172 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



white to pink flowers borne in profusion before the 

 leaves unfold. The variety rosea has rose-colored 

 flowers and the leaves are downy on the underside. 

 Both form slender trees, from fifteen to thirty feet tall, 

 with spreading branches, bright green leaves, and pale 

 green twigs. The flowers are rich in honey and 

 deliciously fragrant. 



The Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus glandulosa) is a 

 very old inhabitant of gardens but the new A. Vil- 

 moriniana, although much less hardy, is a more hand- 

 some tree. When young the trunk and branches 

 are thickly studded with short prickles. The leaves 

 are more than a yard long and the rhachis is reddish 

 in color and prickly, and no other tree of north tem- 

 perate regions has so large leaves. It grows very 

 rapidly and is native of the warm arid valleys of 

 central and western China. 



A tree which thrives in dry regions is Pistacia 

 chinensis. This is one of the largest of Chinese 

 trees and has a very thick trunk, massive, wide- 

 spreading branches which form a flattened or rounded 

 crown; the leaves are dark green pinnately divided 

 and in the fall assume wondrous tints of orange and 

 crimson. The flowers are inconspicuous but the 

 bunches of small fruits, which are rich in oil, are 

 showy and as they ripen change to scarlet and are 



