June 5, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



273 



A large proportion of the seedlings raised from this seed proved 

 to be B. Thnnbergii, but among them were several individuals 

 of this peculiar plant, wliich suggests in its umbellate inflor- 

 escence some of the forms of the sub-evergreen B. aristata of 

 the Himalayas. But whether, as I suspect, it is a hybrid, or 

 some species unknown here, it is an exceedingly ornamental 

 and valuable garden plant ; one of the neatest of the whole 

 genus in its habit of growth, perfectly hardy, and very beautiful 

 when its graceful branches are covered with its nodding um- 

 bels of large, bright-colored flowers. 



Japanese Maples are not, as a rule, very reliable in this cli- 

 mate, too often dying suddenly in summer without any apparent 

 cause ; but one of the Japanese Negundos {N. cissifoliuin) has 

 so far been an exception to this rule, proving here to be a hand- 

 some, small, round-headed tree, with erect, stout branches, of 

 excellent habit and pleasing coloring. The largest specimens, 

 although only ten or twelve feet high by as much through the 

 branches, have now flowered and fruited here for several 

 years. It is a tree with smooth, gray bark, that of the young- 

 branches being pale red or brown and thi^ee-foliolate leaves, 

 borne on long, slender, bright red, hairy petioles. The leaflets 

 are acuriimate, deeply incised towards the apex, short-stalked, 

 hairy on the principal veins on the under surface, and on the 

 margins, with a few short, scattered hairs on the upper surface. 

 They are membranaceous and of a delicate pale yellow-green 

 color, which very late in the autumn turns to bright yellow. The 

 slender racemes of yellow flowers are erect, but become nod- 

 ding as soon as the fruit begins to form ; they are four or Ave 

 inches long, the rachis, pedicels and wings of the young fruit 

 red and covered with long, scattered hairs. Negnndo cissifo- 

 lijdii is, apparently, perfectly hardy ; it grows rapidly, and has 

 not been attacked yet by any insect or fungus. It is well suited 

 for planting on the borders of a small lawn, or as a single 

 specimen tree in the garden, for which purpose its small size 

 and round, rather formal habit, admirably adapt it. 



The Judas-tree or Red-bud of the Middle and Southern 

 States {Cercis Canadensis) is in bloom. It is one of the most 

 beautiful flowering trees of the North American forest; and 

 there are few more beautiful objects than the great masses of 

 this tree in some parts of the South or South-west, notably 

 along the eastern borders of the Indian Territory and in east- 

 ern Texas, when they are covered with their purple flowers in 

 very early spring. There the Red-bud becomes a tall tree, 

 with a stout trunk ; further north, although nearly always arbo- 

 rescent, it never attains the size developed in the more favorable 

 climate and more generous soil of the South. It is remarkable 

 that so fine a plant should be neglected by our horticulturists, 

 who hunt the remotest corners of the earth for novelties with 

 which to embellish their gardens, and pass native species which 

 cannot be matched anywhere. Cercis Canadensis is rarely 

 planted in gardens in these days, and yet a plant in flower 

 standing out alone before a dark background of Hemlocks or 

 of Pines, or when it can contrast its purple flowers with the 

 white floral leaves (the two plants flower here together) of the 

 Flowering Dogwood i^Cornus florida) is an object which fully 

 satisfies the imagination, and one which is not easily forgotten. 

 The Red-bud, although not a native of eastern New England, 

 is perfectly hardy here ; it grows rapidly, and is an object of 

 beauty from the time the abundant flowers cover the naked 

 branches until the late autumn, when the red-brown pods are 

 ripe. 



Prunus emarginata has very unexpectedly proved perfectly 

 hardy in the Arboretum, where it has been growing during a 

 number of years. It is a native of western North America, 

 from the valley of the lower Fraser River southward to mid- 

 dle California, and eastward to Idaho and northern Montana. 

 It is a small tree reaching, in the neighborhood of the coast, a 

 height of thirty or forty feet, and occupying, generally, the low 

 banks of streams. In the Arboretum it is a stout bush, eight 

 or ten feet high, branching from the ground. The umbellate 

 flowers, which the plants have produced this year in great 

 profusion, are small, scarcely more than a third of an inch 

 across when expanded, appearing simultaneously with the un- 

 folding of the leaves, which are dark blue-green in color, 

 ovate, minutely glandular-toothed, pubescent on the lower 

 surface, as are the short petioles and young shoots. The fruit, 

 which ripens about midsummer, is l)lack, oval and half an 

 inch long. This is an interesting plant, owing to the region 

 from which it comes — a region with a climate so totally un- 

 like that of eastern America that few of its plants thrive on 

 this side of the continent. 



Rhododendron Vaseyi (see Garden and Forest, i. f.) has 

 flowered this year better than ever before. It is a garden 

 plant of great beauty and value certainly. It flowers earlier 

 than any of its race, and the clear pink color of the corolla is 



quite unlike that of any of the deciduous-leaved Rhododen- 

 drons. Its value for crossing with other species has not been 

 shown yet, but it is probable that its blood, mingled with that 

 of some species with deeper colored and larger flowers, will 

 produce some remarkable results. A cross with the Rhodora, 

 which is quite within the limits of possible hybridization, 

 might be expected to produce a large-flowered plant of great 

 beauty. 



Caragana arborescens, the Siberian Pea-tree, is an old inhal)- 

 itant of gardens, and a perfectly hardy small tree of good 

 habit and an unfailing bloomer at this season of the year, 

 when the erect branches are covered with its handsome, 

 bright yellow, pea-shaped flowers borne in fascicled clusters 

 from the axils of the compound leaves. These have spines- 

 cent stipules, and consist of four to six pairs of small, oblong- 

 oval vilous leaflets. This tree, which will grow to a height of 

 fifteen or twenty feet, is often found in nurseries grafted as a 

 tall standard ; but it makes a much more beautiful object 

 when it is grown on its own roots and is allowed to send out its 

 branches from near the ground. 



The shrubb)' Caragaiia frutescens is a native of Siberia also, 

 and a desirable plant. It has larger solitary flowers of paler 

 yellow, and smooth leaves with broader leaflets. It flowers a 

 few days earlier than C. arborescens, and is equally hardy. 

 Both species are easilv gro\vn from seed. 



May iSth. ' ' J. 



Periodical Literature. 



npHE 'bli'o.y Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information issued by the 

 -^ authorities of the Royal Gardens of Kew is devoted to an 

 account of the Persian Zalil {Delphinium Zalil) noticed in this 

 journal (i. p. 6., ii. p. 227); to the economic properties of a num- 

 ber of New Zealand timbers, the most interesting of which are 

 Red Myrtle {Fagus Cimninghamii), Huon Pine {Dacrydijim 

 Franklinii) and Black wood (Acacia melanoxylon) ; and to an in- 

 teresting account of Lily flowers and bulbs used as food. From 

 this it appears that the trade of Lily flowers from Chinkiang 

 was last year over seven and a half million pounds. These 

 flowers are the dried blossoms of Hemerocallis graminea and of 

 Lilium biilbiferum. They are used by the Chinese for flavoring 

 soups, and are also eaten as a vegetable. They are also said 

 to be etficacious in pulmonary diseases, and to have tonic 

 properties. Hankan is the chief place of export in China, and 

 great quantities are sent from Japan to the Flowery Kingdom. 

 Lily bulbs are an important article of food in Japan. 



There are articles on Pa-ert tea, an article of commerce in 

 the province of Yun-nan, in south-west China, said to possess 

 medicinal and invigorating properties, and to be used to aid 

 digestion after heavy meals ; on the short-podded yam-Bean 

 [Pachyrhizics angulatits), widely cultivated in the tropics for the 

 starch of its tuberous roots. 



This part concludes with a list of the officers of the Royal 

 Garden, and of the other British and Colonial botanical estab- 

 lishments. The Bulletin is well sustained in interest, and in its 

 practical value to all persons who have to occupy themselves 

 with economic plants and plant products. 



Recent Publications. 



A Hajidbook of Cryptogamic Botany, by Alfred W. Bennett 

 and George Murray. With 378 illustrations. London and New 

 York: Longmans, Green & Co. 



This is an attractive looking volume of about 450 pages, 

 with a large number of well-executed figures. Since the ap- 

 pearance of Berkeley's "Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany," 

 in 1857, there have been several excellent English translations 

 of German works in which the difterent divisions of Crypto- 

 gams have been treated either incidentally or specially, but 

 the present Handbook is the first attempt by English writers 

 to prepare a general treatise on the subject. So much has 

 been written of late years on the development and classifica- 

 tion of Cryptogams that it is almost a hopeless task to sum- 

 marize all that has been written, and the authors are to be 

 congratulated on their success in presenting so nearly com- 

 plete a summary of what had appeared up to the date when 

 their book went to press. After a brief introduction — too 

 brief to be in all respects clear to the reader who is not more 

 or less of an expert — the difterent subdivisions are discussed, 

 beginning with Vascular Cryptogams. Whether one should 

 begin with the higher groups and go downwards, or the re- 

 verse, seems to us to be of comparatively little moment. 

 Each plan has its advantages, and the only real question is, 

 having settled upon one method rather than the other, How 

 has the general plan been carried out ? 



