THE 



Canadian Horticulturist. 



1B90. 



No. 12. 



THE SNOWBALL TREE. 



O many known as the Guelder Rose, this excellent flowering 

 shrub has long held its place as one of the most desirable 

 on the list. Of easy culture and great hardiness, it may 

 be planted on almost any soil with assurance of success. 

 Sometimes in rich «:oil it grows very rank, reaching a 

 height of ten or twelve feet, and such a bush when cov- 

 ered with its fine, large, globular cymes of flowers, resembling snowballs, is, 

 indeed, one of the prettiest of its season. 



Botanically, the Snowball tree belongs to the honeysuckle family, to which 

 we are also indebted for the climbing and bush honeysuckles, the Snowberry 

 and the Elders, all of which are prized for ornamental purposes. It is known 

 to students as Viburnum epulis stirilis, the latter word describing this 

 special variety, of which the flowers are sterile. It comes to us from the 

 gardens of Europe, but is really a form of our native Viburnum opulus or 

 Cranberry tree. This latter is also a very ornamental, hardy shrub for Cana- 

 dian lawns. In flower it is not conspicuous, but its bright, red berries hang- 

 ing in clusters throughout the whole winter, make it a shrub that should be 

 included in the smallest collection. 



Besides these, we have five or six other native Viburnums, and amongst 

 them is the Downy Arrow Wood (V. Pubescens), a low bush with showy 



