MIDSEASON FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 43 



1753, this tree thrives remarkably and some magnifi- 

 cent specimens may be seen there. Here in Boston, 

 Mass., there are growing several fine old trees. In 

 the park in which stands the Temple of Heaven at 

 Peking there is a grand old avenue of this tree. The 

 individuals are large, with deeply furrowed dark gray 

 bark and in winter they are singularly Oak-like in 

 general appearance. In temple grounds in Japan 

 fine specimen trees are occasionally met with. In 

 China the flowers of the Sophora are used in prepar- 

 ing a yellow dye for silk. 



The Kalopanax is a member of the Ivy family and 

 is one of the noblest trees of the cool temperate regions. 

 It occurs wild, scattered through the moist forests 

 from the extreme south to the limits of northern 

 Japan. It is most abundant in Hokkaido, in Korea, 

 and also in central and western China where it is a 

 valuable timber tree. This tree grows to a large size 

 and in Japan specimens eighty feet tall with a trunk 

 from fifteen to twenty feet in girth are not rare. In 

 old trees the bark is gray and deeply furrowed, the 

 branches thick and spreading to form a flattened or 

 rounded crown. In young trees the branches are 

 erect-spreading and both they and the trunk are 

 armed with scattered, short, stout spines. The 

 dark green leaves on long stalks are very like those 



