense. |