Hydrangea cinerea |
Hydrangea arborescens |
|
---|---|---|
ashy hydrangea |
American hydrangea, sevenbark, smooth hydrangea, wild hydrangea |
|
Habit | Shrubs, 10–30 dm. | Shrubs, 10–30 dm. |
Twigs | sparsely hirsute to pilose, trichomes white. |
strigose to hirsute, trichomes white. |
Leaves | opposite; petiole 0.8–8.6 cm, sparsely to densely hirsute abaxially, densely hirsute adaxially; blade ovate, elliptic-ovate, or broadly ovate, (2.5–)4.2–14.9 × (1.7–)2.1–12 cm, unlobed, base cordate, truncate, or cuneate, margins dentate to serrate, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface grayish, uniformly velutinous, pilose, or tomentose, trichomes at 40x conspicuously tuberculate, 0.3–1 mm, adaxial surface green, sparsely hirsute. |
opposite; petiole 1.4–8.5(–11.5) cm, glabrous or glabrous abaxially and sparsely tomentose adaxially; blade ovate, elliptic-ovate, or broadly ovate, (2.7–)6–17.8 × (1.4–)2.5–12(–15.5) cm, unlobed, base cordate, truncate, or cuneate, margins dentate to serrate, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface green, glabrous or glabrate, or sparsely hirsute along midvein and sometimes along lateral veins, trichomes at 40x conspicuously tuberculate, 0.3–1 mm, adaxial surface green, glabrous or sparsely hirsute. |
Inflorescences | compact, 150–500-flowered, dome-shaped to hemispheric, 3.5–14.5 × 3–16.5 cm; peduncle 0.5–6 cm, sparsely to densely tomentose. |
compact, 100–500-flowered, dome-shaped to hemispheric, (3.3–)4–14 × 3.6–12 cm; peduncle 1.5–7.8 cm, sparsely tomentose. |
Pedicels | 0.8–2.8 mm, glabrous or sparsely to densely hirsute. |
1–2.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute. |
Bisexual flowers | hypanthium usually adnate to ovary to near its apex, rarely ca. 2/3 up ovary, 0.7–1 × 0.8–1.2 mm, strongly 8–10-ribbed in fruit, glabrous; sepals deltate to triangular, 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.6 mm, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous; petals caducous, white to yellowish white, elliptic to narrowly ovate, 1.2–1.5 × 0.7–1.1 mm; filaments 1.8–4.5 × 0.1–0.2 mm; anthers 0.3–0.5 mm; pistils 2(–3)-carpellate, ovary completely inferior or nearly so; styles 2(–3), distinct, 0.8–1.1 mm. |
hypanthium adnate to ovary to near its apex, 0.7–1 × 0.8–1.2 mm, strongly 8–10(–11)-ribbed in fruit, glabrous; sepals deltate to triangular, 0.2–0.5 × 0.2–0.5 mm, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous; petals caducous, white to yellowish white, elliptic to narrowly ovate, 1–1.5 × 0.6–1.1 mm; filaments 2–4.5 × 0.1–0.2 mm; anthers 0.3–0.5 mm; pistils 2(–3)-carpellate, ovary completely inferior or nearly so; styles 2(–3), distinct, 0.9–1.2 mm. |
Capsules | hemispheric, (1.2–)1.5–2.3 × (1.2–)2–2.8 mm. |
hemispheric, 1.2–2.1 × 1.7–2.5 mm. |
Seeds | 0.3–0.6(–0.8) mm. |
0.3–0.6(–0.8) mm. |
Sterile | flowers absent or present, white or greenish white, tube 4–21 mm, lobes 3–4(–5), obovate to broadly ovate, round, or elliptic, 6.5–15 × 2.5–14 mm. |
flowers absent or present, white, greenish white, or yellowish white, tube 6–16 mm, lobes 3–4(–5), obovate to broadly ovate, round, or elliptic, 3.6–15 × 2.2–14 mm. |
2n | = 36. |
= 36. |
Hydrangea cinerea |
Hydrangea arborescens |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jul(–Aug). | Flowering (May–)Jun–Jul(–Aug). |
Habitat | Deciduous upland and bottomland forests, shaded cliffs, ravines, streambeds. | Moist to dry deciduous forests and woods, moist slopes, shaded bluffs, ledges, stream banks. |
Elevation | 100–700 m. (300–2300 ft.) | 70–2000 m. (200–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MO; NC; OK; SC; TN
|
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV; NB; NS
|
Discussion | Hydrangea cinerea has escaped from cultivation in Massachusetts. The Cherokee used infusions of bark or roots as antiemetics, emetics, and cathartics, and as gynecological and liver aids (D. E. Moerman 1998). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Hydrangea arborescens has escaped from cultivation in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; it is not native in those states or provinces. E. McClintock (1957) circumscribed Hydrangea arborescens as comprising three partly sympatric subspecies; subsp. arborescens, subsp. discolor, and subsp. radiata. R. E. Pilatowski (1980, 1982) concluded that these were best treated as three species (H. arborescens, H. cinerea, and H. radiata), citing chemical, morphological, reproductive, and geographic discontinuities among the taxa. Most herbarium specimens are easily referred to one of these species; occasional specimens appear intermediate between H. arborescens and H. cinerea. The Cherokee and Delaware tribes used bark and occasionally leaves from Hydrangea arborescens to prepare infusions or poultices to treat various internal and external ailments. The Cherokee used peeled twigs and branches to make tea or cooked twigs and branches as a vegetable (D. E. Moerman 1998). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 487. | FNA vol. 12, p. 487. |
Parent taxa | Hydrangeaceae > Hydrangea | Hydrangeaceae > Hydrangea |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | H. arborescens var. deamii, H. arborescens subsp. discolor, H. arborescens var. discolor | H. arborescens var. oblonga |
Name authority | Small: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 148. (1898) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 397. (1753) |
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