JUNE 27, 1 888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



213 



characters from seed, is in bloom. It has been described under 

 many names, of \vhich the most common of those still in use 

 are Sorhns hyhrida, Asarolus pinnatifida, Sorbtis ft-iinica, 

 Pyrus pinnatijida and P. sorbifo/ia. It is sometimes known in 

 nurseries as Sorhiis qucrcifolia. It is a small tree, with smooth 

 yellow-brown l>ark and erect branches, which attains, under 

 favorable conditions, a height of forty or fifty feet. The leaves 

 are four to six inches long, deeply pinnately cut or almost pin- 

 nate at the base, the under side as well as the peduncles and 

 young shoots densely hoary-tomentose. The flowers are 

 creamy white, half an inch across, and borne in wide branch- 

 ing corymbs. The pome is small, .-arely more than half an 

 inch in diameter, and dull scarlet in color. Pyrus fennica is a 

 plant of very considerable ornamental value ; it is very hardy, 

 and grows rapidly, and thus far has not been attacked here by 

 insects ; although, like the Mountain Ash, it will doubtless suf- 

 fer from borers. Specimens differ considerafily in the size, 

 and especially in the cutting of the leaves. 



Among the White Service trees {Pyrus Aria) in the Arl:)ore- 

 tum by far the handsomest is one received several years ago 

 from the Arboretum Segrezianuni, under the name of Pyrus 

 Decaisneana, a variety probably of the common P. Aria, 

 which, however, does not seem to have been described, and 

 which does not differ from the species except in its broader, 

 brighter green leaves. It has f)roadly ovate, doubly serrate 

 leaves, dark green and shining above, covered on the lower 

 side, as well as the petioles and peduncles, with a dense white 

 tomentum. The White Beam tree and its numerous varieties 

 are rarely seen in American gardens. Many of them are very 

 hardy, however, and possess, as ornamental trees, valuable 

 properties. They are natives of northern and central Europe, 

 the Himalaya and some parts of central Asia. The White 

 Beam is a low, round-headed tree, sometimes twenty to 

 thirty feet in height, and sometimes, especially in northern 

 Europe, a low bush. It forms a compact mass of bright green 

 foliage, with which the white covering of the under sides of 

 the leaves, when the wind stirs them, makes a pleasant con- 

 trast. It is handsome when covered with its scarlet fruit ; and 

 in winter, too, when its smooth branches and large green buds 

 are exposed. The rather small creamy white flowers pro- 

 duced in branching corymbs are not very showy. The White 

 Beam may be raised from seed ; the fine varieties, liowever, 

 can only be perpetuated by grafting, the Mountain Ash being 

 often used as the stock. Like the Mountain Ash, this tree is 

 liable to be attaclced by borers. 



Symplocos paniculatus is a hardy ornamental Japanese 

 shrub now in flower. It has attained a height of four or five 

 feet. The branches are stout, erect and covered with light 

 brown slightly scaly bark. The young shoots are hairy pulies- 

 cent. The leaves are dark green, ovate acute or sometimes 

 slightly obovate, one or tAvo inches long, minutely serrate, 

 conspicuously reticulate-veined, scalirous on the upper side, 

 softly pubescent below, especially along the mid-rib and pri- 

 mary veins. The small white flowers,' less than half an incli 

 across when expanded, are produced in short, loose panicles, 

 one or two inches long, terminal upon short lateral leafy 

 branches, which appear in great profusion along the 

 principal stems. The fruit is blue, the size of a pea. The in- 

 troduction of this very beautiful and interesting addition to our 

 list of hardy shrubs is due to the Messrs. Parsons, of Flushing, 

 who sent it to the Arboretum several years ago. 



Among climbing plants none are hardier and few are more 

 vigorous here than Schizandra {Maxiinowicsia) Chinensis, a 

 member of the Magnolia Family, and a native of Manchuria, 

 northern China and Japan, where it is often seen in the forests 

 climbing over trees to a height of twenty or thirty feet. The 

 long flexuous branches are covered with red warty bark. The 

 leaves are two or three inches long, obovate or obovate-ellip- 

 tical, sharply acuminate, serrate, and slightly pubescent on the 

 under side along the principal veins. The flowers are pro- 

 duced in few flowered axillary fascicles which are completely 

 hidden by the leaves. They are long peduncled, drooping, 

 three-quarters of an inch in diameter, pale rose-colored ancl 

 deliciously fragrant, and are followed by scarlet baccate fruits, 

 an inch in diameter, and which remain a long time upon the 

 plant. This is a very hardy and fast growing vine, which 

 might be cultivated much more frequently than it is in this 

 country. 



Cytisus biflorus, a native of Hungary, is a very hardy shrub 

 here, two to three feet high, with rigid, stout branches, and one 

 of the showiest species of the whole genus, which can be 

 grown in this climate without protection. It has oblong 

 bright yellow parallelly paired flowers an inch and a quarter 

 long, and longer than the small ternate silky leaves. Cytisus 

 purpureus, a native of the central European mountain ranges. 



is a very hardy and desirable dwarf shrub in this climate. It 

 has procumbent, twiggy stems, solitary axillary, handsome pur- 

 ple flowers, and small, smooth leaves with oblong leaflets. It 

 is sometimes grafted as a standard upon tall stems of the La- 

 liurnum, but in this climate it is more successful when grown 

 upon its own roots. 



The common Broom of Em-ope {Cytisus scoparius), a tall 

 shrub, five to ten feet high, with small trifoliate leaves and 

 handsome, solitary, axillary yellow, flowers, produced in the 

 greatest profusion during several weeks, is unfortunately not 

 quite hardy, but with a slight covering in winter blooms pro- 

 fusely. This is one of the best known and most beautiful of 

 Europiean shrubs. Cytisus albus. the beautiful white Spanish 

 Broom, requires also some protection here in winter. It has 

 tall flexuous branches, just now covered with racemed fascicles 

 of pure white flowers, and small silky trifoliate leaves. Like the 

 last, it is Avell worth tlie troid.ile of the slight winter protection 

 necessary to insure its p)rotuse flowers. 



The double-flowered form of Wistaria Chinensis, in which 

 the stamens are all developed into petals, is rarely seen in 

 flower here. It is one of the plants sent to this country 

 from Japan by Mr. F. Gordon Dexter twenty-five years ago, 

 and afterwards propagated and distributed by Mr. Francis 

 Parkman. It is now in flower probably for the second or 

 third time only in the neighl)orhood of Boston. The flowers 

 have little beauty in themselves, and as the plant is such a 

 very shy bloomer, its cultivation cannot be recommended. 



lune 8th. f. 



The Forest. 



Dispersion of Seeds and Plants. 



SO;\IE time ago Mr. D. Morris, in a contribution to 

 Nature, cited numerous instances in Avhich birds 

 had taken an acti\"e part in the distribution of seeds and 

 plants. Birds, it is true, from their greater adaptability to 

 rapid and e.xtensive locomotion, are more concerned in 

 this work than other animals, but they are. by no means, 

 alone in scattering seeds. In Nature for March 15th Mr. 

 Morris contriliutes further notes upon this subject, from 

 which v\'e, quote : 



"It may seem strange, at first sight, to assert that cattle have 

 been the means of distributing the seeds of certain plants from 

 one country to another, but a statement is made by Griesbach* 

 respecting Pithecolobium Santan (N.O. Lcguminosae), a large 

 tree native of Tropical Anierica, now naturalized in Jamaica, 

 tliat the 'seeds were formerly brought over from the continent 

 [of America] by cattle.' This statement has been carefully 

 examined and it is fully liorne out by facts. Formerly, Jamaica, 

 like Trinidad at present, was dependent for cattle on Venezuela. 

 The food of the animals during their voyage consisted, amongst 

 other things, of the pulpy Xtiguracsoi Pithecolobium Sa?na!i. The 

 seeds being very hard were uninjured by the process of mastica- 

 tion and digestion, and they were dejected by the animals in the 

 pastures, where they germinated and grew up into large trees. 

 In this instance the seeds were carried across the sea a dis- 

 tance ot about a thousand miles, and there is no doubt that the 

 cattle were directly concerned in their introduction. Indeed, 

 without them the seeds, even if accidentally introduced 

 amongst the fodder, would not have been placed under such 

 circumstances as would have enabled them to give rise to 

 plants. In the first place, l:iy being passed through the animals 

 the seeds were softened and the period of germination has- 

 tened. In the second jilace, being embedded in the droppings 

 of the animals the seeds had a suitable medium to protect and 

 promote germination ; and this medium enabled the young 

 plants to withstand the season of drought which is incidental 

 to almost every tropjical country. In this instance we have 

 cattle not only the means of introducing the seeds of a valua- 

 ble tree, but also involuntarily instrumental in establishing 

 the tree in a new country, and providing shelter, shade and 

 food for their progenv. Those acquainted with the guango 

 or rain tree, as this Pithecolobium is locally called, will fully 

 realize its value as a shade and food tree for cattle, and they 

 will also appireciate the singular concourse of circumstances 

 by means of which such a tree was introduced to a new country 

 by the very animals which required it most. 



"It is possible there may be some one who^ill doubt the 

 possibility of seeds retaining the power of germination after 

 undergoing the processes of mastication and digestion, and 

 especially in the special case of ruminating animals. There 



* " Flora, British West India Islands," p. 225. 



