208 Choice of Plant Material 
a stable nomenclature. We have tried to give the latest 
accepted Latin name, and, if there are several the one 
which has been most generally employed hitherto is placed 
in parenthesis. 
The common names are also often confused, and one has 
to be careful in ordering stock to make sure what plant is 
meant, and that name and plant are identical. This is very 
important, since nurserymen’s use of names varies greatly. 
The only sure means of settling the identity of the plant and 
name is to quote the Latin name with its authority, as is 
done in the list except for synonyms and varieties. For 
our native species we have relied chiefly on the nomenclature 
of Sargent’s Manual, and Bulletin 17 of the Division of For- 
estry. 
Beyond mere mention, we have not gone into the nursery- 
men’s varieties, which consist usually of a change in stature 
(dwarfs), of form (pendulous, fastigiate), of leaf form (cut- 
leaved, crinkled), or leaf color (golden, red, spotted), or 
color of flower. These can be selected from the catalogues, 
when such special forms are needed, the behavior of these 
forms being otherwise mostly like their parents, except 
that they are apt to be more tender, and that they will 
more or less readily revert to their type, if conditions are 
not favorable to preservation of the form. 
In the’ notes, we have followed as nearly as possible the 
same sequence of points, and have tried to supply, in the 
briefest style, information such as the planter would ask. 
Descriptions of ornamental features are at best poor, and, 
to select material, one should have seen a specimen tree at 
the nursery or elsewhere (making sure of proper identifica- 
tion) in order to judge of its value for the purpose in hand. 
Since nurserymen and others still confound trees and 
shrubs, classing among the latter small trees below an arbi- 
