clusters. The leaves are thick and leathery in texture, and, unlike those 
of all other Lilacs, turn in the autumn to a deep bronze red color. In 
gardens this plant becomes a tall, broad shrub, but the brittleness of the 
branches, which are often broken down by snow or ice, reduces its value. 
Two other Chinese Lilacs bloom as early or earlier than S. oblata. 
These are the white-flowered S. affinis and the lilac-flowered form of this 
species, called var. Giraldii. S. affinis is the common and perhaps the 
only Lilac cultivated in the gardens of Peking in which great masses of it 
are sometimes seen. The variety comes from the province of Shensi. 
The flowers of these two Lilacs are fragrant and beautiful, but the open 
irregular habit of growth assumed by these plants in the Arboretum is 
not attractive. If they become more shapely with greater age, they will 
be garden plants of real value. S. pubescens is just opening its very 
fragrant, long- tubed, rather small flowers; this is a native of northern 
China, and is hardy, free-flowering, and one of the most beautiful of all 
Lilacs. It is still little known in gardens. The Persian Lilacs ( S . per- 
sica ) bloom rather later than the common Lilacs. This beautiful plant 
has been known in gardens for two centuries and a half, and there are 
purple and white-flowered varieties and a form with deeply-divided leaves 
(var. laciniata) which is less vigorous than the others. One of the least 
beautiful of Lilacs is the Hungarian S. Josikaea, a tall, slender shrub 
with narrow elongated clusters of small purple flowers which open later 
than those of the Persian Lilac. By crossing this plant with the Chinese 
S. villosa a remarkable race of hybrids was produced in Paris a few 
years ago. This hybrid race has the vigor, good habit, and large flowers 
of S. villosa , and the purple flowers of S. Josikaea. The general name 
for this race of hybrids is S. Henryi, from the horticulturist who pro- 
duced it, and the best known and most beautiful of these hybrids is called 
Lutece. This is a plant which should be in general cultivation. S. vil- 
losa blooms later than the other Lilacs and is therefore more valuable. 
It is a large, vigorous, and very hardy shrub with good foliage and num- 
erous clusters of pale pink or rose-colored flowers which, unlike those of 
the other true Lilacs, have a disagreeable odor. A hybrid between S. 
affinis , var. Giraldii , and the common Lilac has been produced in France 
and is highly spoken of. It has not yet flowered in the Arboretum. 
On the right-hand side of the South Street entrance are large plants of 
Crataegus mollis and on the left-hand side there is a plant of C. arkan- 
sana, and next to it and nearer the gate a plant of C. submollis. These 
trees, which are now in full flower, belong to the section Molles of the 
genus which has large leaves, large flowers and large, usually scarlet 
fruit. C. mollis is one of the common Hawthorns of the middle and 
western states where on bottom-lands it grows to a large size. Its 
fruit ripens and falls in September. C. arkansana , a native of central 
Arkansas, is a handsomer tree distinguished by its long, wide-spreading, 
more or less horizontal branches; the fruit ripens late and remains on 
the branches until the end of November. C. submollis is a native of 
eastern Massachusetts, with pear-shaped fruit which ripens and falls in 
September. These trees and a number of other Hawthorns were raised 
at the Arboretum from seeds planted about 1880. When fifteen or twenty 
years later they began to flower it was seen that many of them were un- 
