The name Mock Orange refers both to the appearance of the flowers and to their captivating fragrance. This deciduous shrub of 3-5 meters has opposite, nearly chartreuse leaves borne on straight branches that were once used in making shafts for arrows. Each flower has four sepals, four petals, many stamens, and an inferior to half-inferior ovary. Describing the ovary as inferior does not infer any kind of value judgment. It means that the position of the ovary is below the level of attachment for other flower parts.
DISTRIBUTION: Slopes, canyons, and forest openings from NW Calif. and the Cascade Ranges to the Sierra Nevada; < 1500 m.
