Hydrangea radiata
Hydrangea radiata is an attractive, deciduous shrub up to 3 m tall in the flowering plant family Hydrangeaceae. Its natural range is limited to the southern Appalachians, where it is fairly common. Its common names—silverleaf hydrangea or snowy hydrangea—reflect its distinctive foliage which is dark green on top and silvery white below; the sharply contrasting foliar colors makes this shrub conspicuous at a distance, especially in a breeze. Range/Habitat. Silver hydrangea is native to the mountainous region (usually above 2,000 feet elevation) represented by the southern Blue Ridge Mountains from southeast Tennessee, east to North  Carolina and northwestern South Carolina, and south to northeastern Georgia. It typically occurs near streams, rocky outcrops, and along roads, especially in the headwaters of the Chattooga River and also in the French Broad River Valley. It is conspicuous along roadsides near the junction of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia—in the vicinity of Highlands, Cashiers, and Rosman, North Carolina. Some outlier occurrences of silverleaf hydrangea have been locally observed in the Piedmont Region; these populations may have escaped from cultivation. Taxonomy. Silverleaf hydrangea is similar to the more widespread smooth hydrangea ("Hydrangea arborescens") and ashy hydrangea ("Hydrangea cinerea