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elusions are correct, there seems no reason why these double-flowered 
forms should not grow here to be large and long-lived trees. The 
double-flowered Japanese Cherries bloom later than the trees with 
single flowers and in normal seasons just before or with the Lilacs; 
they remain in flower for several days, and if they prove really suc- 
cessful when the proper stock is used on which to graft them the 
beauty and interest of the spring gardens of the United States will 
be greatly increased. 
Rhododendron (Azalea) japonicum. This Azalea, although the flowers 
are less brilliant than those of the now better known R. {Azalea) 
Kaempferi, is probably the handsomest of the hardy Azaleas of east- 
ern Asia. The flowers are flame color and rather more than three 
inches in diameter. As it grows here this Azalea is a round-topped, 
rather compact, hardy shrub blooming freely every year. It was 
raised at the Arboretum from seeds collected in Japan by Professor 
Sargent in 1892 and has been growing in the Arboretum as long as R. 
Kaempferi. Long confused here with the Azalea mollis of gardens, 
less attention has been paid to it, and it is only recently that its spe- 
cific characters and value have been understood. One of the parents 
of the hybrid A. mollis of gardens it is a handsomer, longer-lived, and 
more satisfactory plant than that popular and well-known Azalea. 
In gardens Rhododendron japonicum is still one of the rarest of all 
the hardy Azaleas. It is now in bloom on the lower side of Azalea 
Path where there is a group of large and small plants. 
An early-flowering Hawthorn. The first Hawthorn to bloom in the 
Arboretum every year is Crataegus nigra, a native of southeastern 
Europe. The Arboretum specimen is a shapely tree from fifteen to 
eighteen feet high, with a broad compact head and a well-formed 
trunk covered with pale scaly bark. The leaves are broad, deeply- 
lobed, covered below with soft hairs, and grayish green in color. The 
flowers are hardly more than half an inch in diameter, with twenty 
stamens and anthers faintly tinged with rose, and are borne in small 
compact clusters. As the flowers fade the petals turn rose color. As 
a flowering tree Crataegus nigra is less beautiful than many of the 
American Thorns, but the black and lustrous fruit is unusual in color 
among Thorn trees. The color of the fruit and the earliness of the 
flowers make this an interesting addition, however, to the list of small 
trees with showy flowers which can be successfully cultivated in Mass- 
achusetts. 
A few American Thorns. Several of the early large-flowered Amer- 
ican Thorns have been in bloom for several days and are conspicuous 
and beautiful objects. Among them may be mentioned Crataegus Ar- 
noldiana, C. Ellwangeriana, C. pedicellata and C. coccinioides. C. 
Arnoldiana is easily distinguished even in winter by its conspicuously 
zigzag branchlets armed with long straight thorns; the flowers with 
their ten stamens and yellow anthers are in broad, many-flowered 
clusters, and late in August, when the trees are covered with their 
bright scarlet fruit dotted with white and three-quarters of an inch in 
diameter, they are more beautiful even than at the end of May. On 
account of its early ripening and showy fruit this is one of the best 
of the American Hawthorns for the decoration of summer gardens. 
C. Ellwangeriana is common in the neighborhood of Rochester, N. Y., 
