BULLETIN NO. 22. 
Some of the earliest flowering Apple-trees are already in full bloom 
and during the next two or three weeks flowers can be seen on some of 
the species and varieties. Much attention has been paid to these plants 
at the Arboretum where they are arranged in two groups. The original 
group is on the right-hand side of the Forest Hills Road going towards 
the gate. The situation is not a good one, the space is very limited, and 
a few years ago a second collection was established at the eastern base 
of Peter’s Hill. The plants here are smaller than those in the original 
group but the number of individuals and of species and varieties is much 
greater, and here will be found specimens of all the Crabapples that the 
Arboretum has been able to obtain. The study and proper comprehen- 
sion of these plants are full of difficulties, for many of the species 
hybridize so freely that seedlings raised from seeds of cultivated plants 
rarely produce the original type, and wild plants or seeds from isolated 
wild plants of the Old World species are almost impossible to obtain. 
The common Apple-tree of orchards even is now generally believed to be 
a hybrid between the two European species; the so-called Siberian Crabs 
of American pomologists are supposed to be hybrids between the Com- 
mon Apple and the Siberian Malus baccata, and the number of other 
varieties supposed to be hybrids is large, including two which have 
already appeared in the Arboretum. 
One of the handsomest of all Crabapples, Malus floribunda, is one of 
the earliest to flower. As it grows in this country it is a broad shrub, 
with a trunk dividing at the base into several large branches. The pink 
flowers, which are deep rose color in the bud, turn white before the 
petals fail and are produced in the greatest profusion. The dark green 
foliage is abundant but the yellow or orange-colored fruits, which are not 
much larger than peas, make little show. The origin of this plant is un- 
certain; it was first sent to Europe from Japan but it is not a native of 
that country where it was probably introduced from China, although it 
does not appear to be known in China now in a wild state. By some 
authors it is considered a hybrid between two of the species of northern 
China, although it bears but little resemblance to its supposed parents. 
The largest specimens of this Crabapple will be found in the neighbor- 
hood of the Administration Building. A plant which is evidently a hybrid 
of M. floribunda appeared spontaneously in the Arboretum several years 
ago and has been named Malus Arnoldiana. It has much larger pink 
flowers and larger fruit than M. floribunda, and in flower is one of the 
most beautiful of all Crabapples. 
The Crabapple of eastern Siberia, Malus baccata, is a tall narrow tree 
with white flowers on long, drooping stems and very small yellow fruits 
from which the calyx falls before the fruit ripens. There is a fine old 
specimen of this tree in front of the gardener’s house in the Harvard 
Botanic Garden at Cambridge. In the Arboretum a number of forms of 
this species have been raised. They are distinguished from the Siberian 
tree by larger pure white flowers and larger fruits than those of M. bac- 
cata. Some of these forms are among the most beautiful of the early 
flowering Crabapples. 
