BULLETIN NO. 4. 
Of the seven Magnolias of the eastern United States five are estab- 
lished in the Arboretum. The others, Magnolia grandijlora, the great 
evergreen Magnolia of the south, and Magnolia pyramidata from the 
extreme southern part of Georgia and Florida, are not hardy at the 
north. Unlike the early flowering Magnolias of eastern Asia which 
bloom before the leaves appear, the American trees all flower after the 
unfolding of the leaves. The earliest in the Arboretum is Magnolia 
Fraseri, a rather small tree from the southern Appalachian mountains. 
The large, pale, cream-colored flowers of this hardy tree are now con- 
spicuous at the ends of the slender branches. The next species to flower 
is Magnolia cordata, a small, round-headed tree with dark green leaves 
and small, cup-shaped bright canary yellow flowers. These now cover 
the trees, and during the summer a second crop of flowers is usually 
produced. The origin of this tree is obscure. It was sent more than a 
century ago from the United States to France by the French botanist 
Michaux. It has not been rediscovered, however, in the forests explored 
by Michaux, and is now known only as a cultivated tree. Several indi- 
viduals have been growing for many years in the Harvard Botanic Gar- 
den and the plants in the Arboretum have been raised by grafts from the 
Cambridge trees. This tree does not produce seeds and therefore has 
remained extremely rare in collections. Magnolia acuminata , the 
Cucumber-tree, with small, yellow-green flowers, the largest of the Mag- 
nolias hardy at the north is just opening its flowers. Magnolia tripetala , 
the so-called umbrella tree, is also in bloom, and this will soon be followed 
by Magnolia macrophylla. These two trees have large leaves, and large 
fragrant, white flowers; and the flowers and leaves of the latter are 
larger thaii those of any other tree of the North Temperate Zone. Of 
the Magnolias hardy at the north none surpass in beauty of flowers and 
foliage Magnolia glauca, an inhabitant of swamps in the neighborhood 
of the coast from Massachusetts to Texas. This is a beautiful garden 
shrub or small tree and it should be much more often planted. It is the 
latest of the Magnolias to flower. The small, cream-white, cup-shaped, 
aromatic flowers which first open in June, continue to appear during sev- 
eral weeks, and the leaves, which are bright green and lustrous on the 
upper surface and silvery white below, remain on the branches until early 
winter at the north and until spring at the south. The American Mag- 
nolias are on the right of the Jamaica Plain entrance near the Adminis- 
tration Building. 
Several of the Crabapples of the eastern United States are still in 
flower. They all have leaves more or less coated, at least while young, 
with a pale, felt-like covering of hairs, pink and very fragrant flowers, 
and fragrant, apple-like fruits hanging on long stems and covered with a 
sticky exudation. The principal species in the collection are Malus coro- 
naria from the middle and southeastern states, Malus ioensis from the 
