in the Arboretum, and among them are plants as beautiful when in 
flower as any of the hybrid Azaleas produced in Europe. They are 
hardier and longer-lived than any of the European hybrids or the spe- 
cies of eastern Asia, and among the many shrubs which eastern North 
America has contributed to gardens none are more beautiful than these 
six Azaleas, or Rhododendrons as botanists now call them, which are 
named in the order of their flowering: Vaseyi, canescens, nudiflorum , 
calendulaceum, arborescens, and viscosum. 
Much of the June beauty of the Arboretum is due to the general use 
in its plantations of several common native shrubs with handsome flowers 
and fruits. Thirty years ago most of our native shrubs were unknown 
to gardeners, but the Arboretum has lost no opportunity to teach the 
lesson that the best trees and shrubs for the permanent decoration of 
American parks and gardens are to be found in American fields and 
forests. Now, therefore, it is a satisfaction to know that the appre- 
ciation of the beauty and value of many of our native shrubs is gradu- 
ally spreading from the Arboretum over the country and that it is now 
possible to find many of the best American trees and shrubs of eastern 
America in large quantities in several American nurseries. 
One of the best of the native plants which have proved satisfactory in 
the Arboretum is Cornus racemosa or, as it is often called, paniculate 
or candidissima ; this is a common inhabitant of roadsides and wood bor- 
ders in this part of the country, and in cultivation it is one of the most 
free-flowering of all the Dogwoods. It is a round-headed shrub with 
slender erect gray stems which spread into dense broad thickets, and 
creamy white flowers produced in compound oblong clusters. The plant 
moreover is as beautiful in October as it is in June for the flowers are 
followed by translucent white berries borne on bright red stalks, making 
this one of the most interesting of the shrubs which ripen their fruit 
in mid-autumn. 
A hybrid of this species with another native Dogwood, Cornus obliqua, 
appeared naturally in the Arboretum several years ago and is known as 
Cornus Arnoldiana. The oldest plants are now ten feet high and 
nearly as broad, with erect stems, and bear flower-clusters which are 
larger and handsomer than those of either of its parents. The flowers, 
however, of this hybrid are its chief beauty for it bears little fruit and 
therefore in the autumn is less interesting and ornamental than Cornus 
racemosa. The Silky Cornel, Cornus Amomum , flowers a little later. 
It has been much used in the Arboretum but in cultivation is not a satis- 
factory plant unless it can be given sufficient room for its wide-spreading 
branches to extend out freely and spread over the ground or over water; 
for this reason it should be planted as a specimen or on the borders of 
ponds and streams, for which it is admirably adapted. The purple stems 
are interesting in winter and the bright blue fruits, which ripen in the 
autumn, add materially to the attractions of this vigorous native shrub. 
The Arboretum will be grateful for any publicity 
given these Bulletins. 
