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cause of this discoloration is not evident, although it may have been 
caused by the cold of Easter Monday following several days of unseas- 
onably hot weather. At that time, however, the inflorescence-buds of 
Cornus fiorida had scarcely begun to swell. Whatever the cause of 
the injury its occurrence this year, when there is an unusual bloom, is 
doubly unfortunate, for the Flowering Dogwood often loses its flower- 
buds entirely in New England as we are close to the northern limit of 
the range of distribution of this tree, which further south flowers more 
profusely and develops larger bud-scales. Forms of this tree with the 
scales which surround the flower-clusters varying in color from light 
to dark red (var. ruhra) occasionally occur in southern woods, and some 
of these forms have been propagated by nurserymen and are popular 
garden plants, especially in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, where 
there are many specimens' of the “Red-flowered Dogwood.’’ Several 
plants of this variety are now blooming by the shores of Jamaica Pond 
in Boston where they are flowering more abundantly than usual, for 
the flower-buds of this variety appear to be less hardy than those of 
the typical form. This is unfortunate, for when the red and white- 
flowered trees are planted together in masses they produce when in 
flower a brilliant effect. There is a form of Cornus Jlorida with pen- 
dulous branches, and another on which the flowers are called double 
from the presence of an inner row of white inflorescence-scales. These 
abnormal forms, however, have little to recommend them to the lovers 
of handsome trees. Cornus fiorida is as handsome in the autumn as 
it is in the spring, for the upper surface of the leaves turns bright 
red, the lower surface retaining its pale summer tint, and the abund- 
ant clusters of scarlet lustrous fruits are conspicuous and beautiful. 
Not less beautiful in autumn are two trees with bright yellow fruit 
which have recently been found, one near Oyster Bay, Long Island, 
and the other in North Carolina. 
Cornus Nuttallii. This inhabitant of the coniferous forests of the 
coast region of the Pacific states is a near relative of Cornus fiorida 
and a much larger and handsomer tree, and the largest probably of all 
the Dogwoods, as specimens one hundred feet high occur in the Red- 
wood forests of northwestern California. The cup under the flower- 
clusters formed by the scales is sometimes six inches across and there- 
fore larger than that of any of the other Flowering Dogwoods. These 
scales do not, like those of Cornus fiorida, enclose during the winter 
the whole inflorescence but surround only its base. The unprotected 
flower-buds are therefore more liable to injury from cold than those of 
the eastern tree, and it would hardly be possible to obtain flowers any- 
where in the eastern states, even if the tree could be kept alive. In 
England it has proved difficult to grow, although small trees have oc- 
casionally flowered there and in France. 
Cornus kousa is the “Flowering Dogwood” of Japan and China, dif- 
fering from the American tree in the coalition of the fruits into a solid 
mass, and in the inflorescence-scales which do not enclose the bud even 
in part, but stand out below it at right angles to the stem. They en- 
large and turn creamy white before the flower-buds open, and are sharp 
pointed with edges which do not overlap and are smaller than those of 
