Central Park 



Temple, I feel that I have rendered a slight public service 

 in putting a stop to this periodical misinformation and 

 almost profanation. 



Scarcely has the yulan's early beauty faded, when 

 masses of bright yellow are seen in all directions in the Park 

 — ^it is the forsythia in bloom, perfectly leafless, like the 

 magnolia ; and in the evolution of plant-life what strange 

 shock could have struck nature, and reversed her uni- 

 versal dictum of " first the blade, then the ear, then the 

 full com in the ear ' ' ? But we are deeply grateful for the 

 occasional anti-climax that she allows, for it lengthens 

 considerably the flowering period ; and the hearty way 

 in which she showers the earliest spring flowers upon us, 

 from yulan to violet, shows that she is no cold, " imper- 

 sonal force," but a cheery, motherly dame, that takes 

 this way of smiling upon her children in the morning of 

 the year, and we bless her for it. 



The forsythia is probably the best early flowering 

 shrub now in cultivation ; hardy, and a most profuse 

 bloomer. There are three species in the Park, two erect, 

 the other drooping ; in some situations the last is more 

 decorative, but its flowers are not so abundant as in the 

 others. The specific name of the principal variety is 

 happily chosen, for its dark fresh foliage is truly vir- 

 idissima until the middle of November. 



April might well be called the golden month, the sun 

 has imaged itself so multitudinously in the early inflores- 

 cence of tree and shrub and vine. On April ist the 

 beautiful cornelian cherry was in full bloom. This 

 European shrub, or low tree, ought to be more widely 

 cultivated for its early brilliant display. There are some 

 31 



