BULLETIN NO. 28. 
Among the other American Magnolias in the group on the right hand 
side of the Jamaica Plain entrance Magnolia macrophylla is now in 
flower. This is a medium-sized tree of the southern states where it is 
found in sheltered valleys and, although nowhere common, is widely dis- 
tributed from western North Carolina to Kentucky, Florida, Alabama 
and Arkansas. No other tree of the northern hemisphere beyond the 
tropics bears larger leaves or larger flowers, for the former are from 
twenty to thirty inches long and from nine to ten inches wide, while the 
creamy white petals of the flower, which are marked with a dark red 
spot at the base of the inner surface and become reflexed above the 
middle when the flower opens, are from six to seven inches long and 
from three to four inches wide, the expanded flower being often a foot in 
diameter. The beauty of this tree is increased by the silvery white 
color of the lower surface of the leaves and by its symmetrical habit, 
with wide-spreading branches forming a broad, round-topped head. 
Magnolia macrophylla is perfectly hardy but it is well to plant it in 
sheltered positions for the leaves are easily torn by the wind. It is one 
of the most beautiful of all the Magnolias and one of the most remark- 
able and interesting trees of eastern North America; it is less commonly 
seen, however, in northern collections than formerly although its value 
and beauty appear to be more appreciated in some of the middle states 
than they are here. 
One of the most attractive objects in the Shrub Collection this year is 
a large plant of Halimodendron argenteum, called Salt-tree because it 
inhabits the saline steppes near the river Irtish in Siberia. The pale 
rose-colored, pea-shaped, fragrant flowers, which are produced in great 
abundance, are borne in short clusters and their delicate beauty is 
heightened by the light color of the leaves which are clothed with a pale 
silky down. The plant remains in flower during several weeks. The 
Salt-tree was introduced into England as early as 1779, but it does not 
seem to be much known in the United States, for among the rare plants 
sent to the Arboretum for determination it has come only once. It pro- 
duces abundant crops of seeds in the Arboretum and it can be raised 
from cuttings, so there is no reason that it should remain so rare in 
American gardens. 
In the Shrub Collection, near Halimodendron, another plant of the Pea 
Family is in flower; this is Cytisus nigricans , a low, slender, hardy 
shrub from central and southern Europe, with long erect racemes of 
beautiful yellow flowers, and for this climate one of the best plants of 
its class. With it are blooming Genista elata and the well known Gen- 
ista tinctoria which has destroyed with its fatal gift of beauty so many 
of the fields of Essex County in this state. 
Of the Privets, or Ligustrums, none of the introductions from eastern 
Asia are more valuable garden plants than the European Ligustrum vul- 
gar e which is becoming naturalized in the eastern states; it is a tall, 
broad, shapely shrub with bluish green leaves and is now covered with 
its small, erect, terminal clusters of white, bad-smelling flowers. The 
great value of this plant is not in the flowers but in the lustrous black 
fruits which decorate it in the late autumn, and in the fact that it retains 
its leaves in good condition almost until the beginning of winter, making 
