Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/301

Rh of the spireas is the kind known as sea-foam (S. Ariæfolia), which its great, creamy-white clusters really resemble. This grows along the river-banks, and in the shade of the forest's edge, and blooms in June and July, according to its locality. It sometimes grows to a height of twenty feet, in the shade, though usually about five or six feet high. The stems are very delicate, like all the spireas, and bend most gracefully with the weight of the clusters.

Side by side, usually, with the last-named spirea is the beautiful mock-orange (Philadelphus), with its silvery-white flowers crowding the delicate green leaves out of sight. Throughout Oregon this shrub is called syringa, to which family it does not belong. It is very ornamental, and blooms in June and July.

Of wild roses there are several species, and many varieties, from the dainty little "dime rose," of a pale pink color, to the large and fragrant crimson rose, which grows in overflowed ground. There are always some roses to be found, from June to December. It is usual to find the shrubs here mentioned growing in close proximity; and these, with the flowers of the woodbine (Lonicera Occidentalis), and the blossoms of various kinds of wild fruit trees, make a perfect tangle of bloom and sweetness along the river-banks in summer.

We have elsewhere spoken of the dogwood, which is as handsome as a magnolia-tree when in blossom; and of the wild cherries and other fruits whose flowers are sweet and beautiful. The Oregon grape, or holly-leaved barberry, bears a flower that is very ornamental, of a bright yellow color, in clusters a finger long. The leaves of this shrub are also very beautiful, which makes it desirable to cultivate. Its fruit is ripe in August, and is of a bluish-purple, like the damson plum.