Shrubs or trees, with opposite leaves and no stipules. The flowers are
in clusters and usually perfect, but sometimes those at the margins of
the clusters are without pistils or stamens and larger than those in
the middle; the calyx usually with four to ten sepals, and in sterile
flowers often conspicuously enlarged; the petals four to ten; the
stamens eight to many; the ovary wholly or partly inferior; the styles
separate or united, sometimes lacking; the fruit a capsule. Many very
ornamental garden shrubs, such as Deutzia and Hydrangea, are included
in this family.
There are several kinds of Fendlera, natives of North America; shrubs,
with white or pink flowers, with four sepals and four petals, the
latter with claws. The eight stamens have two-forked filaments and the
ovary is partly inferior, with four styles.
[Sidenote: _Féndlera rupícola_
=White, pink
Spring
Ariz., Utah, Nev.=]
Among the many beautiful plants to be found in the Grand Canyon one of
the most conspicuous is the Fendlera. It is a tall, handsome shrub,
growing along the upper part of Bright Angel trail, and in May it is
covered with charming white blossoms. These flowers measure an inch
across, and have cream-white or pale pink petals, narrowing to a claw
at the base, and purplish sepals, and they grow in clusters of three
or four, mixed with pink buds, on the ends of short branches. The
small oblong leaves have three nerves and the wood is tough and gray,
with deeply furrowed bark. Though their scent is rather unpleasant,
the flowers are lovely and look just like some novel variety of
fruit-blossom, but this resemblance is deceptive for they produce
nothing but dry pods.
There are a good many kinds of Philadelphus, natives of North America,
Asia, and Europe; shrubs, with large, white or cream-colored
flowers; the calyx top-shaped, with four or five lobes; the petals
four or five; the stamens twenty to forty, inserted on a disk; the
ovary inferior, with three to five styles; the capsule top-shaped,
containing many oblong seeds. These plants were named in honor of King
Ptolemy Philadelphus. They are often called Mock-Orange, because the
flowers often resemble orange-blossoms. The commonest name, Syringa, is
confusing, because that is the generic name of the Lilac.
[Illustration: Fendlera rupicola.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Syringa=
_Philadélphus Califórnicus_
=White
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash.=]
In June and July, in the high Sierras, up to an altitude of four
thousand feet, this lovely shrub forms fragrant thickets of bloom. It
looks very much like the familiar garden Syringa and the smell is just
as delicious. The bush is from four to twelve feet high, with smooth,
pale, woody stems, dark-green leaves, sometimes slightly toothed,
very smooth and shiny, and pretty flowers, in clusters at the ends of
the branches. They are each about an inch across, with four or five,
cream-white petals, rolled in the bud, and a golden center, composed of
numerous, bright-yellow stamens.
[Sidenote: =Small Syringa=
_Philadélphus microphýllus_
=White
Summer
Ariz., Cal., New Mex.=]
A small shrub, not nearly so handsome as the last, from two to three
feet high, with slender, pale-gray, woody stems, branching very
abruptly. The small leaves are smooth and very bright green on the
upper side, but the under side is very pale and covered with close
white down. The flowers are much smaller than the garden Syringa, with
white petals and numerous yellow stamens, the calyx reddish outside and
downy within, and have a delicious smell, like lemon-blossoms. This
pretty little shrub may be found growing in small shady canyons, in
northern Arizona and elsewhere in the Southwest.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Small Syringa--P. microphyllus.