ever, fliscredlt this beautiful nhrrjh, for the plants here are in low 
fijrounrJ and in a particularly tryiriic position, and in other Massachu- 
setts jjardens plants of Uiis Maj'nolia have not been injured and are 
now in full bloom. The flower-buds of tfie other early-flov/ennsc .Jap- 
anese sf;ecies, Magv/dia hthuft and its vf\r\oty horealtsf, have rK^t be^-n 
injured and are now just openinj^. As f)owennj< plants they are the 
least desirable here of the Majcnolias which bh>^-»m before the leaves 
appear, for the flowers are not larj^e ars^J only exceptionally are prr^ 
duced in larj'e numbers. 
Daphne Mezereum. A plant of the white- flowered fomri of this small 
PJuropean shrub has been in bl^yim on Azalea Path for the last two 
weeks. The purple and the v/hite- flowered forms are useful s^arden 
plants because they are almost the first shrubs to open their flowers 
in this climate and because the flowers are not injure^! by sprinjc frosts. 
This I>)aphne is inU;restlnj( to us in this c<-^untry J^ecause it is one of 
the few shrubs native of Europe which have t^eiy^me widely naturalized 
in some parts of North America, as in east^;m .Massachusetts and on 
the Canadian side of the Niagara River afx>ve the Eaiis. 
The Cornelian Cherry, which is a DogworxJ (Cornus wmh), is one of 
the earliest trees or tree-like shrubs with conspicuous flowers to blo<>m 
in eastern Massachusetts. The flowers are light yellow and are b^>me 
in clusters in the axils of the unfolding leaves and, although individu- 
ally small, are prcKJuced in such profusion that the branches are Cf>v- 
ered with them. The flowers are followed by bright red, lustrous, of>- 
long fruits the size of small olives. The flower-buds and the flowers 
of this tree are not injured by cold. The habit of the plant is g^^>od; 
the foliage is dark green and abundant, and the fnjit, although some- 
what hidden by the leaves, is hands^^me. The fx^rrielian Cherry, which 
is a native of Europe and western Siberia, has l'>een an inhabitant of gar- 
dens for more than three hundred years. In the United States it was 
probably more often planted in the first half of the last century than 
it is at present, although there are not many early-flowering trees 
hardy in this climate which are better worth a place in the garden. 
The largest specimen we know in eastern Massachusetts is in the Pub- 
lic Garden of Boston, near Boylston Street. In the Arboretum it may 
be seen with the other Dogwoods at the junction of the Meadow and 
Bussey Hill Roads. 
Early-flowering native shrubs. Two yellow-flowered native shrubs 
are in flower and are well worth the attention of the makers of Amer- 
ican gardens by whom they have been generally neglected. These are 
the Leatherwood, Dirca palustris, and the aromiatic Spice Bush, Ben- 
zoin aestivate. Their leafless branches are now covered with siriall 
yellow flowers, and those of the Spice Bush will be followed in the 
autumn by scarlet lustrous fruits. The leaves of these plants turn 
yellow in the autumn before falling. Masses of these shrubs can be 
seen on the right-hand side of the Bussey Hill Road opposite the upper 
end of the Lilac Collection. 
