Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. Time of bloom: June to August. Seed-time: August to October. Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and

Kansas. Habitat: Moist meadows and swamps.

Fig. 146. - Willow-leaved Meadow-sweet (Spircea salicifolia).

X 1/6.

Stems erect, two to four feet tall, woody, so hard and brittle as to nick scythe blades and break mowing knives, the bark red and clothed in rusty wool which readily rubs off. Leaves long ovate, unequally toothed, obtuse at apex, the base rounded or abruptly narrowed to a short petiole, smooth and green above but covered underneath with tawny or whitish wool. Flowers in dense terminal racemes, spire-like, deep rose-pink, sometimes a reddish purple, occasionally white. The roundish, pointed follicles are also woolly, filled with minute, brown seeds. (Fig. 147.)

Means of control the same as for Meadow-sweet.