JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1916. 



25 



41817 to 41870. Pruntts serrulata Lindl. Amygdalacese. 



Flowering cherry. 



"A collection of scions of 54 named varieties of Japanese flowering cherries, 

 presented by the municipality of Tokyo to the American Government. These 

 scions were cut from authentic trees growing in the famous Arakawa flower- 

 ing-cherry collection maintained by the Tokyo municipality, which collection, in 

 the opinion of such a noted authority on the subject as Mr. S. Funatsu, contains 

 some of the loveliest forms of these remarkable flowering trees. 



"This collection duplicates one which was secured by Mr. E. II. Wilson, of 

 the Arnold Arboretum, in January, 1915 (see S. P. I. Nos. :!9743 to 39798 and 

 39820 to 39826), many of which we were not successful in propagating. 



" The arrangements to secure these scions were made by Mr. Frank X. Meyer, 

 agricultural explorer of this office, during his stay in Japan in September, 

 1915; and Mr. H. Suzuki, manager of the Yokohama Nursery Company, very 

 kindly superintended the collection and shipment of them to this country. 

 Thanks are due to Mr. Post Wheeler, Charge d'Affaires of the American Em- 

 bassy in Tokyo, for conducting the arrangements with the Tokyo authorities. 



" Mr. Wilson collected flowering botanical specimens from the Arakawa col- 

 lection, and these are now in the herbarium of the Arnold Arboretum and 

 will be of assistance in checking up the varietal nomenclature, which is much 

 complicated. Several recent works have appeared dealing with the systematic 

 classification of these Japanese flowering or mountain cherries, most important 

 of which are: Sargent, Plantae Wilsonianae (Prunus by E. Koehne), volume 1, 

 Part II, April 30, 1912; G. Koidzumi, Conspectus Rosacearum Japonicarum, 

 Journal of the College of Science, Tokyo, 1913 ; M. Miyoshi, Japanische Berg- 

 kirschen, ihre Wildformen und Kulturrassen. Journal of the College of Science, 

 Tokyo, March 20, 1916; E. H. Wilson, The Cherries of Japan. Arnold Arbore- 

 tum, Publication No. 7, March 30, 1916. 



" It is evident that radical changes in the botany of the Japanese cherries 

 are coming. Probably some of the varieties included in this collection are 

 classed by Miyoshi as belonging to his species Prunus mutabilis, but as yet the 

 nomenclature of the varieties is so confused as to make it inadvisable here to 

 attempt to classify them from their names alone. 



"The hardiness of these flowering cherries in many parts of the l'i 

 States, the fact that they flower at the most bewitching time of the year- 

 April and May — and are peculiarly attractive tor small gardens and yards, and 

 that most of them are introduced for the first time into this country make the 

 presentation of this valuable collection by the mayor of Tokyo and his asso- 

 ciates a matter of very unusual interest to Americans." {Favrchild.) 



