42 
Asiatic Lindens promise to become valuable trees here, although the 
species recently discovered in western China are still so young that it 
is not possible to say much about them. Species, however, from Japan, 
eastern Siberia and Manchuria have been cultivated in the Arboretum 
for several years, and of these only T. japonica and T. mongolica have 
ever grown large enough to flower and produce seeds. ^ The former is 
a small tree here with gracefully drooping branches and is conspicuous 
in early spring as the small yellow-green leaves appear a week or two 
earlier than those of any other Linden in the collection. It is one of 
the latest species to flower. T. mongolica is a small, short-lived tree 
with small, long-pointed shining leaves and is of no value except as a 
botanical curiosity. The best plants in the country of this Linden are 
now in Rochester, New York. The four European species and some of 
the hybrids between these species, and between them and the Ameri- 
can species, all flourish in the northern and middle states; and the 
largest and handsomest Linden-tree which has been planted in the 
neighborhood of Boston is a supposed hybrid between the two species 
of eastern Europe, T. platyphyllos and T. cordata, and known as 
T. vulgaris, T. europaea, T. intermedia and T. hyhrida. Although 
widely distributed in central Europe, this tree is much less common 
than either of its supposed parents; this fact and the variation in the 
size, shape and color of the leaves on different individuals make its 
hybrid origin possible, but whatever its origin this Linden is an excel- 
lent tree to plant here in rich moist soil where abundant space for 
free development can be allowed to it. The two silver-leaved Lindens 
of eastern Europe, T. argentea and T. petiolaris, are distinct and hand- 
some trees which might well be more generally seen in New England 
plantations. The former, which is common in the forests of Hungary, 
is a large tree with erect-growing branches forming a compact, round- 
topped head, and large, erect-growing leaves dark green above and 
silvery white below. This tree has been a good deal planted in some 
of the parks in New York City where large and interesting specimens 
can now be seen. It does not appear to be well known in Massachu- 
setts. T. petiolaris is better known in New England, and there are 
large and beautiful specimens of this tree growing in Newport, Rhode 
Island. Like those of T. argentea, the leaves of this tree are silvery 
white on the lower surface; they droop, however, on long slender stems 
and flutter gracefully in the slightest breeze. The branches, too, are 
drooping and form a narrow open head. T. petiolaris is not known in 
a wild state and is of very uncertain origin. A supposed hybrid of 
this tree with T. americana is one of the handsomest of all Linden 
trees; it has been called T. vestita and T. hyhrida spectabilis. The 
leaves are of the size and shape of those of the American parent but 
are silvery white on the lower surface. The flowers of the earliest of 
the Lindens, the European T. platyphyllos, have been open for several 
days, and for another month Linden-flowers in the Arboretum will fill 
the air with fragrance and delight the bees with abundant nectar. 
The Linden Collection occupies the meadow on the right-hand side of 
the Meadow Road beyond the Administration Building. 
Sambucus canadensis. This is the last of the native shrubs to make 
a conspicuous show of flowers in the Arboretum, and as the corollas 
of the Laurels begin to fall the wide, flat flower-clusters of the black- 
fruited Elder begin to whiten. Few native shrubs make a greater 
