2 Clethra acuminata.
A very large shrub, growing, according to Pursh, to ■■ the size of a
tree.” Whole bark of an ash-grey, much cut by transverse ridges, the
small branches being reddish. Leaves large, nearly oval, acuminate,
rather cordate, obtuse at base, finely serrated and smooth, inclining to.
be glaucous beneath. Costa and libs very conspicuous. Flowers
cream-white, borne in long, large, erect, and nutant racemes. Corolla
tubulous, contracted at the apex. Petals lanceolate, acute, bracteated.
Base of calices, peduncles, and whole spike invested with a dense,
cream-white tomentum. Style persistent. Grows on the high mountains
of Carolina; flowering in July and August.
The genus Clethra contains five North American species, two or
three of which are ambiguous. The finest of these species is the Clethra
alnifolia, on account of the delicious and penetrating odour of its
flowers, which is often perceptible at a very considerable distance from
the spot where the shrub grows. The alnifolia is the most common
species in the United States, and as it is readily procured and very
hardy, it is surprising it is not generally cultivated. The present species
resembles it so closely, that to a common observer the absence
of that fine fragrance, for which the alnifolia is remarkable, would
alone distinguish it. The leaves, however, are much larger, and
broader at the base than the common species, and the whole shrub
of a much greater size, and seldom flowering under a stature of
six or eight feet, while the sweet-smelling Clethra flowers in the bogs
of Jersey, at the height of two feet. The present shrub forms a large
Clethra acuminata. 3
showy bush for borders, and by its numerous and long continuing racemes
of white flowers, forms, when interspersed with other shrubbery,
an ornamental plant.
The table represents a flowering portion of its natural size.