14 
larger and more complete, at the eastern base of Peter’s Hill. A few 
only of the more interesting can be mentioned in this Bulletin. 
Malus baccata mandshurica is the earliest of these Crabapples to 
open its flower-buds in the Arboretum. A native of Manchuria, Korea 
and northern Japan, it is an eastern form of the better known Mains 
baccata, the Siberian Crabapple, which reached Europe more than a 
century ago and for a long time was one of only two Asiatic Crab- 
apples known in western gardens. The Manchurian plant as it grows 
in the Arboretum is a tree twelve or fifteen feet tall and broad; the 
flowers, which are produced in profusion, are pure white, rather more 
than an inch across, and more fragrant than those of any other Asiatic 
Crabapple. The fruit is round, yellow or red, and not larger than a 
large pea. The Manchurian Crabapple, which is still rare in this coun- 
try, should, for the fragrance of the flowers alone, And a place in all 
collections. . This plant is in the Peter’s Hill Group. Another form of 
Malus baccata (var. Jackii) is also growing in the Peter’s Hill Group. 
This plant was brought from Korea by Professor Jack in 1905 and is 
distinguished by its much larger, dark scarlet fruit. The Arboretum 
plants of this Group are still small but flower and produce fruit freely 
and promise to be valuable additions to the collection. Another form 
of M. baccata (f. gracilis) raised from seeds collected by Purdom in 
northern China promises to be a handsome tree. It differs from the 
ordinary form of M. baccata in its gracefully pendent branches, in the 
narrower leaves hanging on slender petioles, and in the smaller flowers 
and fruits. 
Malus robusta is one of the earliest of these plants to flower. This 
is believed to be a hybrid of M. baccata with M. spectabilis. In some 
of the earlier issues of these Bulletins it has been called M. cerasifera, 
a name now found to have been incorrectly applied to it. In good soil 
and with sufficient room for free development it will grow into a large 
shapely tree with a broad, round-topped, irregular head of spreading 
and often drooping branches. The flowers are fragrant and larger 
than those of the other Asiatic Crabapples with pure white or occasion- 
ally greenish petals. The globose dull red fruit varies greatly in size 
on different individuals but is rarely more than three-quarters of an 
inch in diameter. To this hybrid belong many of the trees cultivated 
for their fruit in cold countries under the general name of “Siberian 
Crabs;’’ of these trees the well known “Red Siberian’’ is a typical rep- 
resentative. A new form of M. robusta (f. persicifolia) raised from 
seeds collected by Purdom in northern China, distinct in its narrow 
peach-like leaves, is now established in the Arboretum and may when 
better known prove to be worth general cultivation. 
Malus micromalus, which is also an early-flowering plant, is one of 
the least known of the Crabapples. It was first sent to Europe from 
Japan by Von Siebold in 1853 under the name of “Kaido, ’’ a name 
which in Japan belongs to Malus Halliana. In Japan this tree is rare 
and known only in gardens, and by Japanese botanists is believed to 
have been introduced into their country from China and to be a hybrid 
possibly of M. baccata with M. spectabilis. The habit of this plant is 
