April 11, J90S 



HORTICULTURE 



473 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum 



The past winter has not l)een a very severe one and 

 has done but little damage to the more tender trees and 

 shrubs at the Arboretum. This is partienhirly evident 

 in the evergreen plants which siiow \\\i\\ \crv few ex- 

 ceptions no effects of frost at all. .Vmong the Conifers 

 we note that CephaJotajus Foiiuiwi, Turrnja nucifera, 

 Tliuijopsis dolobrata and Libocedrus decurrens with the 

 protection of only a few Pine and Hemlock boughs have 

 remained perfectly uninjured. Taxus haccata, the Eu- 

 roi)ean Yew, which in more severe winters is always 

 more or less injured and of which we therefore have no 

 large plants has remained quite unharmed. Much 

 hardier is the Japanese Taxus cuspidata which has as 

 yet never suffered by the frost and always kept its dark 

 green foliage unchanged through the winter, while the 

 foliage of the native Yew, Ta.rus canadensis, has turned 

 to its usual brownish red winter color. Taxus cuspidata 

 is therefore to be considered the best Yew for our cli- 

 mate; it is more vigorous than the other species though 

 less graceful in habit than T. haccata. Cryptomeria 

 japonica also has not suffered and even a small plant 

 of C. japonica var. compacta has escaped injury. 



Our young Cedars of Lebanon, Cedrus Lihani, show 

 not the slightest trace of injury and as they have during 

 the last years proved their hardiness in the climate of 

 New England, we may hope to have at last succeeded to 

 get hold of a hardy race of this beautiful and famous 

 tree. The seeds from which our plants were raised 

 were collected in 1902 by Mr. Siehe for the Arboretum 

 in the high mountains of Asia Minor where the ground 

 is snow-covered during the winter and the climate is 

 probably more severe than in any other locality in 

 which the Cedar of Lebanon is known to grow. Our 

 largest plants are now about three feet high and look 

 healthy and promising; there seems to be no reason why 

 they should not grow here also into sueli stately trees 

 we admire so much in some old European parks. If 

 this will be the case, the Cedar of Lebanon ought cer- 

 tainly to be classed as one of the most interesting and 

 important introductions of the Arboretum. 



Broad leaved evergi-eens have stood the winter almost 

 equally well and only a few have suffered in exposed 

 situations. Of Rhododendrons and Kalmias neither 

 leaves nor flower buds have suffered in the least and 

 we can therefoi'e count on a splendid display at flower- 

 ing time. Leucothoe Cateshaei has in open situations 

 the leaves partly injured by the frost, while in the shel- 

 ter of Hemlock Hill its foliage has retained its bright 

 green color. Pieris foribunda (Andromeda floribunda) 

 is known as hardy, but this. year even Pieris japonica 

 (Andromeda japonica) has neither flowers nor foliage 

 injured ; usually it suffers very much and we therefore 

 have only small plants. It is a pity that this shrub is 

 so tender, for it is the most beautiful of the Androme- 

 das with its large pendent panicles of white flowers 

 appearing early in spring. 



Euonymus radicans has not suffered in the least last 

 winter ; its three most important varieties were described 

 and figured in this magazine last year by Mr. Koehler in 

 vol. 5, page 372 and vol. 6, page 441. The variety 

 Carrieri seems somewhat more tender than var. retic- 

 ttlatus and var. vegetus; I noticed outside of the Arbor- 



I'tum a plant of it climbing on a wall with all its foliage 

 ilestroyed by the frost. Even Euonymus nanus has re- 

 tained a large part of its leaves though they have turned 

 t<i a purplish green color. Of the allied genus Pachis- 

 liiiKi the western species, P. myrsinites, has its foliage 

 partly injured by the frost, while the eastern P. Canbyi 

 is uninjured; both are low shrubs of little ornamental 

 \alue, except for rockeries; the first resembles in foliage 

 somewhat Euonymus radicans var. reticulaius and the 

 second E. nanus. 



The Inkberry, Hex glabra, holds still all its leaves 

 uninjured, while the Japanese Ilex crenata has the foli- 

 age partly destroyed by the frost in some shrubs and in 

 others growing side by perfectly uninjured, which 

 shows that individual differences in regard to hardi- 

 ness exist sometimes in different plants of the same 

 species; it is further interesting to notice that of the 

 small leaved variety not a single plant has suffered. 

 That Ilex opaca has stood the winter well is perhaps not 

 necessary to mention. 



The Box-trees, Buxvs arborescens as well as B. japon- 

 ica have not suffered in the least; the latter species is 

 still little known ; it is of a lighter pleasanter green, but 

 (hies not grow as high as the first species. * 



Pinus ponderosa or Bull Pine 



This has several other names: Pinus Carigana, Pinus 

 Engelmani, Pinus Jeffrey!, also Yellow Pine, Heavy 

 Pine, and Montana Black Pine. Its habitat reaches 

 from the Niobrara Eiver to the Black Hills and from 

 the foot hills of eastei-n Colorado to the Pacific slope, 

 where it is sometimes called the Silver Pine and often 

 tlie Yellow Pine. There, it reaches its gi'andest propor- 

 tions, attaining a height of two-hundred feet. For our 

 western prairie, our semi-arid regions, and for the great, 

 bleak Northwest, it is by far the most valuable ever- 

 green we have. In spite of its heavy foliage, when once 

 established, it will endure without flinching a long 

 series of dry years. I have made a close study of this 

 tree for over thirty years and its hardiness, robustness, 

 adaptation, and intelligence make it a remarkable tree. 

 Never ]ilaiit in any of the northern States seeds from 

 the western slope. They make an utter failure wherever 

 tried. If you want to plant on the western plains or 

 in the semi-arid regions, get seed from the Colorado, 

 t'oot-hills. But should you plant trees from these same 

 seeds in North Dakota, you would make utter failure, 

 yet for all the Northwest, there is ample provision, for 

 trees raised from seed from the high altitudes of the 

 Rockies and the Black Hills are perfectly hardy. Ordi- 

 narily, this tree is a failure in the East. To make a suc- 

 cess of it there, seed should be gathered from the high- 

 est belt groviing in the Rockies where there is snow on 

 the ground eight montlis in the year and much rain- 

 fall in summer. 



ITS INTELLIGENCE 



While in the mountains, after a succession of dry 

 vears. I noticed several groves on steep hill sides where 



