Oakleaf Hydrangea                hi-DRAN-je-a kwer-si-FO-lee-a

• Deciduous shrub, 4-6 ft (1.2-1.8 m), irregular mounds, stoloniferous, exfoliating bark. Leaves, opposite, lobed resembling oak or maple leaves, tomentose on underside, dark green in summer turning red, orange, purple in the fall and persist. Young stems and buds brownish tomentose. Large white flower clusters (outer flowers sterile and inner ones fertile) in early and mid-summer, turn brown and persist.
• Sun to part shade; best in fertile, moist, well-drained soil, with cool root environment.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5     Native to Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.
• quercifolia: oak (Quercus)-like leaves;   folia, foliage.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: southwest corner of Snell Hall, next to service road.