96 



open crowns. Their bark is also rather cherry-like, but gra^^ 

 rather than brown. 



Farther up the garden this formal arrangement is abandoned, 

 and the trees are scattered in groves or groups, very seldom in 

 straight lines. There are some open lawns, but generally beneath 

 the trees the vegetation is composed of wild or semi-wild her- 

 baceous species, or is trampled out by the dozens of children who 

 play in the garden. 



IMany of the trees are labeled, but enough are left unlabeled 

 to make it tantalizing for the botanist. Probably at least one 

 tree of every species is labeled, but with dozens of new things 

 seen here for the first time, the names are forgotten before another 

 labeled tree of the same species is reached. Once in a while 

 we found a tree of a familiar species, such as Liriodendron 

 Tulipifera or Taxodium distichiim; frequently we recognized the 

 genus, as Quercus, Acer, or Aesculus, but in most cases we did 

 not know the genus at all, or were surprised to read some familiar 

 generic name on the label. 



There are maples of all sorts, including one much like our 

 American box-elder. The most abundant, however, is Acer 

 palmatum, with a deeply lobed leaf not over five cm. long. We 

 found this species planted commonly throughout southern Japan. 

 Of the oaks, there are some with leaves very much like our red 

 oak, but more with undivided leaves like our shingle oak or 

 chestnut oaks. A large tree of Aesculus turhinata looks almost 

 exactly like the European horse chestnut; Magnolia hypoleuca 

 reminds one very much of the American M. tripetala; and Rhus 

 semialata shows no superficial distinction from our R. copallina. 

 In other cases the resemblance to American species is not so 

 strong, and we were especially surprised by a large tree of Cercis 

 sinensis with crooked, deliquescent trunk and smooth gray bark. 

 Still the general aspect of the tree flora is decidedly North Amer- 

 ican; and only here and there a tree obtrudes which would look 

 out of place in the northeastern states, such as the palms, cycads, 

 and grass-trees mentioned before, or other small trees with glossy 

 rhododendron-like leaves. 



Species of Araliaceae are common, especially Fatsia japomca, 



