47 2 



Garden and Forest. 



[ISUMBER 510. 



gularly ornamental when mingled with the glossy leaves 

 of neighboring low shrubs. Here and there we find dense 

 patches of the creeping Partridge Berry (Mitchella repens) 

 with small, round leaves strung along the stem in pairs, 

 interspersed with the scarlet double berries. Both leaves 

 and fruit remain fresh and bright all winter long. The 

 Creeping Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) with its red 

 aromatic fruits and shining fragrant leaves, is common in 

 the damp Pines. 



Not only red fruits abound at this time, but many others 

 of less conspicuous color, though equally handsome, are 

 found in the Pines. The fruit of the Bayberry (Myrica 

 Caroliniensis) covered with white wax and mingled with its 

 fragrant leaves, is ornamental and pleasant to handle. 

 These dry, waxy nuts are a favorite food of birds at this 

 season. In my wild garden there are several groups of 

 these shrubs, the stems of which early in autumn were 

 almost covered with the white drupes. But the birds set- 

 tled on the bushes in flocks and stripped them clean, not 

 leaving a berry ; the fragrant leaves will remain all winter. 



The berry-like blue fruit of the White Cedar (Cupressus 

 thyoides) is also ornamental. Its sweet pleasant taste 

 attracts robins, bluebirds and cedar birds, which often eat 

 all the fruit on a tree before cold weather sets in. The 

 black fruit of Smilax Bona-nox is quite effective mingled 

 with its shining green leaves, and so is the fruit and foliage 

 of several other species of this neglected genus. 



The Fringe-tree (Chionanthus Virginica) has small olive- 

 like fruits which remain green most of the summer, and 

 take on a purple hue late in the season. These remain in 

 autumn until the birds take them, but they are less greedily 

 eaten than many other fruits. The Virginia Creeper has 

 been beautiful all through the fall with its crimson foliage 

 and clusters of bluish black berries, which the birds 

 specially like. The Common Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) is 

 still magnificent with bright crimson leaves and oval 

 bluish fruit in clusters on the end of a slender stem. The 

 Frost Grapes are highly ornamental in the right place. 

 The leaves have a delicate texture and are deeply lobed 

 and bright green on both upper and lower surfaces. 



The fruits of some of the Persimmon-trees in the Pines 

 ripen in September and October, and are excellent, with no 

 astringent taste. On most of the trees the fruit is not edi- 

 ble until after exposure to sharp frost, and even then it is 

 not so pleasant tasting as the earlier fruits. It is remarka- 

 ble that this common Persimmon (Diospyros Virginiana) is 

 not cultivated, for the tree and foliage are both handsome, 

 and the fruit delicious. 



The Pokeweed, which grows everywhere, can be made 

 a most striking and effective decorative plant. With care 

 and rich soil it will attain a height of ten feet or more. Its 

 red stem and fine large leaves, exempt from insect depre- 

 dators, are ornamental, and its long racemes of white 

 flowers with ten stamens and ten styles are more hand- 

 some than many exotic plants which are given a place in 

 our gardens. The blossoms appear all summer long until 

 sharp frosts cut them off; and the racemes of rich purple 

 berries are also handsome. Any one who cares to study 

 the ways of birds will welcome a thriving plant of Poke- 

 weed near his window. The birds are specially fond of 

 the fruit, and in no way can one more readily note the be- 

 havior of the different birds than here. The bluebird has 

 delicate manners when he dines ; he is deliberate and 

 dainty, taking a berry and then pausing and making some 

 comment to his mate or children. The family remains 

 united throughout the autumn and takes its meals together. 

 The catbird has quick, jerky movements and eats more 

 rapidly than the bluebird, but not so greedily as the robin, 

 who gorges, and then stretches himself up in a pompous 

 way, his red breast dyed with the purple juice. After 

 looking about a few moments he hurriedly takes more, 

 and only leaves the berries to go to the lawn with his head 

 to one side, as he listens for earth-worms or white grubs, 

 which he pulls from among the grass-roots. 



Vineiand, n. j. Mary Treat. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Alnus tinctoria. 



NDER this name an Alder was sent several years ago 

 to the Arnold Arboretum by Mr. Veitch, who proba- 

 bly had raised it from seeds collected in Japan by Maries, 

 as I have seen the same tree in Yezo, and the plants raised 

 from seeds which I brought from that island five years ago 

 are identical with Veitch 's Alnus tinctoria, a name which, 

 although it has been more or less used in gardens, appears 

 to be still unpublished. On the island of Yezo this Alder 

 is a shapely tree from fifty to sixty feet in height, with a 

 trunk often two feet in diameter, growing there on low 

 slopes in rich moist ground, usually at some distance 

 from the banks of streams, which are generally occupied 

 in southern Yezo by Alnus Japonica. It has been consid- 

 ered by the Japanese botanists Spach's variety hirsuta of 

 Alnus incana, of Manchuria and Siberia, and it is possible 

 that this view is correct, although, for lack of proper ma- 

 terial, representing the different species and varieties of 

 Asiatic Alders in American herbaria, it is impossible to 

 form a correct idea on this subject, and the object of this 

 note, and of the figure on page 473 of this issue, made from 

 specimens gathered in Yezo, is to call attention to a prom- 

 ising ornamental tree. 



The leaves of this Alder, which, until something more 

 is known of the Manchurian species, had perhaps best 

 be called Alnus tinctoria, are oblong, obtusely wedge- 

 shaped at the base, coarsely doubly serrate, or often 

 incisely lobed above the middle, and clothed below 

 with soft, close, rufous pubescence, which also covers 

 the upper side of the slender midrids and primary 

 veins ; they are thin and membranaceous, from four to 

 six inches long and from three and a half to five inches 

 broad, dark green above, pale below, and are borne on 

 stout petioles an inch and a half in length. The flowers I 

 have not seen, but the buds of the staminate catkins are an 

 inch and a half long and a third of an inch broad, and are 

 borne on stout peduncles from one-third to one-half of an 

 inch in length. The fruit is half an inch long and about a 

 third of an inch thick, so that the leaves, the buds of the 

 staminate catkins and the fruits are much larger than those 

 of any of the European or North American forms of Alnus 

 incana. The stout, somewhat flattened branchlets marked 

 by only occasional pale lenticels and covered during the 

 winter by a glaucous bloom, and the much larger bright 

 purple-red winter buds, appear very distinct from those of 

 Alnus incana. 



Several of the plants raised from seeds which I brought 

 from Japan in 1892 are now twelve feet high, with perfectly 

 straight stems from five to six inches in diameter at the 

 base and furnished with well-balanced, vigorous branches. 

 Shapely and handsome now, they look as if they would 

 grow here to a large size and prove valuable ornamental 

 trees. C. S. S. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



Chrysanthemums. 



THE annual exhibition arranged by the National Chrys- 

 anthemum Society was held this week in the Royal 

 Aquarium, Westminster, and was open three days. In the 

 extent of the collections and quality of the flowers it was 

 considered to be the best exhibition ever held in London, 

 or, indeed, anywhere else. Years ago specimen plants 

 were the principal feature of this and similar exhibitions, 

 but now it is almost entirely a display of cut flowers 

 arranged either on trays, in vases, or in various floral dec- 

 orations, such as crosses, wreaths, etc. I noted last year the 

 extraordinary progress made in the Japanese section com- 

 pared with the other sections, and this year the popularity 

 of this big fantastic-flowered section is greatly emphasized. 

 Thus, of cut flowers shown for prizes there were over one 

 thousand blooms of Japanese varieties staged, whereas the 



