European Rhododendron ferrugineum and Rhododendron hirsutum , the 
Japanese Rhododendron brachycarpum and Rhododendron Metternichii, 
the first with yellow and the other with rose-colored flowers. Several 
plants of a hybrid of this last crossed with garden hybrids of Rhododen- 
dron catawbiense have proved hardy in the Arboretum and promise to be 
valuable additions in the collection. Rhododendron ponticum of southern 
Europe and Asia Minor is hardy only in sheltered positions and is not a 
desirable plant for this climate. In England it is the common Rhododen- 
dron of parks and game preserves. Rhododendron caucasicum is an 
early-flowering species from the Caucasus, with compact clusters of yel- 
lowish white flowers. There are several hybrids and varieties of this 
handsome plant in cultivation which have proved hardy in the Arboretum 
and deserve to be better known here than they are at present. The 
flowers of many of these have already faded, but a plant called coriaceum 
at the front of the group, just beyond the turn from the Valley Road into 
Hemlock Hill Road, gives a good idea of the plants of this parentage. 
The large plants in the collection are all hybrids of Rhododendron 
catawbiense and it is these hybrids which are generally planted in Amer- 
ican gardens. They are of different parentage and have been obtained 
by crossing Rhododendron catawbiense with Rhododendron maximum, 
Rhodedendron ponticum , and with Rhododendron arbor eum, and other 
species with highly colored flowers from the Himalayas. A large num- 
ber of these hybrids are cultivated in Europe, but only a few of them in 
which the blood of Rhododendron catawbiense predominates are really 
hardy in New England. 
The Arboretum is often asked for a list of the varieties which can be 
grown here. The following which can be seen in the collection either as 
large or small plants have been the most successful in the neighborhood 
of Boston: album elegans, album grandiflorum , atrosanguineum, bi- 
color, Charles Bagley , Charles Dickens , delicatissimum , Edward S. 
Rand, Everestianum, F. L. Ames, H. W. Sargent, Hannibal, Kettle- 
drum, King of the Purples, Henrietta Sargent, Lady Armstrong, Mrs. 
Millner, Mrs. Charles Sargent, Mrs. Harry Ingersoll, purpureum ele- 
gans, purpureum grandiflorum, roseum elegans, Sefton. 
Like most plants of the Heath Family to which the Rhododendrons be- 
long, it is impossible to cultivate them in soil impregnated with lime. 
The area in the eastern states, therefore, where they can be successfully 
grown is comparatively small. 
The Laurels ( Kalmia latifolia) will be in bloom before the end of an- 
other week. They are planted beyond the Rhododendrons at the northern 
base of Hemlock Hill and furnish the last and one of the most beautiful 
of the yearly flower shows of the Arboretum. 
The Inkberry ( Ilex glabra), which is planted in a large group oh the 
right-hand side of Hemlock Hill Road and opposite the Laurels, will 
soon be in bloom. The flowers, like those of all Hollies, are small and 
are arranged in small clusters in the axils of the leaves, and the small, 
black fruit, which does not fall until spring, makes but little show. The 
value of this plant is not in its flowers or fruits but in its compact habit 
and its shining persistent leaves which make it one of the very best of 
the broad-leaved evergreen shrubs which can be grown in this climate. 
The Inkberry is common in sandy soil and in the neighborhood of the 
coast from Massachusetts to Louisiana. It is very hardy and is not 
planted as often as it should be when hardy evergreens are needed. An- 
