Trees, Shrubs and Vines 
neighborhood of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean 
comes the widely cultivated Azalea pontica, from China 
the very small-leaved A. amena, a splendid species, 
from Japan the 4. mols. But the bewildering confu- 
sion of superb tints shown in florists’ windows and con- 
servatories is the result of hybridizing, in the union of 
various native and foreign species—composite forms 
whose lines of heredity are lost to all but the profes- 
sional horticulturist. 
It is not amiss to remark, in passing, that it is no 
affectation, even in the unscientific nature-lover, for 
whom these pages are especially designed, to be some- 
what familiar with the botanical names of plants. The 
advantage of scientific nomenclature is that, as a rule, a 
plant is generally known by a single name, and allusion 
to it under that name leaves no ambiguity ; whereas 
widely distributed species, if popular, are often differ- 
ently named in different localities ; just as in birds the 
golden-winged woodpecker, which is found from Maine 
to Texas, has more than a dozen titles; and others, like 
the oriole and bobolink, have several. Particularly is 
this advice valid where a favorite genus has both native 
and introduced species, the latter seldom with a popular 
name in our country, and distinguishable from the na- 
tive only by the scientific Latin term. There is hardly 
a cultivated genus among us that is not enriched by for- 
eign importation, and the only way to avoid embarrass- 
ment in the case of our many spirezas, a multitude of 
leguminose plants, etc., is to adopt the botanical desig- 
nation. This means a little extra labor, but the satis- 
faction is commensurate. 
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