December 4, 1909 



HORTICULTURE 



777 



Notes From the Arnold Arboretum 



The botanical exploration of Western and Central 

 China in recent times has also resulted ip the discovery 

 of a number of new Conifers of which several have been 

 successfully introduced into cultivation. Besides the 

 species mentioned below there are of the genera Pirius, 

 Abies and Picea a few other species to which it has not 

 yet been possible to assign names and of which conse- 

 quently nothing can be said at present. 



A handsome new Pine which has already proved per- 

 fectly hardy at the Arboretum is Pinus Armandi, from 

 the allied P. koraiensis chiefly distinguished by the 

 glabrous branches. The bright green slender leaves, five 

 in a cluster, are about four inches long; the cones re- 

 semble those of P. parviflora. This Pine was first intro- 

 duced by the French missionary Armand David and dis- 

 tributed by Vilmorin, from whom the Arboretum re- 

 ceived seeds about ten j'ears ago; recently it has been 

 again introduced by Wilson. Probably not hardy here 

 will be Pinus yunnancnsis, a three-leafed Pine related to 

 the Himalayan P. longifolia and P. Kashiaj the leaves 

 are about eight inches long and the ovate cones measure 

 about 3 inches in length. 



Abies Delavayi is allied to A. Veitchi; the leaves are 

 about one inch long or a little less, with strongly revo- 

 lute margins and only slightly whitish beneath and are 

 arranged in two rows. The oblong dark blue cones are 

 about three inches long with the bracts exceeding the 

 scales and spreading before maturity. An allied species 

 is Abies Fargesii, but the leaves are not revolute at the 

 margin and very white on the under surface and the 

 dark purple cones are somewhat longer with the bracts 

 not exserted. This is according to Wilson one of the 

 finest Chinese Conifers and reaches a height of 175 feet. 

 As both species grow at an altitude of about ten to twelve 

 thousand feet, they will doubtless prove perfectly hardy 

 here. 



Eetelecria Davidiana will probably be hardier than 

 the tender A'. Fortunei which is since a long time in cul- 

 tivation, but still very rare in collections. It is a tall 

 tree resembling in appearance a Fir, but differing from 

 that genus in its persistent cone scales; the obtuse leaves 

 are arranged in two rows and are from one to two inches 

 long, green and lustrous on both sides; the upright ob- 

 long cones are seven to eight inches long with tliickish 

 rounded scales. 



Tsiiga yunnanensis is allied to T. Araragi (T. Sie- 

 boldii), but easily distinguished by its larger leaves, 

 nearly one inch long, entire at the margin and not den- 

 ticulate; the nearly globose cones are a little over one 

 inch thick. 

 D Picea Neoveitchii resembles in foliage much the Jap- 



j: anese P. Torano (P. polita); the four-sided leaves are 

 falcate, bright green and about three-quarters of an inch- 

 long, while the cones are similar to those of P. Morinda 

 and about six inches long. Picea Wilsoni is allied to P. 

 C-? Alcockiana and has slender four-sided leaves, less than 

 ^ one-half inch long and very numerous cones not exceed- 

 ing two inches in length. 



Larlx chinensis is allied to the Himalayan L. Grif- 

 fithii; like in this species the bracts exceed much the 

 scales of the oblong cone, but the cones are shorter, only 

 about two inches long. The bluish green linear leaves 



are about one inch long. Similar in foliage is Larix 

 Potanini, but the cones are only one and a half inch long 

 with the bracts shorter than the scales. 



Libocedrus macrolepis is a very handsome tree, also as 

 a voung plant, and is related to Arbor Vitae and Thuy- 

 opsis. The flattened branches are densely clothed with 

 scale-like pointed dull green leaves. In its native hab- 

 itat it reaches a height of about one hundred feet, but as 

 it comes from southern China, it will probably not be 

 hardy in the North. 



Cephaloiaxus Oliveri does not differ much from C 

 drupacea; the leaves are about one inch long and ob- 

 tusely pointed at the apex. 



Though since a long time in cultivation Cunning- 

 hamia sinensis ought to be mentioned here, since Wilson 

 secured seeds from trees growing at an elevation of four 

 to five thousand feet. The plants raised from this seed 

 will probably prove much hardier than those now in cul- 

 tivation and may even be hardy in the neighborhood of 

 Boston. In its native habitat it attains 80 feet in 

 height and is a tree of very distinct and striking appear- 

 ance resembling greatly the South American Araucaria 

 brasiliensis. 



Also of Cupressus funebris Wilson collected seeds at 

 its altitudinal limit, about three thousand five hundred 

 feet, in Western China. This will make it possible to 

 grow this beautiful tree with the habit of a Weeping 

 Willow and a tall straight trunk much farther north 

 than now, though we can hardly hope that it will be 

 hardy here. 



Thalictrum dipterocarpum 



At the last meeting of the Boston Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Club a very good specimen of the above plant 

 was shown from the Hunnewell Gardens and though it 

 attracted considerable attention no special mention was 

 made of it. This plant was sent into cultivation by Mr. 

 E. H. Wilson and when shown on Aug. 18, 1908, by 

 Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea before the Eoyal Horticul- 

 tural Society it was worthily granted an award of merit. 

 Generally speaking the Thalictrums are not particularly 

 ornamental plants but this new species is quite one of 

 the best of the many fine hardy plants Mr. Wilson has 

 been so successful in introducing. In its native habitat, 

 Thalictrum dipterocarpum is found on mountain slopes 

 growing among the grass and other dwarf vegetation 

 where it attains a height of six to eight feet and in this 

 country it would succeed well in the herbaceous border 

 where, during the early stages of growth, it received the 

 shade of surrounding plants. The foliage is particular- 

 ly light and graceful resembling a maidenhair fern and 

 the flowers which are very freely produced on each stem 

 are about three-quarters of an inch across and bright 

 rosy purple with a profusion of conspicuous citron-yel- 

 low anthers. Mr. Wilson collected seed of this Thalict- 

 rum around Tachien-la on the frontier of China and 

 Tibet and considers it one of the most delightful plants 

 he found in China, an opinion one can heartily agree 

 with. 



