Trees, Shrubs and Vines 



neighborhood of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean 

 comes the widely cultivated Azalea pontica, from China 

 the very small-leaved A. anmna, a splendid species, 

 from Japan the A. mollis. But the bewildering confu- 

 sion of superb tints shown in florists' windows and con- 

 servatories is the result of hybridizing, in the union of 

 various native and foreign species — composite forms 

 whose lines of heredity are lost to all but the profes- 

 sional horticulturist. 



It is not amiss to remark, in passing, that it is no 

 affectation, even in the unscientific nature-lover, for 

 whom these pages are especially designed, to be some- 

 what familiar with the botanical names of plants. The 

 advantage of scientific nomenclature is that, as a rule, a 

 plant is generally known by a single name, and allusion 

 to it under that name leaves no ambiguity ; whereas 

 widely distributed species, if popular, are often differ- 

 ently named in different localities ; just as in birds the 

 golden-winged woodpecker, which is found from Maine 

 to Texas, has more than a dozen titles; and others, like 

 the oriole and bobolink, have several. Particularly is 

 this advice valid where a favorite genus has both native 

 and introduced species, the latter seldom with a popular 

 name in our country, and distinguishable from the na- 

 tive only by the scientific Latin term. There is hardly 

 a cultivated genus among us that is not enriched by for- 

 eign importation, and the only way to avoid embarrass- 

 ment in the case of our many spiraeas, a multitude of 

 leguminose plants, etc., is to adopt the botanical desig- 

 nation. This means a little extra labor, but the satis- 

 faction is commensurate. 



134 



