8 
years ago. The var. pallida has pale straw-colored flowers which are 
paler than than those of other Forsythias. The flower-buds of these 
hybrids appear to sulTer less from extreme cold than those of either of 
their parents, at least in the Arboretum, and the buds of the different 
forms of F. intermedia have never been injured by cold. 
Salix blanda. This is the general name for the group of hybrid Wil- 
lows which has come into existence by the natural hybridization of the 
yellow-barked Salix viminalis with the Chinese Weeping Willow, Salix 
babylonica. These hybrids are large, hardy and vigorous trees, with 
branches as slender and pendulous as those of Salix babylonica. What 
may be considered the typical form of S. blanda has light olive green 
branches. On other forms the branches are more or less tinged with 
yellow. The handsomest of them has bright yellow branches, especially 
at this season of the year, and is still without a proper name, although 
it is sold in nurseries as Salix babylonica aurea, S. babylonica ramulis 
aureia and sometimes as S. vitellina pendula, although there is a weep- 
ing form -of the true S. vitellina to which this last name belongs. The 
yellow-barked variety of S. blanda is the handsomest of the Weeping 
Willows which can be successfully grown in the northern states where 
S. babylonica is not always hardy. At this time with its pale yellow 
unfolding leaves and yellow spikes of flower-buds this tree is an object 
of great beauty and one of the most attractive plants in the Arbore- 
tum. Salix blanda is not common in the neighborhood of Boston and 
probably has not been much planted in any part of the United States. 
It is much less well known than the hybrid of <S. babylonica and the 
European S. fragilis for which the general name is probably S. sepul- 
cralis — probably, for it is often impossible to decide what is the correct 
name for hybrid Willows as there is still much confusion about their 
origin and history. To the S. fragilis babylonica hybrid belong the so- 
called Wisconsin Weeping Willow which has been largely planted in 
the northern states, and is a hardy and valuable tree. Its origin is not 
known at the Arboretum. Thurber’s Weeping Willow, named for the 
Massachusetts nurseryman by whom it has been distributed, is proba- 
bly of the same parentage. Another hybrid known as Salix Salamonii 
is of the same parentage or is the result of the crossing of the Euro- 
pean Salix alba with S. babylonica. This tree is highly esteemed in 
Europe but in this country is little known. It is a large, vigorous and 
hardy tree, with ascending branches and gracefully drooping branch- 
lets, the whole forming a broad head of great beauty. This is a good 
time to examine the Willow Collection for many of the species, hybrids 
and varieties are flowering or just coming into bloom, and the flowers 
of Willows are often very beautiful. The Willow Collection is arranged 
along the northeast border of the north meadow, and is most easily 
reached from the Jamaica Plain entrance of the Arboretum. 
