June 7, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



547 



VALUABLE VIBURNUMS FOR THE GARDEN 



While a few Viburnums are in com- 

 mon cultivation, there are others and 

 among them some very good species 

 which are wholly neglected. Among 

 them are four native American species, 

 the value of which for border and 

 roadside plantations is well illustrated 

 at the Arnold Arboretum, where they 

 are used in large numbers. 



The earliest to bloom is V. dentatum, 

 which has broad flat clusters of white 

 flowers. This is a common roadside 

 shrub in the northeastern part of 

 United States. 



Viburnum cassinoides is the second 

 of the four to flower. Its native habi- 

 tat is the swamps of New England 

 where it sometimes grows twenty feet 

 high. In cultivation it remains a low 

 bush, and is a plant which can be 



recommended with confidence for use 

 in small gardens as well as on large 

 estates. It has several peculiar merits. 

 For one thing its thick lustrous leaves 

 give it a good appearance all summer. 

 The flowers, which are borne in slight- 

 ly convex clusters, are not any hand- 

 somer than those of other kinds, but 

 in the fall when the fruit comes the 

 plant takes on a unique appearance. 

 This fruit is larger than that of the 

 other summer flowering species native 

 to America, and while green at first 

 gradually turns to pink and then be- 

 comes blue-black. It usually happens 

 that some of the fruits have reached 

 the final stage while others are still 

 green, so that green, pink and blue 

 berries are to be found on the same 

 plant, and even in the same cluster. 



This characteristic makes V. cassi- 

 noides one of the most interesting of 

 the fall fruiting shrubs. There is an- 

 other characteristic of the plant which 

 is worth noting, and that is the curious 

 variation in the shape of the leaves 

 and the size of the flower clusters. 



The third of the native Viburnums 

 to come into bloom is V. venosum. It 

 is much like V. dentatum, but blooms 

 two weeks later. It is not widespread, 

 growing naturally only along the 

 northern Atlantic coast. It probably 

 will not prove of much interest to 

 nurserymen, but the last of the four 

 to bloom, V. candyi, is a decidedly 

 worthwhile species. It is a native of 

 eastern Pennsylvania, and is also 

 found west as far as central Indiana. 

 (Continued on page 551) 



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