BULLETIN NO. 44. 
At no other time in the year is the Arboretum more interesting and 
attractive than in the early days of June. The leaves of many trees 
have now grown to their full size; those of others are still in their 
vernal stages. The conifers are now covered with the tender green of 
their new shoots and are more beautiful than at any other time of the 
year. The Rhododendrons are fast opening their flowers and these will 
soon be followed by those of the Laurel (Kalmia); many Azaleas are 
blooming, and the flowers of Viburnums, Cornels, and other native 
shrubs add to the beauty of the plantations. 
One of these native shrubs or small trees, Viburnum Lentago, some- 
times known as the Nannyberry, is now very conspicuous in many 
parts of the Arboretum. Few more beautiful shrubs than this common 
inhabitant of the roadside and the wood-border of New England can be 
found in any part of the world. It is a shrub or small tree sometimes 
twenty feet high with a broad round head. The leaves are large, thick 
and lustrous, and in the autumn assume delicate shades of red and 
orange; the flowers are creamy white and are borne in large and abun- 
dant convex clusters, and the large blue-black fruits hang on drooping 
stems and do not disappear from the branches until the beginning of 
winter. In the first week of June the Arboretum owes much to this 
plant. Another arborescent Viburnum, V. rufidulum, from the south- 
ern states is a plant of much beauty; it is the largest of the American 
species and sometimes grows in Louisiana and Arkansas into a shapely 
tree thirty or forty feet high with a tall stem and spreading branches. 
The flower-clusters are usually smaller than those of V. Lentago , but 
the leaves are larger and much more lustrous, and no other Viburnum 
has such handsome foliage. It is distinguished by the rusty red felt 
which covers the winter-buds and the edges of the leaf-stalks, and is 
found on the lower surface of the leaves. The plants of this Viburnum 
in the Arboretum are still small; the best one is on Hickory Path 
near Centre Street and is now in flower. 
One of the handsomest American Viburnums, V. pubescens , is also in 
flower. This is a tall shrub with small pointed leaves and small nearly 
flat clusters of white flowers, which are produced in such abundance 
that they almost entirely cover the plant. This Viburnum grows nat- 
urally on limestone soil although limestone is not essential to it and is 
therefore valuable in a large part of the country where limestone pre- 
vents the cultivation of many plants like Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and 
other members of the Heath Family. There is a large mass of V. pu- 
bescens on the right-hand side of Bussey Hill Road opposite the upper 
end of the Lilac Group. Just above these there is a group of Vibur- 
num acerifolium, another northern shrub sometimes called Arrow-wood, 
a common inhabitant of the eastern part of the continent. It is a 
small shrub with leaves which resemble those of some Maples, small 
clusters of white flowers raised on long stems, and black fruits. This 
plant is valuable as an undershrub for it grows well in comparatively 
dense shade. 
