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pear or when they are partly grown, or in the case of a few species 
when the leaves are fully grown, the flowering time of the whole group 
extending through several weeks. They all have handsome flowers, 
with long delicate white petals and small, dark blue or nearly black 
pome-like fruit open at the top, the flesh of which in most of the 
species is sweet and edible. Amelanchier canadensis, which is the first 
species to bloom in the Arboretum, has now been in flower for several 
days. It is a tree which occasionally grows to the height of sixty feet 
with a tall trunk eighteen inches in diameter. The leaves begin to 
unfold as the flowers open and are then covered with silky white hairs, 
making the whole plant look white at this time of the year. This 
beautiful tree does not grow naturally nearer Boston than western 
Massachusetts; it is common in western New York, and it is the com- 
mon and often the only species in the southern states in which it grows 
to the Gulf coast. Owing to an old confusion in determination and 
names this fine tree, which was originally named by Linnaeus, has 
been rare in gardens, an entirely different plant having appeared in 
them under this name. This is also a fine tree, differing conspicuously 
from A. canadensis in the red color of the young leaves which are 
destitute or nearly destitute of any hairy covering. By botanists this 
tree is now called Amelanchier laevis. It is a native tree in the Ar- 
boretum and there are a number of specimens growing naturally on 
the bank above the Crabapples on the left-hand side of the Forest Hills 
Road where it blooms a few days later than Amelanchier canadensis. 
Another species which is a native plant in the Arboretum, A. obovalis, 
is a large shrub rather than a tree with young leaves like those of 
A. canadensis covered with white silky hairs. This shrub has been 
largely planted in the Arboretum along the drive of the Valley Road 
near the base of Hemlock Hill. Several other species of the eastern 
states are established in the Arboretum; these are all shrubs, often 
spreading into wide clumps. There are other species in the west still 
to introduce into cultivation, and on the whole the genus is not well 
understood either in the field or in gardens. 
Corylopsis is an Asiatic genus of the Witch Hazel Family, with 
fragrant yellow flowers in long drooping clusters appearing before the 
leaves which have a general resemblance to those of the Witch Hazel. 
Nearly all the species are represented in the Arboretum but they are 
not all hardy, and the flower-buds of the Chinese species are usually 
killed. Three Japanese species, however, are flowering well this year, 
C. Gotoana, C. paucifiora, and C. spicata. The first was introduced 
into the Arboretum from central Japan; it is the hardiest and largest 
specimen, growing five or six feet tall and broad in this climate. It 
can be considered one of the handsomest of the early spring-flowering 
shrubs. The other two species are flowering much better than usual 
this year but cannot be depended on every spring. 
Prinsepia sinensis. The value of this handsome shrub becomes more 
evident every year. It is the first plant in the Arboretum to unfold 
its leaves; these are already fully grown and the bright yellow flowers 
are beginning to open. It is a perfectly hardy, fast-growing shrub; 
the young leaves and the flowers have never been injured by spring 
