May 28, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



263 



remarkable for being free from it. As a stock upon which to 

 graft many other species and varieties of the same genus this is 

 one of the best. The little Beach Plum {P. maritime/.) comes 

 into bloom as the last flowers of the Wild Red Plum fade, but 

 although it blooms as freely, the whole aspect is different. The 

 Mowers lack the Heecy whiteness of the firstspecies and as the 

 flower-stalks are short they appear clustered on the branches. 

 Three or four species of flowering Currants attract much 

 attention at this season. Of these Ribes sanguineum is un- 

 questionably the most beautiful, although unfortunately the 

 least hardy. In the climate of Boston it is necessary, if the 

 plants are to do well, to give them more or less protection ac- 

 cording to the situation in which they are placed. Although 

 long known it is surprising that this beautiful flowering shrub 

 is yet familiar to very few people. The plants grow well in 

 any ordinary, moderately dry, warm soil. The racemes of 

 bright, rose-red flowers are the only attraction of the plant, for 

 neither the foliage nor fruit have any peculiar ornamental or 

 economical value. The ripe fruit is small, black, tough, dry 

 and bitter. The odor of the flowers and other parts of the 

 plant very much resembles that of the cultivated European 



so regularly attack the common red Currants and Goose- 

 berries. 



Ribes cereum is another rarely cultivated Currant from the 

 western part of the continent, which, although not conspicu- 

 ous nor large growing like the species already mentioned, has 

 flowers of much interest and beauty. The blossoms, much 

 hidden by the leaves, drooping and few on a raceme, are 

 tubular and from a third to nearly half an inch in length, and 

 of a pretty pinkish white color with a waxy appearance. The 

 flowers of Ribes aurenm and R. cereum ^re particularly rich in 

 nectar and are much visited by long-tongued bees, and the long 

 tubular calyxes of R. aureum are also regularly punctured by 

 the mischievous Carpenter Bee (Xylocofia virginica), which is 

 usually mistaken for a humble bee. 



The first flowers in the panicled cymes of the early Red- 

 berried Elder (Sambucus racemosa) usually open about the end 

 of the first week in May, and continue for ten or twelve days. 

 The flowers on different plants vary from greenish to pure 

 white, and often have a reddish tinge, and when in full bloom 

 they add much to the effectivenessof the shrubbery. Again 

 at the end of June the ripe, bright red fruit is very conspicuous, 



. The Major Oak, Sherw-L 



Black Currant, though less rank. In cultivation there are 

 varieties with flowers of various shades of color from deep 

 red to almost white. As it grows at the Arboretum this spe- 

 cies does not develop such tall and stout stems as the bright 

 yellow flowered Missouri Currant (R. aureum) so common in 

 cultivation. The flowers of the last species are spicily 

 fragrant, and no part of the plant has much of the odor of the 

 BlackCurrant, which is disagreeable to so many people. 



There seems to be no question of the hardiness of this 

 species even much further north, and it thrives fairly well in 

 poor soils and in shady places where most other related species 

 would languish. The fruit when ripe has a peculiar sweetish 

 but not agreeable flavor. It is black or bluish black, and 

 sometimes quite large, although exceedingly variable in size, 

 and the berries are few on the racemes. These two western 

 species are said to have been the parents of the hybrid R. 

 Gordonianum, which in foliage and flower most resembles R. 

 sanguineum. The hybrid has the erect, stout-growing habit of 

 R. aureum and it also partakes of its hardiness. The flowers are 

 practically odorless, and, as in the case of many hybrids, they 

 do not appear to be followed by fruit. None of the preceding 

 species are touched by the defoliating larvae of saw-flies which 



\ Forest.— See page 258. 



just at the time that the common Elder (S. Canadensis) begins 

 to be showy with its large flat cymes of white flowers. There 

 is a natural cut-leaved variety of the Red-berried Elder, which 

 is likely to become more commonly seen in gardens. 



Most of our native, as well as the foreign Alders, are charac- 

 terized by very early spring blooming, but the Green Alder 

 {Alnus viridis), a native of the northern and mountainous 

 parts of eastern America, does not ripen its pollen until the 

 blossoms appear on the Red-berried Elder. This little Alder 

 only grows from three to eight feet high, and is the last of the 

 genus to develop foliage in spring, the leaves not appearing 

 until the flowering of the catkins. The sterile catkins are very 

 handsome, being sometimes from three to four inches long 

 and quite thick. When fully open the flowers appear light 

 yellowish green under the shelter of the rich brown bracts. 

 The sterile catkins are exposed all winter, while the small fer- 

 tile ones are protected within large, reddish brown, scaly buds, 

 thus differing from other common species, which have all the 

 catkins exposed in winter. 



The plants grow well in cultivation at the Arboretum and 

 the foliage in summer is a handsome dark green. 



Arnold Arboretum. /• G. f . 



