8 
Prunus serrulata var. sachalinensis, sometimes called the Sargent 
Cherry, should also be in flower at the end of this week. It is believed 
to be the handsomest of the large Cherry-trees of eastern Asia. First 
raised at the Arboretum in 1890 from seeds brought from Japan by Dr. 
William Sturgis Bigelow of Boston, this tree has grown well here. 
Prunus concinna. As usual this Chinese Cherry is the first of its 
genus to open its flowers in the Arboretum. It is a tree-like shrub 
three or four feet high, with a single stem. The flowers, which appear 
before the leaves, are produced in the greatest profusion in few-flow- 
ered clusters, and their bright red calyx makes a handsome contrast 
with the white petals. The loose lustrous red bark of this plant is 
perhaps its most attractive character, and for this beautiful bark it is 
well worth a place in our gardens, although several of the Asiatic 
Cherries are superior to it as flowering plants. Prunus concinna can 
be seen in the collection of Chinese shrubs on the southern slope of 
Bussey Hill. 
Plum-trees are often beautiful objects when in flower, and the value 
of several of the American Plums for the decoration of parks and gar- 
dens has not yet been generally recognized in this country. One must 
travel in early spring through southern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma and 
eastern Texas, where Plum-trees and Plum-bushes are more numerous 
and of more different kinds than in any other part of the world, to realize 
how wonderful these plants are when covered with flowers. Prunus 
nigra, the so-called Canada Plum, is the earliest of these trees to flower 
here. It is a native of the northern border of the United States from 
New Brunswick westward, and is distinguished from the more southern 
Prunus a.mericana by its larger and earlier flowers, by the blunt teeth 
of the leaves, and by the darker and closer bark. The flowers turn pink 
as they fade. The next Plum-tree in the collection to flower is Prunus 
salicina which is the most important Plum-tree of eastern Asia, and is 
best known perhaps as the origin of the so-called Japanese Plum now 
largely cultivated in the United States. The Arboretum plants were 
raised from seeds collected by Wilson in western China and their flow- 
ers will be opening during the next week. The flowers of Prunus nigra 
and Prunus salicina will soon be followed by those of Prunus ameri- 
cana, of the eastern United States, of the blue-fruited P. alleghanien- 
sis, a native of southern Connecticut and western Pennsylvania, and a 
species of considerable ornamental value, of P. Watsonii, the Sand Plum 
of Kansas and Oklahoma, of P. Munsoniana of the Kansas and Texas 
region, and of P. hortulana, a native of the region from southern Illi- 
nois to southern Missouri and Oklahoma. This is perhaps the hand- 
somest of the American Plum-trees, and with the exception of P. mari- 
tima of the New England coast, the last to flower. In cultivation it 
is a round-topped tree with wide-spreading branches. The flowers are 
small, only half an inch in diameter, and open before the leaves which 
are long-pointed and lustrous. The globose fruit is scarlet, very lus- 
trous and perhaps is more beautiful than that of any of the American 
species. The Plum-trees will be found at the entrance to the Shrub 
Collection from the Meadow Road, and there is a supplementary col- 
lection with many American species and varieties near the top of 
Peter’s Hill. 
