September 5. 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



313 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum 



With the autumn advancing the number of flowers is 

 diminishing perceptably in our shrubberies and there 

 are only very Eew which begin to flower at this time; 

 the most conspicuous of them are some Clematis. The 

 native Clematis virginiana is in bloom since some time 

 and is particular!) attractive when rambling over low 

 shrubs and covering them with masses of white faintly 

 fragrant flowers which are followed later by attractive 

 feathery fruits. A similar species just coming into 

 bloom is the Japanese ('. apii folia with more finely cut 

 leaves and somewhat smaller flowers. The most showy, 

 however, of all the late flowering Clematis is the Jap- 

 anese G. paniculata which has become very popular and 

 deservedly so, for its hardiness, rapidity of growth, 

 handsome foliage and abundant white flowers make it 

 an ideal vine for porches, fences, arbors and similar 

 objects. 



The Japanese Callicarpn japonica. and C. purpurea 

 are now in bloom, but their axillary flower clusters, pale 

 lilac in the first and purple-lilac in the second species, 

 are rather insignificant and moreover partly hidden by 

 the foliage. Both are low shrubs not perfectly hardy 

 in this climate, and usually killed to the ground in win- 

 ter, but young shoots spring up freely again and flower 

 and fruit the same year. 



The slender pendulous or trailing branches of the 

 Matrimony Vine, Lycium lialimifoliiim and L. chineuse, 

 are studded their whole length with lilac flowers and 

 here and there a few scarlet berries appear which be- 

 come later the chief ornamental feature of this shrub. 



Besides these shrubs some already mentioned in ear- 

 lier issues are still in bloom and of these may be named 

 Sophora japonica, Hibiscus syriacus, Vitex incisa, Les- 

 pedeza bicolor, Hypericum and Tecoma and Kerria 

 japonica is showing its bright yellow double flowers for 

 the second time. 



While the number of flowering shrubs is growing 

 small, the wealth of ornamental fruits is now very great 

 and at the Arboretum the eye is greeted at every turn 

 by conspicuous and handsome fruits shining from 

 among the foliage which retains still most of its sum- 

 mer freshness, though here and there particularly in 

 the Bed Maples a touch of autumnal coloring appears. 



Among the trees there are none more beautiful than 

 the Mountain-Ashes with their large clusters of bright 

 red fruits. The earliest of them is the European Sor- 

 bus Aucuparia. A remarkable variety of it is S. Au- 

 cuparia var. moravica (var. dulcis) with larger fruits 

 of a pleasant subacid taste; this variety has been rec- 

 ommended for mountain regions as a fruit tree, for its 

 fruits can be made into a very good jelly resembling 

 cranberries in taste. The native Sorbus americana is 

 equally beautiful, but still handsomer is the variety S. 

 americana var. decora with larger fruits ripening some- 

 what earlier. This variety has been confused by most 

 botanical writers with S. sambucifolia which, however, 



is a different species native to northeastern Asia and 

 not found in North \ ica at all. 



Magnolia tripetala is now a very attractive tree with 

 it- pink fruit-cones among the brigb.1 green foliage; the 

 fruit will look si ill prettier when it is fully ripe and 

 releases it- searlel seed- hanging down for a whili 

 pended from -lender threads before they fall to the 

 ground. Also the fruits of the shrubby Magnolia 

 glauca are assuming a red color, but they are smaller 

 and less conspicuous. 



Among the shrubs the Sigh-bush Cranberry, Vibur- 

 num Opulus, is certainly the most showy with its large 

 nodding clusters of brilliant scarlet fruits. Viburnum 

 Sargenti which is of more dense and upright habit pro- 

 duces its smaller fruits usually rather sparingly, but 

 this year some shrubs fruit very well and are almost as 

 beautiful in fruit as V. Opulus. Viburnum dilatatum 

 also has scarlet fruit but much smaller and disposed in 

 upright corymbs; it is a compact shrub well worth a 

 place in our shrubberies as well for its flowers as for its 

 fruits. The large fruit clusters of Viburnum cussi- 

 noides are now mostly greenish or pinkish white chang- 

 ing to pink and soon to their final blue-black color; 

 sometimes fruits of all three different colors may be 

 seen in the same cluster. The lustrous dark blue fruits 

 of V. venosum are very similar to those of V. dentatum 

 which by tins time have mostly fallen off or been eaten 

 by birds. Viburnum pubescens is also attractive with 

 its numerous dark purple-black fruits. 



The Kiiiiiikinnik. Cornus Amomum, is attracting at- 

 tention by the unusual blue color of its fruits appear- 

 ing abundantly in nodding long-stalked clusters. It 

 resembles very much Cornus obliqua, but ripens its 

 fruits later and the leaves are broader and larger. The 

 European Cornus mas, the Cornelian Cherry, is very 

 handsome with its scarlet oblong fruits glistening from 

 among the dark green lustrous foliage, while the dull 

 black fruits of the European C. sanguinea are rather 

 inconspicuous. 



The Sweet Elder, Sambucus canadensis, stands bowed 

 with the weight of its large clusters of purplish black 

 berries and in this state is almost, though not quite as 

 effective as in June when it is in bloom. 



The Black Chokeberrv. Aronia melanocarpa (Sorbus 

 nigra), is now adorned with its lustrous black fruits 

 which drop soon after ripening while the closely related 

 Purple Chokeberrv, Aronia atropurpurea, bears dark 

 purple or purplish black fruits remaining on the 

 branches though in a shriveled state almost through the 

 whole winter. The latter is a larger shrub reaching ten 

 to twelve feel in height, while the Black Chokeberry re- 

 mains lower and sometimes is a dwarf bush only one 

 or two feet high. The Bed Chokeberry ripens its fruits 

 much later. 



Some of the Roses are handsome with their brightly 

 colored hips; the earliest to ripen their fruits are Rosa 

 blanda, R. rugosa which has the largest hips of all. and 

 R. pratincola, while R. virginiana (R. lucida) and R. 

 humilis follow a little later. All these have bright red 

 hips, but /?. spinosissima, one of the prettiest in bloom, 

 hears lustrous black fruits. 



