82 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



species alpinum and saxatile are the earliest plants to bloom, and 

 enliven the garden when little else is in flower ; the fruit is also 

 showy. The varieties heterophyllum and laciniatum of B. nigrum 

 have fine cut-leaved foliage. 



Fothergilla alnifolia, a medium sized shrub, is a native of the 

 mountains of our Southern States ; the flowers are in round spikes. 



Hamamelis Japonica flowers in Ma}-, and H. Virginica in Octo- 

 ber and November. 



The Aralias are fine, tropical-looking plants ; A. Chinensis is 

 fine for groups on lawns, or other places where a sub-tropical 

 eflfect is required. 



Acanthopanax (Aralia) pentaphylla has elegant foliage ; A^ 

 Cachemerica is a fine acquisition ; A. ricinifolia, or Maximoioicziiy 

 with broad palmate leaf, is as beautiful as man}' of the greenhouse 

 varieties. Our own Aralia hispida is excellent to cover the gi'ound 

 under larger plants. From China we have Panax sessilijlorum, an- 

 other araliaceous plant, with palmate leaves and round heads of 

 curious flowers, followed by large clusters of black fruit, which is 

 very ornamental. 



Among the Cornacece are Cornus alternifolia, a large spreading 

 shrub ; C. circinata, with fine foliage and white flowers and fruit ; 

 C. stolonifera and C. sericea, with blue fruit ; C. paniculata, with 

 white flowers and white fruit ; when this species is trained to a 

 single stem, it makes a much finer plant than when left to grow 

 in its own way. No exotic shrub is more beautiful, either in fruit 

 or fiower, than Cornus Jlorida and its variety ricbra. C sangitinea 

 is a low growing shrub with white flowers and black fruit ; C» 

 mascula has yellow flowers, which are the first to appear in spring ; 

 C. alba and its varieties, Sibirica and foliis variegata, have the 

 finest colored woods of all the Cornacece, especially the variety 

 Sibirica, which in winter has bright vermilion colored shoots. All 

 these species are desirable for large shrubberies, being of rapid 

 growth in any good soil, and are ornamental at all seasons of the 

 year, as the flowers, fruit, and different colored woods lend a 

 charm to the landscape. 



Among the Elderberries the Sambucus pubens is the earliest to 

 flower ; the fruit of this species is of a brilliant scarlet, and is ripe 

 about the time S. Canadensis is in bloom. S. aurea, which 

 is so much prized for its golden foliage, is a form of Canadensis. 

 Many make a mistake in planting the golden form in the shade of 



