October 21, 1916 



HOBTICULTUEE 



537 



SOME HANDSOME AUTUMN SUB- 

 JECTS. 



VIEW IN HIGHLAND PARK, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



The Sassafras. 

 There is now no more beautiLul tree 

 on the margins of Xew England woods 

 and by New England roadsides than 

 the Sassafras, as the leaves have 

 turned or are turning orange or yel- 

 low more or less tinged with red. The 

 autumn colors of several trees are 

 more brilliant but none of them equal 

 the Sassafras in the warmth and deli- 

 cacy of their autumn dress. The Sas- 

 safras is a handsome tree at other 

 seasons of the year. In winter it Is 

 conspicious • by its deeply furrowed, 

 dark cinamon-gray bark and slender 

 light green branches; in early spring 

 before the leaves appear it is covered 

 with innumerable clusters of small 

 bright yellow flowers which make it at 

 that season a conspicuous and delight- 

 ful object. The leaves are thick, dark 

 green and lustrous above, paler below 

 and vary remarkably in shape as they 

 are sometinfes deeply three-'lobed at 

 the apex and sometimes entire without 

 a trace of lobes. The fruit is a bright 

 blue berry surrounded at the base by 

 the much enlarged and thickened scar- 

 let caly.x of the flower and raised on 

 a long bright red stalk. No other 

 northern tree produces such brilliant- 

 ly colored fruit. Unfortunately there 

 is little time to enjoy it for the birds 

 eagerly seek it as it ripens. The liv- 

 ing wood of the Sassafras is not at- 

 tacked by borers and the leaves are 

 not destroyed and are rarely disfig- 

 ured by insects. The thick spongy 

 roots of the Sassafras produce suckers 

 freely and these with a little care can 

 be easily and safely transplanted. How 

 many persons now plant the Sassafras 

 and in what American nursery can it 

 be found? It was, however, one of the 

 first North American trees carried to 

 Europe as it was established in England 

 some time before the middle of the 

 seventeenth century. The American 

 tree was believed to be the only Sas- 

 safras until 1879 when another spe- 

 cies, S. tzuma. was discovered in cen- 

 tral China. This tree is now in the 

 Arboretum but its ability to grow here 

 has not yet been established. 



Crataegus Arnoldiana. 

 This thorn is a native of eastern 

 Massachusetts and one of the first of 

 the American species raised at the 

 Arboretum where it was found grow- 

 ing wild on a wooded bank. It is a 

 tree with a well developed trunk, erect 

 and spreading branches which are fur- 

 nished with many long stout thorns, 

 the smaller branches being conspicu- 

 ously zigzag. The flowers are large in 

 ample clusters and open with the un- 

 folding of the leaves which later grow 



A Twenty-one Year Old Planting on the West Side of Highland Park 

 We present herewith one more view 

 in Rochester's world-famed public res- 

 ervation. As an example of landscape 

 planting it makes an impressive con- 



trast with the subject shown on the 

 cover page of this paper. Formal or 

 natural, each style each has its prop- 

 er place in landscape art and when so 

 used attracts and satisfies. 



to a good size, and are dark green in 

 color. The fruit, however, is the hand- 

 somest thing about this tree; it is 

 nearly globose, about an inch in diam- 

 eter and bright red, and beginning to 

 ripen from the middle to the end of 

 August falls gradually the end of Sep- 

 tember or early in October. Of the 

 thorns in the Arboretum collection 

 with early-ripening fruits C. Arnoldi- 

 ana is the handsomest, and as a fruit 

 tree it may well find a place in every 

 American garden in which an early 

 autumn display is desired. 



Crataegus pinnatifida. 

 This is a native of northeastern 

 Asia and has long been an inhabitant 

 of the Arboretum. It is a large shrub 

 or small tree with large, deeply divid- 

 ed, dark green very lustrous leaves, 

 large flowers, and bright scarlet fruit 

 which ripens while the leaves are still 

 green. This is one of the handsomest 

 of all thorns, and it is economically 

 interesting because one of the large- 

 fruited forms is cultivated in orchards 

 as a fruit tree in the neighborhood of 

 Peking and in other parts of northern 

 China. 



Chinese Cotoneasters. 

 The handsomest shrub in the Ar- 

 boretum during nearly the entire 

 month of September was a form from 

 western China of Cotoneaster racemi- 

 flora which has been called variety 

 soongorica. It is a tall shrub with 

 spreading and drooping stems, pale 

 leaves, white flowers, and large bright 

 red fruits which completely cover the 

 branches. Some of the Chinese species 

 have more conspicuous flowers and 



handsomer foliage, but none of them 

 have yet equalled in the Arboretum 

 this inhabitant of the dry arid river 

 valleys of western Szech'uan in the 

 size, brilliancy and abundance of their 

 fruits. 



Contoneaster divaricata. 

 Of the large-growing Chinese spe- 

 cies this is perhaps the handsomest 

 at this time, for the small bright red 

 fruits which are produced in great 

 abundance make a handsome contrast 

 with the small, dark green, shining 

 leaves. The flowers of this shrub are 

 small and bright rose color. The new 

 Chinese Cotoneasters are best seen on 

 the southern slope of Bussey Hill, and 

 the collection will repay careful study 

 as it contains some of the most val- 

 uable shrubs for American gardens of 

 recent introduction. 



— Arnold Arboretum Bulletin. 



LANDSCAPE ART. 

 The picture which serves as our 

 cover illustration this week is from 

 a photograph taken at the home of 

 Mr. and Mrs. Bayard Thayer at Lan- 

 caster, Mass., one of the most notable 

 of New- England's private estates, and 

 tells its own story. We have several 

 other interesting view-s from this es- 

 tate, showing some of the beautiful 

 trees growing there and which we 

 shall take pleasure in presenting in 

 subsequent issues of Hokticii.ti're. 



A very useful bulletin on the Egg 

 Plant Tortoise Beetle by Thomas H. 

 Jones, has just been issued by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, as Bulletin 

 422. This is the first compreJiensive 

 article thus far published regarding 

 this pest which is somewhat widely 

 distributed over the southern United 

 States. 



