BULLETIN NO. 25. 
Viburnums have been largely planted in the Arboretum and the abund- 
ant and conspicuous flowers now open on several of the species show the 
value of these plants for the decoration of parks and gardens. Vibur- 
nums are found in all the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, 
the largest number of species growing in eastern Asia and in the eastern 
United States. The eastern American species, all things considered, are 
more valuable garden plants than those from other parts of the world, 
although there are a few Old World species which must be counted 
among the best of all hardy shrubs. Among these Old World species 
which cannot be spared from our collections are the European Wayfaring- 
tree, Viburnum Lantana, the Japanese and Chinese V. tomentosum, and 
the Japanese V. dilatatum. The first of these plants is a large shrub or 
small tree with blue-green foliage, large convex clusters of flowers which 
are followed by fruits, which when fully grown are at first bright red 
and then become black, fruits of the two colors being found together in 
the same cluster. This is a very hardy and vigorous plant and flowers 
here early in May. Viburnum tomentosum is a large flat-topped shrub 
with wide-spreading horizontal branches, and in Japan sometimes be- 
comes treelike in habit. It is one of the species in which the clusters of 
small perfect flowers are surrounded by a ring of abortive flowers with 
much enlarged pure white corollas. The flower clusters of Viburnum 
tomentosum are arranged along the upper side of the branches and are 
produced in great profusion, making it one of the most beautiful of all 
the shrubs now flowering in the Arboretum. The fruit is small, at first 
bright red and finally nearly black; the leaves turn orange and red in 
the autumn. A variety of this plant with very narrow leaves (var. lan- 
ceolatum) discovered by Professor Sargent in Japan is flowering in the 
recently arranged Viburnum Group on the right-hand side of the Bussey 
Hill Road near its junction with the Valley Road. The Japanese Snow- 
ball, known usually in gardens as Viburnum plicatum, is a form of 
Viburnum tomentosum (var. dilatatum). This must not be confounded, 
however, with the true Viburnum dilatatum, which will not be in flower 
probably for a couple of weeks. This is a large shrub with numerous clus- 
ters of creamy white flowers but is most interesting in the autumn when 
it is covered with small, bright red, lustrous fruits which remain in good 
condition for a long time. 
Of the three species cultivated in the Arboretum of the Opulus Group 
of Viburnums, with palmately lobed and veined leaves and showy sterile 
flowers surrounding the flower clusters, two are from the Old World and 
are perhaps handsomer garden plants than the American representative 
of this group. The three species are V. opulus , from central and north- 
ern Europe, V. Sargentii, from northeastern Asia, and V. americanum, 
from northeastern America. The first is the largest plant of the three, 
with thicker darker green leaves late persistent in the autumn, and dark 
red fruit. The old-fashioned Snowball of gardens is a form of this species 
with all the flowers sterile; there is a very dwarf form which rarely 
flowers, and there is a form with yellow fruit. The flowers of Vibur- 
num Sargentii are more showy than those of the other species, but the 
fruit is small and inconspicuous. The habit of V. americanum , the so- 
called High-bush Cranberry, is less compact than that of the other 
species. The flowers, however, are beautiful, and the fruit, which is 
translucent and very lustrous, remains on the branches through the win- 
