SPRING-FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 179 



Some small plants were obtained and these opened 

 their flowers for the first time under cultivation in the 

 Arnold Arboretum on January 15, 1913, a little before 

 those of its Asiatic relatives. The flowers are fra- 

 grant and, though smaller, are more freely produced 

 than in any other species. The inside of the calyx 

 is wine-colored as in the Asiatic species; the narrow 

 petals are erect-spreading, somewhat undulate with 

 the apex inflexed, usually yellow, often golden, and in 

 some flowers stained with wine color. The leaves re- 

 semble those of the common American Witch Hazel 

 but are more hairy and are often somewhat glauces- 

 cent on the under surface. Its habit is stoloniferous 

 (i. e., it suckers freely) and in this respect it differs 

 from all other species. The plants when they first 

 flowered were not more than two and a half feet high; 

 but they have grown much since, though they have 

 not attained their maximum height, which is said to be 

 six feet. 



These Witch Hazels are the first of all woody plants 

 to blossom; they are perfectly hardy, and every season, 

 no matter how inclement the weather, put forth a 

 wealth of flowers from the twenties of January to 

 early March. Not ony are they excellent subjects 

 for planting in parks and gardens generally, but they 

 are particularly valuable for town gardens. City 



