Oakleaf Hydrangea

 (oakleaf hydrangea found at wikimedia commons (cc)) 

    When I was kid, my brother, sister and I used to wander through the woods. This was one of the things I most remember growing up. This beautiful flower I haven't seen since I was knee high. This is a Oakleaf Hydrangea. It grows in various regions of the wild of Alabama. If you see it, you are extremely fortunate. I haven't seen it since 1983. It was a pretty dried flower when I saw it. My grandmother also kept it in a dried flower arrangement on her buffet.

     Here is what I found out a little about the plant species. I found that the Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quearcifolia) has a brown/orange bark that's kind of woody. The flowering bush usually grow in Louisiana, Florida and Tennessee. The bush is usually called an "Oakleaf" because the leaves are shaped almost as an oak tree. The creamy white clusters of flowers look as the snow falls in some areas in spring. Some people around town mistaken these as tame plants, these aren't tame. They are wild and native to the state of Alabama as the Pink Honeysuckle tree. 

     There is a little history to this bush that's pretty interesting. The flower was put on a list to be one of the state's flowers. In 1959, the Oakleaf Hydrangea was going to replace the goldenrod, but it didn't the Camilla won out instead. In 1998, Gerald Willis proposed a house bill no. 21 to replace the state flower with the Oakleaf Hydrangea, but it didn't pass so successfully. It was introduced again in 1999 to the governor in house bill no. 57. If you would like more information, you can visit  netstate's oakleaf hydrangea in alabama