Nearly all the Mountain Ashes ( Sorbus ) produce handsome red or 
orange fruits which keep their color for a long time after the branches 
are cut. The species with the showiest fruit in the Arboretum is Sor- 
bus americana , a common northern tree, several specimens of which 
can be seen on the right-hand side of the entrance to the Shrub Col- 
lection from the Forest Hills gate. These plants are now leafless, but 
the leaves before they dropped a few days ago had turned to bright 
shades of yellow and scarlet; but the fruits will remain on the branches 
in good condition until the flocks of northern robins arrive when they 
will eat every berry in preparation for their long flight southward. 
With these plants there is a tall specimen covered with fruit of Sor- 
bus Matsumurana , one of the best growing of the numerous eastern 
Asiatic species in the collection. Several other species, including dif- 
ferent forms of the European Mountain Ash {S. Aucuparia), are culti- 
vated in different parts of the Arboretum and are usually short-lived. 
Many of the Crabapples shed their fruits early in the autumn, but 
those of some of the forms or hybrids of the Chinese Malus fioribunda 
retain them in good condition during the winter or until they are eaten 
by birds. There is a group of these trees near the eastern end of the 
Administration Building which do not lose their fruit until spring; these 
are now bright orange color and, although individually very small, are 
so numerous that the branches are weighed down by them, the beauty 
of the fruit being heightened by the color of the leaves which are just 
beginning to turn pale yellow. Too much cannot be said of the value 
of Malus fioribunda as a garden plant in this climate, especially those 
forms with persistent fruit. No other large shrub or small tree is 
more beautiful in spring when it is covered with flowers which, rose 
color in the bud, become white as they develop; the habit is good; it 
is perfectly hardy, and it never fails to produce a full crop of flowers 
and fruits. Flower-covered and fruit-covered branches are admirable 
house decorations. 
Fruit-covered branches of the American and Japanese Bittersweets 
are well suited for house decoration, the orange-colored pods being now 
open and displaying the seeds in their scarlet pulpy coats. The leaves, 
which turn yellow before falling, have now disappeared; the fruit, how- 
ever, will persist for some weeks longer. The American species, Celas- 
trus scandens, is usually considered the handsomer of the two species, 
the fruit being borne in raceme-like terminal clusters and therefore not 
hidden by the leaves, while in the Japanese species, C. articulatus, the 
smaller fruit is borne in axillary clusters so that until the leaves have 
fallen it is not very conspicuous. Another species in the collection, 
C. flagellaris, from northeastern Asia where it is widely distributed, 
has much smaller axillary fruits and, although perfectly hardy, is 
comparatively of little value as an ornamental vine. 
The Snowberries ( Symphoricarpos ) generally retain their fruit late in 
the autumn, and on many of the plants the leaves are still green and 
fresh, increasing the beauty of the snowy white berries. There are 
several species and forms in the Shrub Collection but the handsomest is 
the common Snowberry of all old gardens, S. racemosus var. laevigatus, 
a plant now becoming naturalized in New England. The type of the 
