68 
Berberis repens. From light bluish green the leaves turn to pale violet 
color in the autumn. This is one of the handsomest and hardiest ever- 
green plants which can be used here to cover the ground under larger 
plants. It grows only a few inches high, spreads rapidly by under- 
ground stems, and the bright yellow flowers are large and conspicuous. 
The small dark green leaves of the Box Huckleberry, Gaylussacia 
brachycera, become in the autumn deeply tinged with red when the 
leaves are exposed to the sun, and the leaves of Pachystima Canbyi 
are more or less tinged with violet. These are two of the rarest plants 
in the United States. The leaves of Leucothoe Catesbaei turn bronze 
color in the autumn. This plant has always been considered hardy in 
eastern Massachusetts but has occasionally suffered seriously here dur- 
ing the winter. The Rhododendrons which are hardy here and the 
Laurel {Kalmia latifolia) have not before given a better promise of 
abundant bloom in the spring. Pieris Jioribunda, often called Androm- 
eda floribunda, is already covered with its flower-buds which, conspic- 
uous and ornamental during the winter, open here usually late in April. 
This native of the southern Appalachian Mountains is an old inhabitant 
of gardens and is much propagated by nurserymen; it certainly is one 
of the handsomest of the broad-leaved evergreen shrubs which are hardy 
in this climate, and with the exception of the Laurel {Kalmia latifolia) 
and a few Rhododendrons, is the most valuable broad-leaved evergreen 
which can be grown in the northern states. Its Japanese relative, Pieris 
japonica, with larger and more beautiful flowers which open earlier, is 
less often injured by spring frosts. 
The Inkberry {Ilex glabra) which is a common sea shore inhabitant from 
New Hampshire to Texas, is a beautiful garden plant, although occa- 
sionally in the Arboretum it loses its branches and upper leaves. There 
is a fine clump of this beautiful shrub on the right hand side of the 
Bussey Road opposite the bed of Laurel. 
Autumn flowers are not abundant in the Arboretum in October and 
November, although a few may still be found here. The northern 
Witch Hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, is still covered with flowers which 
are conspicuous for their clear yellow strap-shaped petals. The autumn 
color of the leaves of this plant is also yellow but of a darker shade 
than the flowers, and the leaves usually do not fall until the flowers 
begin to open; these remain for a long time in good condition on the 
naked branches, making this shrub one of the most attractive features 
of forest borders in the eastern United States. It has been largely 
planted in the Arboretum. 
Pyrus ovoidea. The late autumn coloring of the leaves of this Chin- 
ese tree is hardly surpassed by that of any other plant in the Arbore- 
tum, and it is well worth a place in any garden for this alone. It is 
interesting, too, because the leaves of no other Pear-tree turn to such 
brilliant colors, and because the yellow juicy fruit, unlike that of other 
Pears, is smaller at the apex than at the base. There is a good spec- 
imen of this tree in the Pear Collection on the left hand side of the 
Forest Hills Road near the Forest Hills entrance. 
These Bulletins will now be discontinued until next spring. 
