43 
of these, H. Bretschneideri, is a native of the mountains near Peking 
and was first raised in the Arboretum twenty-five years ago; it is a 
vigorous hardy plant with dark green leaves, and one of the best 
shrubs which flower here after the middle of June. Closely related to 
it are Hydrangea xanthoneura and its varieties Wilsonii and setchue- 
nensis, and H. Rosthornii raised here from seed collected by Wilson in 
western China. These plants are hardy and can now be seen covered 
with flowers in the collection of Chinese shrubs on the southern slope 
of Bussey Hill. As garden plants they do not appear to be superior 
to H. Bret Schneider i. 
Sophora viciifolia. There are not many shrubs with blue flowers 
which are hardy in this climate and none of them are as satisfactory 
as this Sophora. It is a native of central and western China where it 
is a common shrub in dry hot valleys. In the Arboretum it is a shapely 
plant about four feet high and perfectly hardy, producing freely its 
small blue and white pea-shaped flowers. It is one of the most attract- 
ive of the small shrubs introduced by Wilson from China, and it can 
now be seen in bloom on Hickory Path near Centre Street. 
Syringa Sweginzowii is considered by many persons the most beauti- 
ful of the new species of Lilac introduced into gardens from China in 
recent years. It is a tall narrow shrub with dull green leaves and 
narrow clusters of fragrant flowers half an inch long, flesh-colored in 
the bud, and becoming nearly white when the flowers open. This 
species blooms freely as a small plant, and is perhaps the most attract- 
ive of the new Lilacs, although the flowers are not as fragrant as 
those of S. pubescens which has been an inhabitant of the Arboretum 
for nearly a quarter of a century. It has the merit of being almost 
the last of the Lilacs in the Arboretum to bloom and it should be much 
better known than it is now. 
Syringa reflexa, which is perhaps the most distinct and certainly 
one of the most beautiful of the Lilacs recently discovered, has been 
blooming more freely than usual this year. The flower-cluster is com- 
pact, cylindric, unbranched, from an inch to an inch and a quarter in 
diameter, long-stalked, arching and reflexed. The flowers are deep rose 
color in bud becoming nearly white, with a long slender corolla-tube, 
and have a more disagreeable odor than those of S. villosa, to which 
this species and S. Komarowii are closely related, as shown in its 
ample leaves dark green on the upper surface and somewhat pale and 
slightly hairy on the lower surface. S. Komarowii differs from S. re- 
flexa in the large, long-branched flower-clusters which are erect, spread- 
ing or nodding, and sometimes eighteen inches long and twelve inches 
across. 
Syringa villosa. Of the comparatively late flowering Lilacs none 
perhaps is more valuable than S. villosa which was raised at the Ar- 
boretum nearly forty years ago and has now been carried into many 
American gardens. It is a tall round-topped shrub with large leaves 
and compact, broad or narrow clusters of pale rose-colored or nearly 
white flowers which unfortunately have the disagreeable odor of Privet 
flowers. In spite of this disagreeable odor of the flowers this Lilac is 
a first-rate garden plant, and particularly valuable because it does not 
