1 84 Ornamental Shrubs. 



for show. The fruit, which is red when ripe, is of a 

 pleasant, acid taste, resembhng cranberries, for which it 

 is sometimes substituted." This plant is beautiful in 

 flower, in leaf, and in fruit ; and as the fruit remains well 

 into the winter, ever deepening in color, the beauty of the 

 bush lasts all the year. It is the parent of the well-known 

 snowball tree, which under cultivation produces only 

 sterile flowers. In this form it has long been well known. 

 There is also a variety with variegated foliage, the leaves 

 marked with yellow and white. The V. o. nana is the 

 dwarf of the family, for, though perfect in all its forms, it 

 seldom lifts its head more than a foot from the ground. 



The naked viburnum, or wythe rod, V. nudum, is also 

 a native of America, and indigenous as far north as New 

 England and southward to Florida, proving entirely hardy 

 in both sections. The flowers are yellowish-white, appear- 

 ing in May or June. They are composed of small florets 

 in large, crowded heads. The fruit is nearly round, quite 

 large, of a deep blue color, ripening in September or 

 October. The leaves are oblong-oval, with a rather rough 

 surface. It is an interesting shrub, but less valuable than 

 several of the other species. 



The Japan snowball, V. plicatum, is one of our later 

 acquisitions, and is pronounced by good judges the most 

 beautiful and most desirable of all the members of the 

 family. It is of moderate growth and compact habit. The 

 leaves are crinkled or plicated, of a rich green color, borne 

 on brown shoots, while the flowers are larger and more 

 solid than those of the common snowball. They hang 

 long on the bush, and are very showy. The great-clus- 



