August, 1915 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), a denizen of swamps 

 but grows in good garden soil from Maine to Florida. 

 White flowers; fruit, late summer 



(K. apiculata) is common and is now in 

 cultivation in western gardens. 



The Sophora is allied to the Locust- 

 tree but, fortunately unlike the latter, it is 

 not subject to attacks of boring insects. Its 

 specific name notwithstanding, Sophora 

 japonica is indigenous to China and is 

 only known as a cultivated tree in Japan 

 having been introduced by Buddhist 

 priests perhaps a thousand years ago. 

 In China this tree is widely dispersed 

 and in the extreme west is very com- 

 mon in rocky, and sandy semi-arid 

 valleys. It is a very hardy tree and 

 grows 60-80 feet tall and has a dense 

 wide-spreading oval or flattened crown and 

 toward the end of July and in August every 

 branchlet terminates in a narrow erect 

 branching cluster of creamy-white flowers 

 which are followed by slender, curiously 

 constricted saponaceous pod-like fruits. 



This Sophora flowered first under cultiva- 

 tion near Paris in 1779, having been raised 

 from seeds sent from Peking by Father 

 D'Incarville, a Jesuit priest about 1747. 

 On sandy soil in the Royal Gardens, Kew, 

 where it was received from Paris through 

 J. Gordon in 1753, this tree thrives re- 

 markably and some magnificent specimens 

 may be seen there. Here in Boston, Mass., 

 there are growing several fine old trees. 

 In the park in which stands the Temple of 

 Heaven at Peking there is a grand old 

 avenue of this tree. The individuals are 

 large, with deeply furrowed dark gray bark 

 and in winter they are singularly Oak-like 

 in general appearance. In temple grounds 

 in Japan fine specimen trees are occa- 

 sionally met -with. In China the flowers of 

 the Sophora are used in preparing a yellow 

 dye for silk. 



The Kalopanax (also known as Acantho- 



panax) is a member of the Ivy family and 

 is one of the noblest trees of the cool 

 temperate regions. It occurs wild, scat- 

 tered through the moist forests from the 

 extreme south to the limits of northern 

 Japan. It is most abundant in the Hok- 

 kaido where it is a valuable timber tree. 

 It is also found in Korea and in China. 

 It grows to a large size and in Japan trees 

 80 feet tall with a trunk 15 feet to 20 feet 

 in girth are not rare. In old trees the bark 

 is gray and deeply furrowed, the branches 

 thick and spreading to form a flattened or 

 rounded crown. In young trees the 

 branches are erect-spreading and both 

 they and the trunk are armed with scat- 

 tered, short stout spines. The dark green 

 leaves on long stalks are very like those of 

 the Castor-oil plant (Ricinus) only larger, 

 and to this resemblance the tree owes its 

 specific name. In late July and August 

 each branchlet bears a broad, flat compound 

 cluster of white flowers which are rapidly 

 followed by shining black Elderberry-like 

 fruits. The large and handsome palmate 

 leaves give this tree a tropical appearance 

 yet it is perfectly hardy and quick-growing. 

 In the Arnold Arboretum may be seen two 

 trees each thirty-five feet tall, raised from 

 seeds collected in Japan by Professor Sar- 

 gent in 1892. These trees flower and fruit 

 each year and have done so for several 

 years past. This Kalopanax thrives in 

 ordinary garden soil but prefers a moist 

 situation. As far as is known it is not 

 attacked by any insect or disease. As a 

 lawn tree or as a specimen tree by side of 

 water it is unsurpassed and also it ought 

 to be used for street planting. In the 

 Hokkaido this tree is known as the 

 "Sen" and the wood, which is 

 white with a fine grain, is ex- 

 ported to China for rail- 

 way ties and to Europe 

 for making shop-fit- 

 tings, panels and 

 office furniture. 

 Another Jap- 

 anese tree 

 Sterwartia 

 Pseu- 



docamellia, a member of the Camellia 

 family, also blossoms about the end of July 

 and is much too rare in gardens. In the 

 moist forests of the Nikko region this tree 

 is abundant and is easily recognized by its 

 perfectly smooth gray-brown bark; the 

 branches are ascending and form a narrow 



Summer Lilac, the 

 best of the Bud- 

 dleias (B. Davidii 

 var. magnified) , is 

 here shown. Large 

 flowers, deep violet 

 color 



Eishollzia Stauntonii, a new highly desirable shrub from 

 China. Almost herbaceous. Flowers, rose purple 



head. The flowers are saucer-shaped, white 

 with a mass of yellow stamens; they are 

 very freely produced and the tree is strik- 

 ingly ornamental. Its eastern North 

 American relative (S. pentagyna) which is 

 native of the southern Appalachian region, 

 is a tall shrub with larger, more cup-shaped 

 flowers which appear about mid-Julv. 

 Both these Stewartias are hardy as far 

 north as Boston. A near and equally 

 hardy relative of these is Gordonia a'l- 

 tamaha, one of the most beautiful and most 

 interesting of late-flowering American 

 plants. It is a shrub 15-20 feet high 

 with obovate-oblong leaves and pure white 

 cup or saucer-shaped flowers with con- 

 spicuous yellow stamens which are produced 

 from August to late September. It was dis- 

 covered in the region of the Altamaha 

 River, in Georgia, by William Bartram, 

 and introduced by him to England in 

 1774. No botanist or collector since 

 1790 has seen this plant mid and 

 all recent efforts to find it in the 

 original locality or elsewhere 

 have failed. 



Other late-flowering trees 



worth}- of a place in gardens 



are Rhus javanica (better 



known as R. Osbeckii or 



R. semialata), Cleroden- 



dron trichotomum, and 



