Jlay 9, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



621 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum 



The most beautiful of the trees and shrubs now in 

 bloom at tlie Arboretum are without doubt the different 

 species and varieties of Prunus, particularly the Jap- 

 anese cherries. One of the handsomest of them is the 

 graceful Prunus pendula, the Japanese Weeping Cherry, 

 whose slender pendulous branches are densely covered 

 with pale pink flowers. A variety with upright branches 

 is P. pendula var. adscendens, introduced into cultiva- 

 tion under the erroneous name P. subhirtella; its flow- 

 ers are exactly like those of P. pendula and are pro- 

 duced in equal profusion. Much larger flowers of a 

 deeper pink color has Prunus serrulata, usually con- 

 founded with P. Pscudocerasus which is easily distin- 

 guished by the pubescent leaves; the pink color of the 

 flowers is enhanced by the purple tinge of the unfolding 

 foliage and the tree is of vigorous growth much resem- 

 bling in habit the Sweet Cherry. Of the numerous 

 beautiful varieties cultivated in Japan of P. serrulata 

 and of the true P. Pseudocerasus varying with single or 

 double flowers and from pure white or yellowish white to 

 deep pink there are only some small plants in the Arbor- 

 etum; they do not seem to be as hardy as the single- 

 flowered pink P. serrulata. Among the peaches and 

 almonds with their large pink flowers Prunus Persica 

 var. alho-plena attracts attention by its large pure white 

 double flowers which as double-flowered varieties usually 

 do flowers a little later than the type. As the first of 

 the American plums Prunus nigra has begun to bloom ; 

 it is handsomer in flower and of more vigorous habit 

 than the closely related P. americana and blooms about 

 two weeks earlier; the white flowers have a slight red- 

 dish tinge owing to the red calyx. Of Old World 

 species Prunus cerasifcra (P. Myroholana, P. divari- 

 cata), P. dasycarpa supposed to be a hybrid of P. cerasi- 

 fera and P. Arrneniaco, are now in bloom and also P. 

 avium begins to flower. 



Magnolia stellata and J/. Kobus are now past their 

 prime, but M. Yulan with its large and showy white 

 flowers is now in full bloom and the many forms of 

 M. Soulangeana, hybrids of M. Yulan and M. obovata 

 are begining to flower; their tulip-shaped flowers range 

 in color from almost pure white to purple and the 

 plants differ also in the time of flowering and in the 

 degree of hardiness; as a rule they are less hardy than 

 M. Yidan, but hardier than M. obovata (M. purpurea, 

 M. denudata) which cannot be successfully grown in the 

 neighborhood of Boston. 



The earliest of the Shadbushes and also the hand- 

 somest is Amelanchier canadensis; the pendulous race- 

 mes of the feathery white flowers on the spreading slen- 

 der branches with the white color softened by the red- 

 dish tinge of the unfolding leaves give the whole flower- 

 ing tree the appearance of a white misty cloud hovering 

 among the almost bare branches of the other trees; 

 usually A. canadensis is a tree, but there are also some 

 very fine shrubby forms at the Arboretum. Only a 

 little later than A. canadensis the closely related A. 



obovalis (A. canadensis var. obovalis, A. Botryapium 

 Britt.) begins to flower; it is a roundlreaded shrub 

 planted rather extensively in the Arboretum. The gray- 

 ish pubescent unfolding foliage give the flowering 

 shrub a soft grayish white appearance by which it is 

 easily distinguished at a distance from the hard piire 

 white color of other white flowering trees and shrubs. 

 Amelanchier spicata is an allied species of more strictly 

 upright habit and flowers still later. 



Spiraea arguta, a hybrid of S. Thunbergii and S. 

 muUiflora, is without doubt the most beautiful of all 

 the early flowering Spiraeas with its graceful habit and 

 its wealth of pure white flowers. Spiraea Thunbergii 

 is much less free-flowering, but is handsomer in foliage 

 which has a light green feathery appearance and turns 

 a clear yellow in autumn. 



The earliest of the Honeysuckles, Lonicera fra- 

 grantissima, has opened since some time its small, but 

 deliciously fragrant pinkish white flowers. Its branches 

 however are still almost leafless, while most of the 

 Honeysuckles belong to the early leaflng shrubs. Loni- 

 cera tatarica, chrysantha, coerulea and others clothed 

 with their tender young foliage form now a conspicuous 

 feature in the shrubberies. Of those which are now in 

 bloom L. gracilipes is the most attractive with its red 

 flowers, though the flowers are less showy than the 

 scarlet pendulous cherry-like fruits which appear in 

 June. Lonicera coerulea, L. ciliata and L. Altmannii, 

 a species from Turkestan of recent introduction, have 

 rather insignificant yellowish white flowers. 



Besides the Honeysuckles most species of Eibes be- 

 long to the early leafing shrubs and are already densely 

 clothed with bright green foliage ; of those now in bloom 

 as Ribes cereum, R. divaricatu7n, R. setosum, R. bure- 

 jacticum, R. stenocarpum , R. rubrum, R. alpinum and 

 R. pinetorum only the last named, a species from Ari- 

 zona and New Mexico and still very rare in cultivation, 

 is noteworthy for its flowers which are orange red, a 

 color very unusual for a Eibes ; the others have white or 

 pinkish white to greenish, rather small flowers. 



Notes from York Experiment Sta- 

 tion, York, Nebraska 



LILACS 



One who has never seen a large collection of these 

 beautiful shrubs in all their varieties of form and bloom 

 can have no conception of their beauty. There are 

 now one hundred and fifty named sorts. I had the priv- 

 ilege of seeing them all in tlie Arnold Arboretum at 

 Boston. 



We have about fifty varieties here and Professor Sar- 

 gent, who has charge of the Arnold Arboretum, sent 

 us about twenty-five new sorts, so that now we have the 

 finest collection in all the West. Most of these are now 

 in bloom and they present a splendid spectacle. They 

 vary in the form of the foliage and also in the flower. 

 Some are single and some are double. Prominent 

 among the new sorts are the Eouen in two varieties, the 

 purple and the white. All are acquainted with the old 



