June 29. 1918 



IIO IM'l C U LTURE 



G25 



JIany of the lilacs discovered by 

 Wilson and other travelers in the re- 

 cent explorations of western and 

 northern China are now so well es- 

 tablished in the Arboretum and in a 

 few other American gardens that it 

 is possible to form an opinion of their 

 value. Observations of the living 

 plants show that too many species 

 were made when botanists had only 

 the dried specimens sent home from 

 China to work with. Now that most 

 of these plants have flowered in the 

 Arboretum and have been again stud- 

 ied it appears that Syringa WUsonii 

 and S. Dielsiana are the same as S. 

 tomentella; that S. Sargentiana is a 

 variety of S. Komarowii with a pubes- 

 cent calyx: that S. tetanoloha is S. 

 Stvenegenzouii. and that n. Rrhder- 

 iana is probably only a pubescent form 

 of S. tomentella. S. Komarowii Sar- 

 gentiana is not in the Arboretum col- 

 lection and probably has not been in- 

 troduced. .S'. Rehderiana. S. Poianinii 

 and S. i^errucosa are still unknown in 

 gardens. As a garden plant the hand- 

 somest of the new Chinese lilacs is 

 Springa reflexa which Wilson discov- 

 ered in western Hupeh. This is a 

 tall broad shrub with leaves resem- 

 bling in size and shape those of S. 

 villo.sn. The flowers have long slen- 

 der corolla-tubes and are borne in 

 long, wide-branched, open, drooping 

 clusters; the flower-buds are red but 

 as the flowers open the corolla be- 

 comes dark rose color except the inner 

 surface of the lobes which is white. 



The wide drooping clusters, and the 

 contrast in the colors of the inner sur- 

 face of the corolla-lobes and its tube, 

 make S. reflexa one of the handsomest 

 and most interesting of the new Chin- 

 ese lilacs. Next in merit probably as 

 an ornamental plant is Syringa Swe- 

 ginzowii. This, too, is a tall shrub 

 but the branches are not as stout as 

 those of S. reflexa. and the leaves are 

 narrower, pointed at the ends and 

 pale on the lower surface. The flowers 

 are produced in broad erect clusters 

 and are pale rose color and half an 

 inch long. The flower-buds are of a 

 peculiar brownish green color, and as 

 the flowers open gradually from the 

 bottom to the top of the cluster the 

 contrast between the open flowers be- 

 low and the closed buds above give 

 this plant a peculiar appearance dur- 

 ing the week or ten days the flowers 

 are opening. This lilac was first made 

 known through plants raised in the 

 Arboretum of Max von Sivers at Riga 

 in Russia from seeds sent from some 

 place in Mongolia or northern China, 

 the name of which is not recorded. 

 Later it was found by Wilson in west- 

 ern China, but the plants growing in 

 the Arboretum were obtained from the 

 nursery of Regel & Kesselring in 

 Petrograd. S. Komarouii has leaves 

 which resemble those of /S. reflexa but 

 the flowers are produced in short, com- 

 pact, nearly cylindrical clusters nod- 

 ding on long stems. The flower-buds 

 are bright red and very conspicuous, 

 and the open flowers are deep rose 



color. This lilac sometimes blooms 

 pro usely when still a small bush. 

 Xi/ringa tomentella promises to grow 

 taller than the- other new Chinese 

 lilacs, for some of the plants in the 

 Arboretum are now nearly ten feet 

 high. The leaves resemble those of 

 ^'. rillosa, and the flowers are pale 

 rose color or white, and are borne in 

 narrow erect clusters. None of the 

 Arboretum plants have ever produced 

 many flowers and 8. tomentella prom- 

 ises to be one of the least desirable of 

 the new lilacs as a garden plant. 

 Siiringa Jtilianae flowers earlier than 

 most of the new Chinese lilacs. As it 

 grows here this is a compact low- 

 shrub nearly as broad as high, and 

 tor several years has covered itself 

 with short clusters of rose-colored and 

 white fragrant flowers. Related to 

 the Chinese S. pubescens, it blooms 

 much later than that and other related 

 species, and is an excellent addition 

 to the list of lilacs which can be grown 

 in our gardens. Syringa Wolfii, which 

 has dark violet-purple flowers in short 

 compact clusters, is another good gar- 

 den plant in this climate. This spe- 

 cies, too, was first cultivated by Von 

 Sivers at Riga who obtained it from 

 some place in northern China which 

 is not known. The other new Chinese 

 lilacs in the Arboretum. S. Meyeri, S. 

 microphylla. S. pinnatifolia and S. 

 yunnanensisi have comparatively little 

 decorative value and are curiosities 

 rather than good garden plants. 



— Arnold Arboretum Bulletin. 



LILAC PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 

 Our cover illustration this week 

 shows a seedling lilac raised by John 

 Dunbar, assistant superintendent of 

 parks. Rochester, N. Y., and named 

 by him in the spring of 1916. It has 

 large compound clusters, flowers 

 single, large, seven-eighths of one 

 inch in diameter. Deep wedgewood 

 blue. Seed parent V'irginalis. This 

 is the deepest shade of blue known 

 amongst lilacs in cultivation. 



NEW USE FOR SPHAGNUM MOSS. 

 According to a report by the St. 

 John (N. B.) Board of Trade, large 

 deposits of sphagnum moss have 

 been found at Musquash and at Bea- 

 ver Lake, near St. Johns. This moss 

 when properly treated is used for 

 surgical dressings, and is being gath- 

 ered by girl students under the di- 



rection of William Mcintosh, curator 

 of the Natural History Society. The 

 moss is known as the peat or bog 

 moss, the leaves containing abundant 

 aqueous tissue composed of colorless 

 cells. The plants grow only in 

 swamps or in water, where by annual 

 decay they build up layers of peat. 

 Quantities of this moss are being 

 gathered, I understand, for the hospi- 

 tals in Europe. — Consular Report. 



There's a cry tli.it's swept the town. 

 Go to wiirk! 



Ifs a cry that will not down, 



i;o to work! 

 hllcio'ss is just a liahlt, 

 .\n(l till- law iiitonils to erah it, 

 Hettcr liiiil a joli ami grab it, 



(_to lo w(»rk ! 



He ye poor or be ye woaltliy, 



Go to work ! 

 Loatiiijj How's not very healtliy. 



Go to work I • 

 I''or tile man who's fond of shirking 

 .\ll riroiind there's trouble lurking, 

 .Now's tlu' time to start in working. 



llow Mil' you. anyway'; 



— Boston Post. 



SWEDEN FEARS FOR FRUIT TREE 

 SHORTAGE. 



A Swedish report received by the 

 U. S. Food Administration describes 

 a condition in the fruit industry of 

 Sweden wliich indicates the far reach- 

 ing effect war may have on agricul- 

 ture. According to the Director of the 

 Gardening Union in Sweden, there 

 will be a complete lack of young 

 fruit trees within three years. This 

 is due partly to unfavorable weather 

 during 1918 and partly to inability to 

 import fruit kernels from Germany 

 iiiid France because of the war. 



The Swedish public is asked to save 

 all fruit kernels and store them in 

 such a way that they will not dry up. 

 Even with this conservation measure, 

 from six to seven years will be re- 

 quired to grow the young trees. 



