INTRODUCTION 



XI 



more northern regions as a quick-growing low screen, giving a tropical effect, by 

 cutting off the trunk of the young tree at or near the ground to induce the sending 

 up of a few large shoots that grow quickly and bear leaves of enormous size. The 

 species is hardy enough for this sort of treatment as far north as Montreal. 



This Empress Tree is one of the very few arborescent forms in the great 

 Figwort Family. In most nursery catalogs and many books it is listed as Paulownia 

 imperialis but the accepted technical name is now P. tomentosa. The tree is closely 

 related to the catalpa and resembles the latter in many ways. The blossoms 

 appear in spring before the leaves, being borne in large panicles, which are very 

 suggestive of those of the catalpas, except for the blue of the corollas. After the 

 blossoms fall the large leaves come out, most of them broadly ovate but some three- 

 lobed. The ovaries develop into good-sized leathery capsules, which hang on in 



LEAVES AND FRUIT OF THE SILVER BELL 



autumn even after the leaves fall off and split open to let loose the winged seeds. 

 Through the wide dispersal of these from trees in parks and home grounds the species 

 has become naturalized in many of the South Atlantic and Southern States. 



The Kadsura Tree is still another Japanese species which has been pro- 

 nounced by experts as one of the most desirable introductions from those far-off 

 islands. It rejoices in the technical name Cercidiphyllum japonicum but fortunately 

 we can plant it and simply call it our Kadsura, which will at least enlist the interest 

 of the neighbors. And as the tree grows rapidly into a beautiful pyramid of green 

 in summer, that turns to lovely tones of gold and salmon-pink in autumn, their 

 interest will change to admiration. When planted as a specimen it should not 

 occupy the middle of the lawn but be placed in a less conspicuous position along 



