7 
A plant of this species flowered slightly last year, but by the middle 
of April this year was thickly covered with flowers which opened 
about two weeks earlier than those of Forsythia Fortunei or its hybrids. 
This promises to be an extremely valuable introduction as it will be 
possible to grow it much further north than any of the other species 
of the genus, and in this climate the flower- buds will probably never 
be injured as they often are on the other species, especially those of 
the hybrid F. intermedia of which several forms are in cultivation. 
These are the result of crossing Forsythia suspensa var. Fortunei with 
F. viridissima which is the most southern and tender species. As a 
flowering plant one of these hybrids called spectabilis, which originated 
in Germany, is the handsomest of all Forsythias, but in winter too 
many of the flower-buds are killed. In the Arboretum Forsythia For- 
tunei can be successfully cultivated but in the north it should be re- 
placed by the Korean species. F, ovata is a large shrub with light 
yellow branches, broad, long-pointed, coarsely toothed leaves from four 
to five inches in length and from three to four inches in width, and 
clear primrose colored flowers smaller than those of F. Fortunei or any 
of the forms of its hybrid. This species may prove useful to cross 
with F. Fortunei or the hybrid intermedia for the production of a new 
hardy form for the north. 
The most beautiful plants in flower in the Arboretum this week 
are four single-flowered Cherry-trees on the right hand side of the 
Forest Hills road a little way below the Forest Hills gate. Two of 
these are the Spring Cherry of the Japanese, Prunus subhirtella, which 
as it grows in the Arboretum is a large tree-like shrub rather than a 
tree, and certainly when in flower the most beautiful of all the Cherry- 
trees or shrubs which have been growing in the Arboretum. It is not 
known as a wild plant but is not uncommon in the gardens of western 
Japan, although rarely seen in those of Tokyo. The fact, too, that it 
does not produce itself from seed is another reason why the Spring 
Cherry is so rarely seen in the United States and Europe, where it 
was first introduced by the Arboretum in which it has been growing 
for thirty years, two small plants having been received in 1894 in 
pots from the Botanic Garden in Tokyo. As it grows in the Arbore- 
tum P. subhirtella is a shrub eighteen or twenty feet tall and nearly 
as broad with pink petals which become white before they fall and 
which are followed by small black fruit. This fruit when planted pro- 
duces two varieties of this plant, principally the variety ascendens, which 
is a tall rather slender tree not uncommon in the woods of central Japan, 
and it is these seedlings which furnish the best stock on which to graft 
Prunus subhirtella itself. Still extremely rare in gardens, P. subhir- 
tella ascendens is a good garden plant. Much better known is its variety 
pendula. This is the Japanese Weeping Cherry, which has been largely 
cultivated now for fifty years in this country, and is common in the 
neighborhood of Boston and New York. The trees are beautiful when 
covered with their small pink flowers, but these last only for two or 
three days. Another variety of Prunus subhirtella (var. autumnalis) 
appears to be a plant of considerable promise, especially as it flowers 
in both spring and autumn. This is a shrub, or in Japan occasionally 
a small tree, with semi-double pink and white flowers which open in 
