August 15, 191 8 



HORTICULTURE 



195 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum* 



An exceedingly handsome Holly and the earliest of 

 all to ripen its fruit is the Japanese Ilex geniculata. 

 It is an upright shrub attaining six i'eet in height and 

 probably more, with sj reading branches uovi bearing a 

 profusion of small brighl searlei fruits gracefully hang- 

 ing <1<>\\ ii mi slender thread-like stalks from the spread- 

 ing branches. The fruits are small about the size of 

 a small pea, but are produced in great abundance and 

 stay on the branches unchanged until after the Leaves 

 have fallen. The leaves are about two inches long. 

 ovate-lanceolate, glabrous and turn yellow in autumn. 

 The flowers are insignificant like those of the other 

 species of the genus and appear in May. The species 

 is still very rare in cultivation and hardly known out- 

 side of the Arboretum; it was introduced to the Arbo- 

 retum about fourteen years ago directly from Japan 

 where ii seems to be also a rare shrub growing in the 

 higher mountains, and has proved perfectly hardy at 

 the Arboretum. The Ilex geniculata is dioecious, but 

 we fortunately possess both sexes and therefore fruits 

 are produced abundantly on our pistillate shrubs. 



The Buffalo-berry. Shepherdia argentea (Lepargyraea 

 argenta), is another very handsome fruiting shrub; its 

 branches are now thickly studded with bright scarlet 

 glossy berries, some of them so loaded with fruits that 

 they are bent down by their weight. The effect of the 

 shrub is heightened by the silvery white color of the 

 foliage and branches. The Buffalo-berry is a thorny 

 straggling shrub attaining fifteen or eighteen feet in 

 hiight, sometimes almost tree-like, and is on account of 

 its drought resisting qualities and great hardiness well 

 suited for dry and exposed situations: it is dioecious and 

 in order to be sine of a good fruit supply both sexes 

 must be planted together. The allied Shepherdia cana- 

 densis, a lower shrub with the branchlets and the under 

 side of the leaves brown-i olored, produces its red or yel- 

 low fruits less abundantly and is somewhat difficult in 

 cultivation; the fruits of both species are used for jel- 

 lies. 



Of the Euonymus the earliest species to ripen its 

 fruits is the dwarf Euonymus nanus. It is a pretty 

 shrub scarcely exceeding two feet in height with partly 

 trailing branches and particularly adapted for rocky or 

 sandy banks and slopes; it is half-evergreen and in 

 mild winters the narrow, small leaves which turn dark" 

 purple late in fall remain on the branches until spring. 

 Sometimes it is grafted high on E. europaeus or any 

 other tall growing species and forms thus very grao 

 small standard trees with spreading and slightly pen 

 dulous branches particularly handsome in August, when 

 the pinkish fruits hanging Mom the branches on slender 

 stalks disclose the bright orange seeds. 



The earliest of tin- v<\ fruited Hawthorns to ripen 

 its fruits is Crataegus Arnoldiana. It is a native species 

 found in a wild state only in the Arnold Arboretum 

 and near Mod ford. Mass., and grows into a tree up to 

 twenty feet high with a short trunk and a broad and 

 open head; its conspicuous brighl crimson fruits ripen 

 about the middle of August 1 drop before the begin- 

 ning of September. Crataegut nigra from south 

 eastern Europe and the western ('. rivularis and C. 

 Douglasii ripen their fruits about the same time, but 

 the] are of a purplish black color and therefore much 

 less showy. Also the fruits of Crataegus Oxyacantha 

 are now beginning to assume their red color. 



Pruniis hortulana and P. Watsoni are looking quite 



handsome with their large brighl red fruits between the 

 lustrous bright green foliage; the fruits, however, drop N £' 

 as soon as th The first species is a tree 



reaching sometimes thirty feet in height, while the 

 latter is a dense shrub about three to six feet high. The 

 Dwarf Cherry, Prunus pumila, holds still its purplish 

 black fruits and the glossy bright red fruits of /'. penn- 

 sylvanica adorn yet n- branches. 



' ornus circinata Is very handsome with its cluster of 

 bluish white fruits effectively set off by then- red stalks 

 against the pale green foliage; though the individual 

 (dusters ripen comparativelj few fruits the red color 

 of their -talks makes up for their paucity and gives 

 the shrub a verj distinct appearance. C ornus paniculata 

 also begins to ripen its white fruits whose reddish 

 stalks likewise heighten the effect of the fruiting clus- 

 ter-. The fruits of Cornus obliqua (C. Purpusii), for- 

 merly usually classed with C. Amomum, assume their 

 peculiar pale blue color and the shrub attracts attention 

 on account of the rather unusual color of its nodding 

 clusters of fruits. All these species are shrubs of about 

 six to twelve feet in height, but differing markedly in 

 habit: the first is a strictly upright dense shrub of 

 roundish outline, while the second has its slenderer 

 stems more or less bending over at the top; the third 

 species is of spreading, rather loose habit and usually 

 broader than high. 



What They Think of Horticulture 

 in Belgium 



In our Belgian contemporary, "La Tribune Horti- 

 cole" of Bru— els. we notice in the issue for July 11, 

 the following remarks, which will interest our readers: 



"Among all the American horticultural journals our ex- 

 cellent contemporary, HORTICULTURE, of Boston (U. 

 S. A.), appears to us to be the best informed on the pro- 

 gress of European horticulture. We have often noticed in 

 its columns capital accounts of the English and French 

 shows, notices of new English a.nd French books and 

 other articles by writers in the old world. The last num- 

 ber of HORTICULTURE has just reached us and we there 

 find a detailed account of the Paris Spring Show, illus- 

 trated with a charming engraving." 



FROM "ENDYMION. 



A thing of beauty is a joy 

 Its loveliness increases; it 

 Pass into nothingness; but 



\ bower quiet for us, and a 

 Full of sweet dreams, and 

 Therefore, on every morrow, 

 A flowery band to bind us to 

 Spite of despondence, of the 

 Of noble natures, of the gloo 

 Of all the unhealthy and o'er 



Vlade for our si arching: y 

 Some shape of beauty moves 

 From our dark spirits. Such 

 Trees old and young, sprout 

 For simple sle ep; and such 

 With the green world they 

 That for themselves a coolin 

 'Gainst the hot season; the 

 Rich with a sprinkling of fai 

 And such, too, is the grande 

 We have imagined for the 

 All lovely tales that we have 

 An endless fountain of imm 

 Pouring into us from the h 



forever: 



will never 



still will keep 



sleep 



health, and quiet breathing 



are we wreathing 



the earth, 



inhuman dearth 

 my days, 

 darkened ways 

 s, in spite of all, 



away the pall 



the sun. the moon, 

 ing a shady boon 

 are daffodils 

 live in: and clear rills 

 g covert make 

 mild forest brake, 

 r musk rose blooms: 

 ur of the dooms 

 mighty dead : 



heard or read: 

 ortal drink, 

 eaven's brink. 



— John Keats. 



