partial onesoi a deep rofe colour, roundifh. Brablea none.,except a few leaves;about the bafe
o f the cyme, refembling thofe on the branches, but fmaller.
Calyx in a luxuriant ftate o£ d ^ rm ity v y e r y large, cpmpofed^ o f four (rarely three or five)
fpreading, unequal, obovate leaves, which are^entire, '(mooth, rofe coloured, flightly ribbed
and permanent.
P e t a l s generally four, nearly equal, fin a l! , obovate, concave, o f the colour o f the calyx, fading.
Stamina. Filaments eight, fometimes fix or ten, as. long as, the corolla and all equal, fpreading,
awl-lhaped, red. .¿« ¿W d jd ym ou s , greyifh with yellow pollen.
P i s t i l l u m . Germen wanting. Styles two or three (rarely fingle), nipple-ihaped, Handing clofe
together, purple, half as long as the ftamina. Stigmas obtufe.
O B S E R V A T I O N S.r
At the divifions o f the Cyme are fometimes found a few more complete five-cleft flowers, having
a.fmall fiy e -to o thed calyx, three fpreading ftyles, and an inferior germeni confiding o f three
cells; but thefe flowers wither away without coming to maturity, nor can we clearly from
thence underftand the ftraCture o f the fruit. The genus o f tins plant therefore cannot at pre-
fent be abfolutely determined. I f its fruit fh o u ld prove a capfule with many feeds, w e are
right in referring it to Hydrangea; if on the contrary it fhould be a berry, with a fingle feed
when ripe, Viburnum is the genus to which it properly belongs, nor can we b y any means
agree with Commerfon and Juffieii in making it a new genus diftind from both. We judge it
rather an Hydrangea,-without the help o f the fru it; ift, becaufe its ftamina are twice as many
as its petals, and not merely equal to them in number; adly, on account o f its conformity in
habit with Hydrangea arborefcens o f Linnaeus; 3dly, from its clofe affinity to Hydrangea radiata
o f Walter’s Flora Caroliniana, whole flowers, naturally five-cleft, with ten ftamina and three
ftyles, very often become radiated, four-cleft, with eight ftamina and abortive ftyles, being
deprived o f their germens, and in fhort undergoing the fame metamorphofis as thofe o f our
plant. It is therefore neceflary to give a fketch o f the characters o f thefe fpecies.
1. H ydrangea (arborefcens). Leaves ovate, fmooth. Stamina alternately longer.
H. arborefcens. Linn. Sp. PI, 568. M iller's Figures, t. 251, very bad. A it. Hurt. K m . V. 2. 76.
Shrubby Hydrangea.
A native o f Virginia and Canada. '?
2. Hyd rangea (radiata). Leaves lobed, downy beneath.
H. radiata. Walt. FI. Carol, 251.
Downy Hydrangea.
Gathered in Carolina by T. Walter, E fq .; in Florida by M r. J , Bartram. h
The
Bail Hi
T T m r n m r m m