June 6, 1914 



HORTICULTURE 



631 



CRATAEGUS AND AROMA. 



(Ilxtracts from Bulletin No. 56, of The 

 Arnold Arboretum.) 



In the collection of Hawthorns 

 (Crataegus) on the eastern slope of 

 Peter's Hill there are now flowering or 

 soon to flower six hundred and thirty 

 groups, including a few duplicates and 

 a few Old World species. This collec- 

 tion of American Hawthorns is the re- 

 sult of work carried on by the Ar- 

 boretum during the last fourteen 

 years. During this time most of these 

 plants have been discovered, and 

 many of them have been named and 

 described. They have all been raised 

 from seeds at the Arboretum, and 

 thousands of the young plants have 

 been distributed to cultivators in the 

 United States and Europe. This 

 Crataegus investigation has meant 

 many thousand miles of travel by of- 

 ficers of the Arboretum and by its cor- 

 respondents and friends, and in the 

 last forty years American Crataegus 

 seeds under thirty-two hundred differ- 

 ent numbers have been sown, seeds of 

 widely distributed species collected in 

 different parts of the country having 

 been sown in order to show- possible 

 geographical variation in the seed- 

 lings. This investigation has brought 

 to light a large number of beautiful 

 hardy trees and shrubs well suited 

 for the decoration of the parks and 

 gardens of cold temperature regions; 

 and the collection on Peter's Hill, 

 already interesting, should before 

 many years have passed be one of the 

 spectacular features of the Arboretum 

 in spring and autumn. American 

 Hawthorns are distributed from New- 

 foundland and the northern parts of 

 the Province of Quebec to Florida and 

 Texas, and to the Pacific Coast in the 

 northwest. The largest number of 

 species grow together probably on the 

 streams which flow into Lake Ontario 

 both from the north and south, in 

 southern Missouri and in southern Ar- 

 kansas. The genus has few species in 

 the Rocky Mountains, and these are 

 small in size and not numerous in in- 

 dividuals, and in the northwest there 

 are only a few widely distributed 

 species. Some of the American Haw- 

 thorns are trees which in the rich 

 bottom-lands of the Mississippi valley 

 attain a height of thirty or forty, or 

 even fifty, feet with tall straight 

 trunks and widespreading branches, 

 many are shrubby in habit, and there 

 is one group Untricataf) in which 

 nearly all the species are small shrubs 

 rarely more than three or four feet 

 high. These small shrubs bear 

 large and showy flowers followed, in 

 the case of many of the species, by 

 large, bright colored and abundant 

 fruits. They are valuable and inter- 

 esting plants therefore for small gar- 

 dens. In spite of all which has been 

 done at the Arboretum to discover and 

 introduce these plants, the investiga- 

 tion must be considered as not more 

 than fairly begun, for there .are still 

 thousands of square miles of territory 

 in North America where Hawthorns 

 grow which have not been explored 

 with reference to these plants. 



Aronia, a genus of the Rose Family, 

 confined to eastern North America, 

 sometimes considered a section of the 

 genus Pyrus, contains valuable plants 

 for the garden shrubbery. There are 

 three species, all widely distributed in 

 the eastern part of the country. Am- 



VANILLA POMPONA. 



A handsome climbing orchid, native 

 of tropical America. Vanilla pompona 

 differs from V. planifolia from the seed 

 pods of which is produced most of the 

 vanilla of commerce, in its shorter and 

 thicker foliage and seed pods and its 

 more profuse blooming. The flowers 

 are larger also, yellowish in color and 

 last but two days in perfection. The 



plant from which the photograph was 

 made is at the orchid establishment of 

 Julius Roehrs Company, Rutherford, 

 N. J. It is particularly interesting 

 from the freedom with which it sets 

 its seed pods here, something which is 

 very rare in European cultivation. The 

 Vanillas are the only orchids having 

 any economic value so far as we know. 



nil melanocarpa. A. atropurpurea and 

 A. arbutifolia. They all have small 

 white flowers with rose-colored anthers 

 borne in erect compound clusters, 

 showy fruits and handsome foliage. 

 What is believed to be the type of A. 

 melanocarpa is a shrub twelve or 

 eighteen inches high, with stems 

 spreading into a broad mat. There is 

 a form of this species (var. data), 

 however, which is much more common 

 and grows into a shrub from six to 

 ten feet tall, and another form (var. 

 (jrandifoVia) with broader leaves; this 

 is also a tall shrub. The fruit of this 

 species is black and lustrous, and 

 drooping on long stems hangs on the 

 plant during the winter. Aronia atro- 

 purpurea is also a tall shrub, in gen- 

 eral habit and foliage like the var. 

 elata. The fruit, however, is dark, 

 vinous red and ripens and falls earlier. 

 The leaves of these two species turn or- 

 ange and red in the autumn before fall- 

 ing. Aronia arbutifolia is a tall, slender 

 shrub of irregular habit, with flowers 

 which open later than those of the other 

 species, smaller leaves, covered with 

 white down on the lower surface, and 

 erect clusters of small, bright scarlet 

 fruits which remain on the plants 

 without change of color well into the 

 winter. The brilliant fruit and the 

 bright scarlet of the autumn leaves 

 makes this late in the season one of 

 the most beautiful of all our native 

 shrubs. Less common in the north, 



perhaps, than the other species, 

 Aronia arbutifolia is a very common 

 plant in all the southern states where 

 it is very generally distributed, often 

 growing in great abundance on the 

 margins of small depressions in the 

 Pine woods which in spring are filled 

 with water. All the forms of Aronia 

 arc easily cultivated and are now in 

 flower in the Shrub Collection. 



THE HAPPY GARDENER. 



(Jill tile glorious profession 

 Of the gardener — for just see 



How lie holds in his possession 

 All flowers, vines, sbrubs and trees. 



Even eharms of old dame, nature 

 He claims are bis by right, 



.\nd he for higher wages 



Now fain would go on strike. 



In regard to compensation. 

 Well may the gardener smile, 



For a balance in equation 

 Shows boss behind a mile. 



Enjoying constant pleasure — 

 While boss gets scarce a peek 



At dame nature's golden treasure,. 

 It may be once a week. 



So to equalize life's burdens 

 I, (ieorge, the plan suggest. 



That the gardener pay a premium, 

 lie is so highly blest. 



The foregoing lines were suggested 

 by George C. Watson's remarks on the 

 subject in the last number of Hobti- 

 rui.TURE. Let some one else give us 

 the other side. 



Alex.inder M.\cLellan. 



Newport, R. I. 



