MUKESH SINGH at 18:01, 17 November 2025

2025-11-17T18:01:27Z

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{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Hydrangea arborescens 001.JPG
|status = G5
|status_system = TNC
|status_ref=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.134902/Hydrangea_arborescens|title=''Hydrangea arborescens''|website=NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer|author=NatureServe|publisher=NatureServe|location=Arlington, Virginia|date=31 May 2024|access-date=4 June 2024}}</ref>
|genus = Hydrangea
|species = arborescens
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]<ref name=USDA>{{cite web|url=https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HYAR |title=USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services: Plant Profiles. ''Hydrangea arborescens'' L |publisher=Plants.usda.gov |date= |access-date=2014-06-30}}</ref>
}}

'''''Hydrangea arborescens''''', commonly known as '''smooth hydrangea''' or '''sevenbark''', is a [[species]] of [[flowering plant]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] Hydrangeaceae. It is a small- to medium-sized, multi-stemmed, [[deciduous]] [[shrub]] up to {{convert|2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall <ref name=Cole>{{cite book |last1=Cole| last2=Witsell| last3=Gentry |title=Trees Shrubs and Woody Vines of Arkansas |date=2020 |publisher=The Ozark Society Foundation |isbn=9780912456003 |pages=252–253}}</ref> that is [[native plant|native]] to the eastern United States.<ref name=Weakley>{{cite web |url=http://herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm |title=Weakley, Alan S. 2008 (working draft). Flora of Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, northern Florida, and surrounding areas. University of North Carolina Herbarium |publisher=Herbarium.unc.edu |date=2012-10-02 |accessdate=2014-06-30 |archive-date=2018-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006082209/http://herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Description==
The inflorescence is a [[corymb]] up to {{convert|15|cm|in|}} wide. Showy, sterile flowers are usually absent or if present they are usually less than 1 cm in diameter on the edge of the [[panicles]].<ref name=Weakley/> Flowering occurs May to July. Fruit is a ribbed, brown capsule about 2 mm long. Many are produced in October and persist through the winter.<ref name=Cole/>

The leaves are large (8 to 18 cm long), [[Opposite (leaf)|opposite]], [[Crenate|serrated]], [[leaf shape|ovate]], and [[deciduous]]. The lower leaf surface is glabrous or with inconspicuous fine hairs, appearing green; [[trichome]]s of the lower surface are restricted to the midrib and major veins.

The stem [[Bark (botany)|bark]] has a peculiar tendency to peel off in several successive thin layers with different colors, hence the common name "sevenbark".<ref name=Purdue/>

Smooth hydrangea can spread rapidly by [[stolon]]s to form colonies.<ref name=MO>{{cite web |url=http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/PlantFinder/Plant.asp?code=K520 |title=Missouri Botanical Garden: ''Hydrangea arborescens'' |publisher=Mobot.org |date= |accessdate=2014-06-30 |archive-date=2011-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916102839/http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=K520 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
At one time both ashy hydrangea (''[[Hydrangea cinerea]]'') and silverleaf hydrangea (''[[Hydrangea radiata]]'') were considered subspecies of smooth hydrangea.<ref name=McClintock>McClintock, E. 1957. A monograph of the genus ''Hydrangea''. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 29: 147-256.</ref> However, most taxonomists now consider them to be separate species.<ref name=Weakley/><ref name=Pilatowski>Pilatowski, Ronald E. A taxonomic study of the ''Hydrangea arborescens'' complex. Castanea 47: 84-98.</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
Smooth hydrangea is widely distributed across the eastern United States—from southern New York to the [[Florida panhandle|panhandle of Florida]], west to eastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas. It is mainly found in mesic soils under the canopy of deciduous forests and is frequently found along small water courses and on woodland road waysides.<ref name=Lance>{{cite book|last=Lance|first=Ron|year=2004|title=Woody Plants of the Southeastern United States: A Winter Guide|publisher=The University of Georgia Press|isbn=0-8203-2524-4|page=162}}</ref> It is common in the [[Delaware River]] Valley and in the [[Appalachian Mountains]].<ref name=Weakley/><ref name=Purdue>{{cite web|url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/herbhunters/hydrangea.html |title=Purdue University: Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. Smooth Hydrangea |publisher=Hort.purdue.edu |date=1998-04-03 |accessdate=2014-06-30}}</ref>

It is a host plant of the [[hydrangea sphinx]] moth.

==Uses==
This attractive shrub is often cultivated for ornamental use.<ref name=Dirr>{{cite book|last=Dirr|first=Michael A.|title=Hydrangeas for American Gardens|publisher=Timber Press|year=2004|isbn=0881926418}}</ref>{{page number needed|date=June 2024}} In the [[UK]] the [[cultivar]] 'Annabelle' has gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]].<ref name = RHSPF>{{cite web
| url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/63034/i-Hydrangea-arborescens-i-Annabelle/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Hydrangea arborescens'' 'Annabelle' | accessdate=7 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 51 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | accessdate = 7 March 2018}}</ref> The cultivar 'Grandiflora' has inflorescences which resemble [[snowball]]s, similar to ''[[Viburnum opulus]]'' 'Roseum'.

Smooth hydrangea root was used medicinally by the [[Cherokee]], and later, by early settlers for treatment of kidney and bladder stones.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/hydran45.html |title=Mrs. M. Grieve. A Modern Herbal. ''Hydrangea arborescens'' |publisher=Botanical.com |date= |accessdate=2014-06-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Hydrangea+arborescens |title=Plants for a Future: ''Hydrangea arborescens ''; |publisher=pfaf.org |date= |accessdate=2015-12-23}}</ref>

It has additionally been marked as a pollinator plant, supporting and attracting bees and butterflies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Planting Guides|url=https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/OzarkBroadleafrx1FINAL_171017_085901.pdf|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Pollinator.org|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Hydrangea arborescens annabelle.JPG|'Annabelle'
File:Hills-of-Snow Hydrangea arborescens 'Grandiflora' Flowers 2606px.jpg|'Grandiflora'
File:2020 year. Herbarium. Hydrangea arborescens. img-035.jpg|Leaf adaxial side
File:2020 year. Herbarium. Hydrangea arborescens. img-036.jpg|Leaf abaxial side
</gallery>

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{Commonscat}}
*[https://www.carolinanature.com/trees/hyar.html Cook, Will. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of North Carolina. Wild Hydrangea (''Hydrangea arborescens'').]
*[http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/annabelle.html Information on cultivar Annabelle]
*[http://www.cirrusimage.com/flower_wild_hydrangea.htm ''Hydrangea arborescens''] Large-format diagnostic photos and information
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927110701/http://lakecounty.typepad.com/life_in_lake_county/2007/07/hydrangea-thoug.html Hydrangea Thoughts I] - Informative but non-scholarly essay on Hydrangea (Culture, History and Etymology).
*[https://www.briartech.com/latespring/hydarb/phydarb.html Briartech.com: Smooth Hydrangea, ''Hydrangea arborescens''.]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q278173}}

[[Category:Hydrangea|arborescens]]
[[Category:Flora of the Northeastern United States]]
[[Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States]]
[[Category:Flora of the United States]]
[[Category:Flora of Alabama]]
[[Category:Natural history of the Great Smoky Mountains]]
[[Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]

Hydrangea arborescens - Revision history

MUKESH SINGH at 18:01, 17 November 2025