208 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



and long persistent but not attractive except to birds 

 which appear especially fond of it. 



In gardens all the species of Malus hybridize freely 

 and the group offers a field of immense interest to 

 those who will breed and select the offspring. Some 

 years ago there appeared in the Arnold Arboretum 

 among a batch of presumed seedlings of M. flori- 

 bunda a very distinct plant which has been named 

 M. Arnoldiana. It is probably a hybrid between M. 

 fioribunda and M. baccata, but whatever its origin 

 it is certainly one of the most lovely of all Crabapples. 

 The habit is similar to that of M . fioribunda but the 

 flowers though of the same color are one half larger 

 and the fruit, too, is much bigger. A friend of mine 

 who lives at Winchester, Mass., has a fine specimen 

 of this hybrid growing under the lee of his house 

 and no one has yet been able to persuade him that 

 there is any other kind of Crabapple which approxi- 

 mates to this in beauty. 



At the same time as von Siebold introduced the gem 

 M. fioribunda he also introduced another Crabapple 

 (M. Sieboldii, better known as M. toringo). This is a 

 low dense shrub of sprawling habit with lobed leaves, 

 small flowers, white tinged with rose in color, and 

 small yellow fruit. It is really a scrubby form of a 

 species widely distributed in Japan and horticultur- 



