II 



tree in park planting. Why it is called manna tree 

 does not appear so readily as its name "flowering 

 ash." This fits it well, for in late May or early June 

 it fluffs its boughs most gorgeously with fringe-like 

 masses of greenish-white flowers borne at the ends 

 of the branches. These are very conspicuous and 

 show all over the tree in great clusters. They change 

 later into the samaras so characteristic of the ash 

 family, very beautiful in autumn and early winter, 

 when they cling to the branches in clusters of soft 

 fawn-colored brown. The wind makes a delicate, 

 crispy, tinkling music through them, which I, for one, 

 love to hear on a brisk wintry day, with the snow 

 sparkling all over in diamonds and the wind sweep- 

 ing the blue sky clear of clouds. The tree gets the 

 name Manna from the juice obtained by cutting into 

 the bark. It is a native of Sicily and Southern Eu- 

 rope. 



Close down by the left of the bottom step you will 

 find a shrub which you will meet with frequently along 

 the walks of this Park. It is the Rhodotypos kerrioides 

 from Japan. You will know it by its rather sharply- 

 pointed, ovate leaves, which are beautifully doubly 

 serrate. Turn the leaves over and you will see that 

 they have considerable pubescence, markedly covered 

 with fine, silky hairs. This is especially noticeable when 

 the leaves are young. It gets its generic name from 

 two Greek words meaning rose and type, and the spe- 

 cific kerrioides refers to its resemblance to the kerria. 

 Indeed, its leaf looks very much like an enlarged edition 

 of the kerrias. The Rhodotypos is conspicuous for its 



