September 3, 1910 



horticulture: 



337 



Notes From the Arnold Arboretum 



Among the recent introductions from Cliina the 

 Maples play an important part. From his last expedi- 

 tion Mr. Wilson sent to the Arboretum forty different 

 lots of Maple seeds of which thirty-five germinated, 

 representing fourteen species. Two of these fourteen 

 species were entirely new and not yet named ; they there- 

 fore are not mentioned in the following notes. In- 

 cluding his earlier expedition for Veitcli Mr. Wilson 

 sent home sixteen species of Maples of which only two 

 had been previously iutroducedj all the others were new 

 to cultivation. Except a few they seem to be hardy or 

 fairly hardy here and all have handsome foliage. 



Tiie most distinct and graceful are the Maples with 

 trifoliate leaves and among them Acer Henryi is per- 

 haps the handsomest, particularly on account of its 

 fruits which are bright red while young and disposed 

 in pendulous racemes five to seven inches long; it forms 

 a tree from ten to thirty-five feet high with slender- 

 stalked leaves consisting of three elliptic or ovate entire 

 or sometimes dentate leaflets two to three inches long. 

 Smaller foliage has Acer griseum, a tree from ten to 

 forty-five feet high, with reddish brown flaky bark 

 similar to that of the Red Birch: the ovate and coarsely 

 toothed leaflets are less than two inches long and gray- 

 ish white beneath ; the fruits are borne in small short- 

 stalked clusters. Acer sutchuense, a tree from twenty to 

 thirty-five feet high, has oblong, pointed leaflets and 

 crenately serrate leaflets whitish beneath and from two 

 to four inches long; the fruits are borne in short-stalked 

 cluster's. As a closely allied new species, though not 

 introduced by Wilson, Acer niaiidshurkum may be men- 

 tioneil here ; the leaves are borne on slender red stalks 

 and the leaflets are narrower and there are only one to 

 three fruits in a cluster ; it is a graceful small tree. 



The Maples with undivided or almost undivided 

 leaves are another group not common in cultivation. 

 One of the liandsomest is Acer Davidii, a tree from 

 thirty to fifty feet high, with oblong-ovate and pointed, 

 crenately serrate and glabrous leaves from three to 

 seven inches long which turn orange yellow or scarlet 

 in autumn; the fruits are borne in drooping racemes. 

 A closely allied species is Acer laxiflorum, a tree from 

 fifteen to thirty-five feet high, with ovate or oblong- 

 ovate, long-pointed leaves sharply and doubly serrate 

 and usually furnished on each side with a very short 

 lobe : the fruits are borne in loose drooping racemes 

 about four inches long and are purple while young. A 

 very graceful Maple is Acer tetramerum, a tree reaching 

 forty feet in height, or sometimes a shrub of ten feet, 

 with ovate or oblong-ovate, long-pointed and light green 

 leaves sharply toothed or slightly lobed and from two to 

 four inches long; the fruits are borne in drooping 

 racemes. A handsome form with distinctly lobed, 

 nearly glabrous and rather small leaves is A. tetramerum 

 var. lohulatum. Acer oblongwn erroneously distributed 

 as A. discolor, a little known species not yet in cultiva- 

 tion, is a tree from twenty to forty feet high with oblong 

 pointed leaves whitish or sometimes nearly 



their under side, from three to five inches long, three- 

 nerved at the base and quite entire at the margin ; the 

 fruits are disposed in large nodding clusters. The half- 

 evergreen Acer leavigatum, a tree attaining to forty- five 

 feet in lieight, is probably tender; the leathery oblong 

 and pointed leaves are strongly veined, entire at the mar- 

 gin, green on both sides and from three to five inches 

 long; the fruits are borne in ratlier small and loose, 

 drooping clusters. 



The group with palmately lobed leaves is the largest 

 and here belong the following species. Acer Maximow- 

 iczii {A. urophyllum) is a tree from twenty to thirty 

 feet high with graceful foliage; the five-Iobed or some- 

 times only three-lobed leaves are about three inches long 

 with sharply serrate lobes, the middle one much longer 

 and elongated into a slender serrate point, they are 

 bronze-colored when unfolding, afterwards bright green 

 and nearly glabrous; the fruits appear in pendulous 

 slender racemes. Acer robustam is a flat-topped tree 

 from twenty to thirty feet high with seven to nine-lobed 

 leaves from four to five inches in diameter; it is very 

 similar to the Japanese A. palmatum, but the foliage 

 and the fruits are larger. Acer caudatum var. multiser- 

 ratwm, a tree from thirty to fifty feet high, has five to 

 seven-lobed leaves, from three to five inches in diameter ; 

 the foliage and the fruits are similar to those of the 

 native A. spicatum, but the leaves are larger, nearly 

 glabrous and have more than three lobes. Acer Fran- 

 clietii is a small tree from fifteen to twenty-five feet high 

 or sometimes shrubby, the leaves are four to six inches 

 long and have three to four short lobes ; the fruits have 

 \ery thick nutlets and are borne in nodding racemes 

 three to five inches long. In its foliage it resembles 

 somewhat the Sycomore Maple, but the leaves have very 

 often only three lobes which are short and pointing for- 

 ward. Acer sinense, a tree from ten to thirty feet high, 

 lias five-lobed leaves of bluish green color from five to 

 seven inches in diameter with short and broad lobes 

 crenately serrate or nearly entire; the fruits are borne in 

 pendulous panicles six to seven inches long. Acer longi- 

 pes, a flat-topped tree from twenty-five to thirty feet 

 high, has three-lobed or sometimes five-lobed leaves 

 from four to five inches in diameter with long, slender- 

 pointed and entire lobes; the fruits are borne in ample 

 and loose clusters. Acer laetum, a tree from twenty to 

 thirty feet high, has been introduced from China in a ' 

 form but little different from the variety rubrum occa- 

 sionally cultivated usually under the name A. colchicum 

 rubrum; the foliage of the Chinese form is usually five- 

 lobed and rather small; but there is also a form with 

 only three-lobed leaves, about three inches long, dis- 

 tinguished as A. laetum var. tricaudatum. The two new, 

 still undescribed species also belong to the group of 

 ])almately lobed Maples and are allied to A. laetum. 



Cattleya Mendelli Stuart Low 



It luis been our privilege to present portraits of many 

 beautiful gems of the orchid world from time to time. 

 Xone have been more lovely and striking than the one 

 depicted on our cover page this week, Cattleya Mendelli 

 Stuart Low, exhibited by Stuart Low and Co. of Enfield 

 at the recent Holland House Show, where it won 

 premier honors. 



